Quotes

Force yourself . . . and don’t stop . . .

Storm clouds“Force yourself to begin putting words on the page immediately, and don’t stop until the timer goes off, even if you have to write about the weather.” — Jan Ellison, inspired by Ellen Sussman

I read this quote in the 12/4/15 Writer’s Digest guest blog post, “9 Practical Tricks for Writing Your First Novel,”  written by Jan Ellison.

Since Ellen Sussman was scheduled to be a Writers Forum presenter and since I also believe this philosophy . . . my ears perked up. . . .  Daydreaming about how “ears perked up” would look and could it really happen? I think so, in a Fred Flintstone kind of way, when he’s . . .

Oops, I’m taking the writing advice to put words on the page too literally. And the timer is ticking.

Brian Klems, host of The Writer’s Dig Blog where this post appears, gives this introduction to the article:  “Whether you’re writing your first novel or are struggling with completing a second one (or more), sometimes you need some help focusing and figuring out how to reach your goal. Use these 9 tricks to help you go from first sentence all the way to completed novel.”

I found “9 Practical Tricks for Writing Your First Novel” to be helpful. You might also find inspiration and  helpful ideas in this blog post by Jan Ellison.

Jan Ellison is the bestselling author of the debut novel, A Small Indiscretion (Random House 2015) which was both an Oprah Editor’s Pick and a San Francisco Chronicle Book Club Pick. Jan’s essays and stories have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Narrative Magazine and elsewhere, and she received an O. Henry Prize for her first short story to appear in print.

Ellen Sussman is the New York Times bestselling author of four novels, A Wedding in Provence, The Paradise Guest House, French Lessons, and On a Night Like This. She is the editor of two critically acclaimed anthologies, Bad Girls: 26 Writers Misbehave and Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopedia of Sex. She teaches through Stanford Continuing Studies and in private classes.

Ellen Sussman will be the presenter at Writers Forum of Petaluma on Thursday, June 16, 2016 where she will talk about will talk about A Writer’s Life: Process and Craft.

Please follow and like us:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram