the a-z of writing

[adelaidesean]

Ever since Clarion, I've had an A-Z of Writing wafting around the back of my mind.

There are some out there already, but I reckon we can do better.

Below the cut is my rough draft.  What do you think?  I'm open to suggestions!

THE A-Z OF WRITING

A is for Audacity and Ambition (doesn't hurt to have a little of both)
B is for Books (so obvious it's blinding)
C is for Crisis, Choice and Consequence (thanks, tallaudrey!)
D is for Dreams (where I get my best ideas)
E is for Effective and Entertaining (stories that are both get away with anything); also for Editing
F is for FINISH
G is for GRAMMAR; also for Goals
H is for HARD WORK (and Haiku!)
I is for Ideas
J is for Just Do It
K is for Kudos (not what we do it for, but hell, it doesn't hurt either)
L is for Listen and Learn
M is for Market
N is for Novelty (not always the same thing as Originality)
O is for Originality (not always the same thing as Novelty)
P is for Professional; also for Punctuation ETA and Proofread
Q is for Quality (settling for "good enough" is never good enough)
R is for READ ETA and also for  Revise, then Resubmit, Resubmit, Resubmit, etc) (thanks, punktortoise!)
S is for START ETA and Story and knowing when to Stop (thanks, battblush!)
T is for Talent, Technique and Tenacity (thanks, Kate!); also for the 10.5 Commandments
U is for Ubiquitous (people who say they want to write but never do), Unexceptional (most people's first efforts, including mine) and Utterly Usual (receiving rejections, lots of them); also Utopian (a world in which none of these three things are true)
V is for Verisimilitude
W is for WRITE
X is for Xenophon (not the senator; the writer who once said "The sweetest sound of all is praise") (thanks again, tallaudrey!)
Y is that proverbial crooked letter (if you have to ask why you're writing, maybe you shouldn't be writing at all)
Z is for Zeal ("fervour or tireless devotion...and determination in its furtherance; diligent enthusiasm; powerful interest "--you get the picture) and for the Zeroth Commandment (commitment)

Is there anything major I've missed?

ETA See the comments for some excellent suggestions that haven't quite made the list!

Comments

[karenmiller.livejournal.com]

Yes!

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

But a certain degree of impatience is important too. If you're not keen to get somewhere, maybe you'll get nowhere at all.

As with so many things to do with writing, there are two complete opposites to keep in your head at the same time.

[karenmiller.livejournal.com]

You're evil. I'm supposed to be concentrating on a new chapter one. *g*

I get your meaning, but I'm not sure impatience is the right word, semantically. Impatience often leads to hasty action, and in this context can be counterproductive. Raise your hand if you've ever sent a ms out too soon because you were impatient and wanted results now? (me me me me me)

I think you need an implacable desire to achieve your goal, a desire that can withstand disappointment and setbacks, that's harnessed to a willingness to be patient and recognise this isn't a quick fix game. Especially if you're looking at pursuing the novelist's path, which is an absolute life lesson in acceptance of the long term process.

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

You're right, as always. I guess I've just met too many wannabe writers who don't have that fire in the belly--you know, the one that drives the whole engine. Without that, without a measure of dissatisfaction with any kind of world that doesn't include me as a writer, I think it's pretty hard to get anywhere. There's an extreme kind of patience that speaks of fossilisation or sedimentation, and that won't help at all.

Different strokes for different folks, though. And we all operate on individual definitions of "anywhere", too. So I shouldn't be too quick to judge.

the novelist's path, which is an absolute life lesson in acceptance of the long term process

You said it. The long term process composed of writing and writing and waiting and waiting, followed by insane periods of squeezing whole edits into 24 hour periods. That kind of thing.

Why do we do this again? :-)

[karenmiller.livejournal.com]

Why do we do it? Because we can't not. And also we're insane.

You are absolutely right about the fire in the belly. It's that rabid determination to keep going, no matter what, that usually separates those who aspire from those who ultimately achieve, for any given value of achieve. But I'd liken that kind of fire to the slow-banked furnace, that just keeps burning, as opposed to the flash in the pan whoosh of yeah, I wanna do this, but which burns out because it lacks the sustained fuel of patience and persistence and tenacity and bloody-minded focus of you can knock me down but you can't keep me down.