“To have begun is to be half-done;
dare to know; start!”
— Horace
(Thanks to Tasha O’Neill for her image of a doorway at the Rockefeller Gardens in Seal Harbor, Maine,“Unlocking the Forest.”)
Guest Blog: Marty Kihn on Working Without a Deadline
Bestselling* author Marty Kihn reveals the secret of his success:
How is it possible to get something done without a deadline? An easy question, really.
Get a dog. I’m totally serious. My beloved Bernese Mountain Dog, Hola, has for the past five years awakened me every morning at 6 a.m. and not a moment later. She won’t leave me alone until I physically vacate the bed. She even adjusts for Daylight Savings Time (don’t ask me how) – but, sadly, she has no concept of weekends, holidays, snow days, sick days or mornings when I’d just rather not bother. Every day is the same day, and so in the inexorable logic of dog ownership (meaning, the dog owns me), every day of my life starts the same way.
Most writers require routine. In this way they are similar to children – and dogs.
Once I’ve rounded the Trinity Church graveyard (“Manhattan’s Only Active Cemetery”) with my four-legged love child, it’s not possible to go back to sleep, especially since I’m also a very weak trainer and can’t seem to stop her jumping up into my spot with her head on my pillow. So what can I do? Go get some coffee and write something.
Although it has proven pretty effective for five years now, my method does have a flaw. Sooner or later, inevitably, a certain theme started to invade my work, nuzzling its way gently into page after page. Yes, I’m writing about my dog. And I’m reading the work to her as I finish it.
Luckily, she loves everything I do. Unconditionally.
Martin Kihn is the author, most recently, of A$$hole: How I Got Rich & Happy By Not Giving a Damn About Anyone. *Although blacklisted by a cowardly media elite in America when it came out last year, A$$hole is a breakout bestseller in Germany, where it is currently in the Top 20 in paperback. Martin is proud to be known as the David Hasselhoff of satirical non-fiction.
On Not Knowing What the Hell You’re Doing
Some words of encouragement from two writers who seem to know exactly what they’re doing:
“In beginning a story I know nothing at all: surely not where I am going, and hardly at all how to get there.” — Cynthia Ozick
“Writing a novel is like driving across country at night. You can only see as far as the headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” — E. L. Doctorow
Writer vs. Editor
I used to agonize over each word and phrase in a first draft, doubtful that when I came back to it, weeks or months later, I would be able to see, much less fix, the things that didn’t work. But while I was writing my third novel, The Way Life Should Be – and editing other people’s manuscripts at the same time – I had an epiphany.
(Yes, it took three novels to figure this out.)
Here’s what I realized: My editor-self is surprisingly clear-headed, even ruthless. Hyper-critical and exacting, she is capable of transforming a freewheeling, messy draft into clear and lucid prose. And she likes doing it. 
This realization freed my writer-self to have more fun. My first drafts have become more spontaneous and energetic; I feel free to try out a range of ideas, follow tangents in odd directions, write a scene of dialogue three different ways – all with the knowledge that my editor-self will step in when needed. With a red pencil and a roll of the eyes: What was she thinking?
Writing Tip #2: Four Basic Elements
A novelist friend has an index card with these four words on it taped to the wall above the computer in his study:
CHARACTER
CONFLICT
CHOICES
CONSEQUENCES
Sometimes it helps to remember: it’s that simple.