Revision, revision: Save those drafts

A witty post on RedRoom.com today, by Ashira Goddard mentions something of note: "saving the edits."

I always save drafts and revisions, sometimes labeling them as "Draft3 1876 words," or "Draft4 cut," etc. When you feel you really can't let go of your work, whether good or bad, it makes sense to save your article or manuscript under another name and keep the old drafts until you're really done.

It paid off recently when an editor requested a short article, and I over-wrote, as usual. After lots of good reader feedback, she wanted a longer piece with a broader slant. Right from the start, I was halfway done, because of all the excess material I'd saved.

If you need a bit of inspiration to do the same, read Ashira's June 3rd post on RedRoom.com today.

Atlantic's take on Google

Make yourself read this lengthy article at The Atlantic web site, if you're not a subscriber or don't want to go to the library and read it:

Is Google Making Us Stupid

If you fret over your inability to concentrate when reading, if you are tired of being busy but not getting anything done, then multi-tasking and a world of sound bites may be to blame.

This Atlantic article, by Nicholas Carr, is the perfect antidote for writers, Luddites, and everyone in betweeen, who's wondering what technology has done to the written word, and our comprehension of same.

Go ahead - read it now: Is Google Making Us Stupid

"Release Your Writing" now available on Amazon Kindle

Take me with you! Release Your Writing is now available as an Amazon Kindle book. So if you have a Kindle ebook reader, you can download my book for $7.99.

Then what? Well, you can read it on planes and trains, refer to it when you're in a high-powered agent meeting, or take it to the beach. Now you can practice my "Pajama Marketing" techniques when you wake up in the middle of the night, and bookmark your favorite passages without turning the entire book into yellow highlighter!