Always Versus Never

ack in March, Lydia Kang had a neat post about writing habits; the Always/Never list.




My list goes like this:

In my writing, I Always:

- use pen and paper for the first draft
- have characters glance at each other
- repeat "and then" all over the place
- use the word "wondered"
- sprinkle meaningless modifiers (small, big, large, tiny, etc.) willy nilly

I Never:

- know the names of secondary characters until the third draft or so
- keep all the scenes I write (a lot end up as gangplanks or backstory, saved in draft folders)
- add dialogue tags in the first draft (the margin is always filled with notes like "but what are they doing??")
- write a story set in modern times
use contractions. Everyone's so formal all the time! I have to remind myself to be more casual in dialogue.

What sorts of habits do you have?

ROW80 going well! Still working on typing and editing the murder mystery short story. Hope everyone else is meeting their goals!