“When you’re an aspiring writer, time is not your friend.”
So says Tim Maleeny, author of Stealing the Dragon and who’s the centerpiece of a Visual Thesaurus article this week.
I agree with him wholeheartedly–whether its fiction or non-fiction, it makes no matter–there’s a time to research, and a time to get down to business and write. And it’s not always a linear process. (Really, when it comes to something that even has a smack of creativity, what is?)
Says Tim in the piece:
“Initially the plan was to write what I knew, then write what I imagined to be true and check my facts. Seemed like a viable approach at the time, and that’s how the process began. I spent hours reading, going to the library, calling friends… I learned a lot, which made me want to learn even more. Ideas multiplied, split apart, became new ideas that took my story in entirely new directions.
“There was just one little problem: I wasn’t writing.
“If I was ever going to finish the book, I was going to have to make things up. Stop reading, stop talking, and start writing.”
Good stuff. Read the whole piece here.
