Guest blogger Gregory Frost says don't try for perfection.
"Always give yourself permission to screw up. Many times. Perfectionism has no place in writing fiction--it's a free trip to the hamster wheel of death."
Dixon says: This is powerful advice. I heard UCLA writing guru Dennis Foley say at Authors of the Flathead sessions many times that we needed to "allow ourselves to write crap" before it finally sank in. You can edit crap. You can take it to your critique group for their advice. You can amp up the drama, humor, sex and action in crap. None of those things are possible with a blank sheet of paper, which is what we get when we're afraid of screwing up.
BTW - "Hamster Wheel of Death" - awesome! I can't sing or play a musical instrument yet I yearn to start a rock band just so I can use that name. Wait! Maybe it could be a book title...
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