Writerly

Happy April! I was going to be mean and trick you all into thinking something had gone horribly wrong... But I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

So, as promised, here are five things that I think make me a good writer and editor. If you have these traits as well, then I'm happy to say that you'll likely do well in this field! *wink*

1. I'm obsessive. It always makes for a good quality in editors, as well as writers. I obsess over whatever I'm working on, which is generally how I'm able to get through a book so quickly. I usually finish writing a 200,000 word novel in under six months, and can edit the same novel in less than a month.

Writers need that. Editors need that. It's okay to obsess over something you love. 

2. I like order. I really prefer that everything be scheduled. Yeah, yeah, I know how to break free and have fun now and then, but I greatly enjoy making schedules and making sure they're stuck to. That right there makes for a very good editor.

Writers need schedules or they don't really get anything done. The writer in me is like that too, and I'm guessing if you're a writer you're the same way. We have to bring out that editor side to keep things moving at a proper pace. 

3. I clean for fun. Someone who cleans for fun is generally considered to be quite the oddball. I won't say it's any different for me. I'm a bit of an oddball. But because I like to clean, because I find it fun to make sure everything is where it belongs, I know how to write a good story the first time around, and I know how to edit a story back to where it needs to be.

So, cleaning is a good trait to have. Clean up your mind, clean up the cobwebs, and get that story to shine. 

4. My family has terrible handwriting, and I can read most of it. Which means that I'm better able to read the scrawls of my own writing when I woke up at two in the morning and had to write down an idea.

No further explanation needed, am I right? 

5. I can copy accents. And I can write them fairly decently.

This one's really just for fun, but accents are a good way to make a character. If you know how to speak them, it makes it ten times easier to write them. And I think by this point most people in other countries know we're trying to copy their accents anyway. 


What traits do you guys have that make for good writing? Let me know in the comments!

[love]

{RD}