Write With the Door Closed...
A little reminder.
Write with the door closed, Edit with the door open.
First drafts start with just me. The “door” is closed to feedback - and that includes my own negative self talk. The only goal is to finish the draft. I open the door carefully and slowly when choosing first readers and critique partners because I’m a sensitive little flower who is crushed easily.
As each draft becomes better, I open the door wider until it’s finally time to fling that manuscript out the door and into the world. By then it’s no longer mine. “Do your worst…!” as they say.
“Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open. Your stuff starts out being just for you, in other words, but then it goes out. Once you know what the story is and get it right — as right as you can, anyway — it belongs to anyone who wants to read it. Or criticize it.”-Stephen King, On Writing
Amy
p.s. I’m drawing for 15 minutes every day this month, inspired by , which is how this little painting came to be. See the little date stamp? It’s so fun to stamp!
If you’d like to support my work with a paid yearly subscription, I will gratefully send you a signed copy of any one of my books 🙏 and then I will do cartwheels because you have made MY YEAR of writing possible <3
The Last Part:The End: of coaching soccer this season. I looooove this team and am feeling a little sad that it’s all over. Here’s to strong girls and women…and the women we coach with!
Walking: in rain and cool temps. I feel the precursor to winter
Wearing: my favorite blundstones all fall and winter. I have this pair and bought during a Black Friday sale
Visiting: Bethlehem New Hampshire this week for a school visit! Get in touch - I would love to come visit your school, too.
The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair is part-mystery, part understanding of the human heart 💖
Ten Thousand Tries is Golden’s quest to save his dad and the soccer team ⚽
The McNifficents is one summer with six rambunctious kids and their miniature-schnauzer nanny 🐕 New Hampshire’s 2024 Great Reads for Kids selection!
