I am in the thick of crafting a story. Some days I make a lot of progress. My characters respond. The plot flows like a mighty river. Other days the characters fall flat and the plot gets twisted and hard to understand. And I’m writing children’s books. Writing adult fiction must be a brutal process to wade through.

Yet this is the writing process — full of twists and turns and insurmountable challenges. I love it!

Here are a few meaningful quotes that keep me moving past my first and second drafts to the final copy. I hope they speak to you.

“Plot is people. Human emotions and desires founded on the realities of life, working at cross purposes, getting hotter and fiercer as they strike against each other until finally there’s an explosion—that’s Plot.”
—Leigh Brackett, WD

“The first sentence can’t be written until the final sentence is written.”
—Joyce Carol Oates, WD

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About Rick Crawford

I am a teacher by day. By night I write children's chapter books.

6 Responses »

  1. Marcia Crawford says:

    I will be praying you make it through the rough spots. For your sake and mine

  2. Joe Pineda says:

    Mood often decides whether the writing process works or not. If you believe you’re getting stuck and things are not working, that will most certainly happen.

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