Writing Coach

I subscribe to a weekly newsletter by publication coach, Daphne Gray-Grant. This week she provides a link to Dr. Wicked. I can't find a way to pass on what she recommends without copying and pasting from the newsletter. I'm sure she would rather you subscribe to it. If you are too busy to keep up with your blogs, I recommend a subscription to both the Publication Coach and Dr. Wicked.

When I posted a link to Dr. Wicked on Facebook, my daughter, who is a writer, asked whether I was planning to write a novel. No, I write blogs. I want to write faster, and more often. One of the rules I try to follow is to compose first, quickly, without regard to grammar, punctuation, or spelling. Come back later and edit. That fits the scheme of the Dr. Wicked tool.

http://writeordie.drwicked.com/

http://www.publicationcoach.com/


Here's what she says about Dr. Wicked.
1) Dr. Wicked doesn't give your "internal editor" any time to engage. You're too busy typing to start sliding down the slippery slope of self-editing. As I've said many times before, write in haste and edit at leisure. Your best writing is often the fastest. And even if it isn't top-notch, you'll have a first draft to edit. That's better than a blank page, isn't it?

2) The implicit threat of Dr. Wicked (screen changing colour, obnoxious noises) keeps you plugging away at writing even when you'd rather be doing something else. I don't know about you, but I'm easily bored. I flit from idea to idea and task to task like a hummingbird zipping through a field of wildflowers. Finding the discipline to write for more than 15 minutes is always a challenge for me. But when I sit down with Dr. Wicked I know that my time is always running out.

3) Dr. Wicked forces you to focus on what you're doing -- writing. This ensures you ignore all the other more attractive distractions.