On Writing
I don’t sit down and say I’m writing a novel. That would terrify me! Novels are long and complicated and I don’t know how anyone ever writes one! No, I sit down and say I’m writing a story, and today I’m going to write either two pages, or one scene, whichever comes first.
— Linda Sue Park
Yes, yes! I knew LSP was onto something when I first heard this from her. It has seen me through eight novels so far, where I’ve written each one by telling myself, “This is only a scene. I’m only writing a scene.”
Ditto. To sit down and think “I’m writing a book” is terrifying. Just showing up for the day and doing the small work ahead of me, that is much more manageable.