Comments on: 7 ways to stop editing while you write

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Thu, 11 May 2017 20:49:00 +0000

In reply to Bob Marshall. Hi Bob, I'll email you privately but I suggest you ask this question of my weekly video podcast, The Write Question. Will send you instructions on how to do that.

By: Bob Marshall

Bob Marshall — Thu, 11 May 2017 15:16:00 +0000

Hello. I have just found your website through a search engine and I have one huge question I would love to get help with.

I was ‘bitten by the writing bug’ about seven years ago and I haven’t been able, quite literally, to write anything since. I am quite aware that I don’t have the writing skills to leave a note for the milkman but I cannot shake the idea that I still ‘want to be a writer’, even though this is akin to my wishing to be taller or younger or having Tom Cruise’s looks.

What can I do to get this silly nonsense out of my head for good and have some peace?

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 15:53:00 +0000

In reply to Noornaj. Thanks for sharing this tip! Very useful!

By: Hafiz Nazari

Hafiz Nazari — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 06:29:00 +0000

In reply to Noornaj. Thanks Noornaj. Its the same on my Macbook air. It works well.

By: Noornaj

Noornaj — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 03:28:00 +0000

In reply to Hafiz Nazari. You can make the screen dark by decreasing the darkness (F1 on the MacBook Pro. It might be the same on the Air).

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Sat, 04 Mar 2017 23:20:00 +0000

In reply to cathy. Thanks for your wise words, Cathy. I believe many of us think that HARD WORK is the only way to get anything useful done. But if we're gentler with ourselves and more mindful of the need to take breaks, we can often accomplish a lot more in a shorter amount of time!

By: cathy

cathy — Sat, 04 Mar 2017 17:34:00 +0000

While turning the monitor off might be effective, I would end up with unintelligible gobbeldy gook. But, I have followed much of the other suggestions Daphne makes in her post particularly the pomodoros and placing editing time outside of writing time. I laughed out loud at the start of this post….it is how I used to write!

In response to Omer: there are times when I do not even hear the chime after 25 minutes but if I do I generally take a short break. I found when I paid attention to taking these timed breaks I felt much more eager to return to my writing. The process is different for everyone so I suggest trying a few strategies with the pomodoro and the other techniques and using what works best for you.

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 18:08:00 +0000

In reply to Petruta. Thanks Petruta. I agree with you about length (I prefer reading AND writing shorter posts) but my webmaster has advised me that longer ones are more popular with readers. I have come to a compromise with him and am writing a longer post only once a month. Hope this is a reasonable compromise for you, as well.

By: Petruta

Petruta — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 17:28:00 +0000

Thank you Daphne for yet another great post !
Also, thank you for mentioning free tools on the internet.
However, I have to admit- I miss your previous style- shorter posts. The shorter, the more actionable- the longer the more overwhelming and theoretical – for my brain; I do not know for other people. Printed material is different. I would be curious to hear your opinion on the length on paper vs. blogs.
Thank you!

By: Daphne Gray-Grant

Daphne Gray-Grant — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 15:59:00 +0000

In reply to Tom Morrisey.

Thanks for mentioning the Neo Alphasmart, Tom. It’s a FANTASTIC tool and I didn’t mention it only because it’s not being made any more. I did write about it several years ago: https://www.publicationcoach.com/how-the-neosmart-helps/

Good suggestion to look for it on eBay or Amazon! The limited character display is indeed very helpful in breaking the editing-on-the-go habit.