The Bucket List/So You Want to Write a Book/The Lacks

In the first post in this series, SO YOU WANT TO WRITE A BOOK/WHAT'S STOPPING YOU?, I listed three 'lacks' that might be stopping you from starting, continuing, or finishing a short story or novel, or even the longer blog post. 

I am only giving my opinion in this post; others might have different insights, but I wanted to address how I faced these issues. 

LACK OF TIME/LIFE GETS IN THE WAY affects us all. The list is endless, regardless of whether we find time to pursue our dreams amidst employment, raising children, illness, responsibility toward others, charitable work, or volunteering. Even a life blessed with wonderful activities can stifle our ability to find the time we need to write. 

If you are reading this, you have probably already researched ways to carve out a niche of time for writing. Many of them work, some don't. I always found it easier to write if I labeled the top of my first drafts in BIG LETTERS - ROUGH DRAFT. Maybe this will make sense to you, maybe not, but if you think the way I do, you will understand my fear: If I died before I could finish/proofread/edit the work, I didn't want anyone to think it was the best I could do if they found it on a printed page or computer document. 

LACK OF CONFIDENCE is not easy to control or squash, but you must. One good way is to read autobiographies and reflections of other writers. Everyone had little confidence when they began but begin they did! Just do it!

 ***One book I loved, which had 

an autobiography of sorts at the start 

and writing tips in the second half, 

is Stephen King's On Writing. 

It gives great insight into his life 

and how he persevered until he found success.*** 

LACK OF PROPER TOOLS is easily remedied in this age of technology, but it can get pricey. Most of us have a keyboard or microphone ready at all times. I have even walked around the neighborhood, had a good idea burst into my imagination, and sent myself an email using my phone's microphone to record the details. That sounds silly, but oh, how easy it is to do. The email can be immediately pasted into a document as a ROUGH DRAFT! 

Here are a few of my favorites for help in writing a polished final draft: 

GRAMMARLY - Even as I write these words, I am checking my grammar and if my sentence structure is correct. 

MICROSOFT WORD - Creates documents that are easily downloaded to my publishing app. It has excellent Spell Check; a thesaurus is included, and it is easy to use. 

AUTOCRIT - A little different than Grammarly; it is excellent at finding repeated words, too many adverbs, etc. It also has an excellent audio readback ability. Funny, I'm from the U.S., but I can hear mistakes more easily when I listen to a reader with a British accent. Strange.

Next installment of The Bucket List/So You Want to Write will be posted in the next few days. Thanks! I appreciate and will respond to your questions and comments.