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Forward Motion for Writers

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I had a lot of those moments. I began writing when I was in junior high, and there are a lot of abandoned projects littering the road between there and age 39. Some of them are ideas that I still really like and may return to some day. Some are ideas that, for whatever reason, I know will never be finished. Some of those, I put significant work into before they were abandoned, but they're stories that are just not for me to write. It happens.

Set the project aside, at least for now, and move on to something else -- something that excites you right now. Maybe you'll return to it, maybe you won't. I recently picked up one of the very first short stories that I submitted for publication back in high school. It wasn't very good in that form, but in February I turned it into the first draft of a book that I'm really proud of. You never know when the spark might strike.

More importantly, don't critique yourself while you're working on the project you choose to do next. The best advice I've ever been given is the old adage to allow yourself to write crap. Get it down. That's the most important thing. Once it's there, you can worry about editing, polishing and turning it into the book you envisioned.

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