Getting this one out quick. My schedule says I need to begin Project: GREY in about 7 minutes (most likely less as I finish) and I can’t let a week go by without a blog going out. Tuesday has been randomly designated my blogging day for no particular reason (more on that later) so here we are.

Getting a blog out!

It’s at this time I’d like to ruminate on the efficiency of writing when I have no time. In my mind (and more importantly, on my CALENDAR, THE END ALL BE ALL OF MY EXISTENCE WHO DECIDES MY EVERY ACTION) it says I need to fix up and publish a blog post from 2:30-3:30pm. Typically, these blog posts start out as snippets of an idea in a notebook somehwere. “What do I want to write about that pertains to learning to be a better novelist?” Then, those ideas get transcribed into Notepad because the almight Notepad gods do not judge.

Then, I put them into a Word document to fix up and because the formatting in Microsoft works a lot better when I paste it in here. Finally, my Final Draft comes from me picking over the blog in WordPress before I hit the big blue “Publish” at the top of the page.

And yet, typos still go out….

Anyway, I know I want to change the efficiency of how I do these blogs (3x a week on how to be a better writer doesn’t seem too smart and would probably have led to a complete burnout) and with the New Year on the horizon, baring its fangs and ready to devour us, seemed like the best time to initiate those changes to my 3-times-a-week blogging format. So if you’ve stuck with me this long, thank you. If you’re just joining, thank you as well.

(3 minutes until I need to start.)

So, for the benefit of my brain and to satisfy my ALMIGHTY CALENDAR THAT DECIDES WHO LIVES AND WHO DIES, here’s a swift Writing Skill-Grid: #8!

Time to level up and add another orb to my Writer Skill-Grid! This time, we’re revisiting Chuck Palahniuk’s advice of “unpacking” a sentence, and declining to use words like “thought” and “felt” and “knew.”

For Skill Grid #1 and to see what this is all about, check here.

Packed Sentence:

Miguel looked at the old classroom portable.

Unpacked Sentence:

The portables rested on the far side of the playground, far from where any child ever played. Weeds surrounded the base of all three of the abandoned buildings like a little fence, doing their best to keep kids out. The boards along the outside walls used to be a deep, dark brown. With time and the intense Tucson sun, the wood now resembled a sick piece of steak left out of the refrigerator for too long. Miguel wondered if there was even electricity in these old things.

“Let’s go inside!” Ashley suggested.

“No!” Miguel loudly objected.

And with THAT, my blog obligations are done and I can get to my book.

Today’s lesson: always, Always, ALWAYS fulfill you’re own self-imposed writing obligations. Keep that streak going. Momentum is harder to rebuild than to keep going.

…6 minutes late.

Thanks for reading,

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