TOP 10 SECRET TIPS:
2. MINIMIZE DISTRACTIONS AND INTERRUPTIONS. Wherever you choose to write—and now you have a long list of options from Tip 9—turn off your cell phone and all electronic equipment before take-off…WAIT! You’re not on an airplane. Oops. Sorry. I meant turn off e-mail and order a “cease and desist” on people you know, pets licking your feet, kids grabbing at your clothes, Keith Lockhart (with guest artist Yo-Yo Ma) and the Boston Pops, and any other distractions, if possible. Writing can be challenging by itself. Ideal writing conditions are a luxury most writers can't afford most of the time. You can only control so much.
Don't Fluster. Don’t let interruptions derail your thoughts or fluster you. You look a little flustered right now. Unfluster. Make every effort to concentrate and stay focused on the task at hand. Be flexible and adapt to your writing surroundings. Don’t be tempted by the distractions. Block them out and stop flustering.
Conquer Public Distractions. The more you write in public venues, such as the ones on that long list, the better you become at concentrating on your writing. Right now I’m writing this blog in the Minneapolis airport with constant announcements blaring on the intercom, phones ringing or playing songs, blenders blending at the Starbucks near my make-shift office table, people talking loudly, and toddlers screaming. Under these airport conditions, you have few options and almost no control over the distractions.
Of course, if you are a member of 1st class elite airline club with a much quieter lounge, you’re all set to write during your flight layovers. Otherwise, do your best to deal with the distractions, focus on your writing, and stop wasting time reading my blog. You can do it!
My final blog in this excessively long-winded series will present Tip 1: find an accountability partner. It’s probably the most effective way to increase your writing productivity.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
TOP 10 SECRET TIPS:
3. PROOFREAD THOROUGHLY. Whatever you write, make sure to proof it thoroughly before hitting “send,” “post,” “save,” or “delete” by mistake. Do it a lot; the proofing, that is, not the hitting. Your professional reputation for quality work is on the line with every piece you produce. Nothing screams sloppy work, careless, and knucklehead more than writing errors in your communications and manuscripts.
Marinate the Manuscript. The best advice I’ve received from editors is to put each draft aside for a while—a few minutes, hours, or days. Try to systematically allow your manuscript time to breathe in whatever manuscripts breathe in your PC/Mac. You are so familiar with every word that you will not see every error, and neither will your PC or spelchek. Even with several reviews and a Sherlock Holmes-type magnifying glass, which I am using right now, I will still miss mistakes in grammar, spellinmg, or word choice.
Wait for the Mold. This blog has been marinating for several days already. You can probably tell from the green mold along the edges. Returning totally cold to the scene of your writing crime (with a magnifying glass) will usually allow those errors to jump off the screen; well, maybe not jump, but certainly hop a little. You will also reword and add material that did not occur to you previously. Both the manuscript and you can benefit from marinating for a few days. You may get moldy too, usually brown mold that can be treated with penicillin. However, your next moldy draft is always better.
Hire a Professional. Remember the ole’ TV series: “Have Proofreader, Will Travel”? Me neither. Read your masterpiece out loud AND ask a colleague, friend, or someone else with a pulse to read it. Your best proofer is one is who unfamiliar with the content and writing. You’re REEEAALLY familiar with both. That’s why you’re so bad. Bad, bad proofer!
For book manuscripts, you can even hire a professional proofer. My publishers have done that on several of my books. If you have money to burn, shop for a proofer. The more eyeballs that see your writing, the greater the chance that errors will be found before they’re published. That gives new meaning to the “interocular perusal technique.”
My next blog will address Tip 2 with brand new eyeballs: minimize distractions, if you can. Otherwise, suck it in, deal, and just write. Few writers have “ideal” writing conditions.
COPYRIGHT © 2010 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
