I think I’ve mentioned Chuck Wendig’s fantastic blog before (and if I haven’t I should have) but yesterday’s guest post by paranormal author, Delilah S. Dawson is fantastic so I’m going to link to it repeatedly.

It’s called 25 STEPS TO BEING A TRADITIONALLY PUBLISHED AUTHOR: LAZY BASTARD EDITION and it’s both funny and useful which in my book is a winning combination.

Here’s a quote (that happens to be very timely for me)

“Any author who says their first drafts are fantastic is either lying or highly delusional or John Scalzi, who is neither. A first draft is meant to be a malleable chunk of clay that you barf out onto the worktable. If you keep reworking that first sentence, first page, first chapter, you’ll never get to the end. So just barf it all up. Without judging yourself. Without showing anyone. Without rereading it. Without thinking of genre or sellability or trends. Tell your story in any way you can, in whatever way feels best. Does it change POV or tense in the middle? Do aliens land in your historical romance? WHO CARES? KEEP WRITING. Don’t look back. You can fix it later.”

There’s a whole host of helpful nuggets in the post (at least 25, presumably) so if you’re an aspiring writer read it and then bookmark it and read it again and again and again.

As for me? I’m going to read it again tonight because TOMORROW IS THE DAY I FINISH BARFING UP THE FIRST DRAFT OF THE GHOST SMUGGLER.

[Wise Words from Delilah S. Dawson by Philip Harris first appeared on Solitary Mindset on 14th August 2013]