How Cheryl writes an article...

Here are the eight steps I use for writing a nonfiction article. Use them at your peril:

1. Find Idea. (Mood=Ridiculously optimistic) (Actions=brainstorm a million beautiful words)


2. Begin Research. (Mood=Wow! This is so cool!) (Actions=spend hours collecting and reading articles, get distracted by every available nuance of every available topic)


3. Write Outline. (Mood=Man, this will be a cinch!) (Actions=daydream in tub)


4. Write 1st Draft. (Mood=Danger! Danger! What the heck was I thinking?) (Actions=Polish nails, repaint living room, write new blog posts)


5. Rewrite. (Mood=Man, this is really, really terrible) (Actions=Pick off nail polish, write more blog posts, check flights to Australia)


6. Rewrite more. (Mood=Maybe this will work...probably not, but it's definitely possible) (Actions=Rearrange commas, read manuscript aloud, get excited by discovery of perfect introduction idea)


7. Rewrite still more. (Mood=Hey, this is actually getting somewhere!) (Actions=Rewrite more)


8. Give article final polish. (Mood=Relief) (Actions=resist sending it off before critique group review)


9. Dream up next projects (Mood=That wasn't so bad! Hey, I should write these other 20 books and articles. Tomorrow. Before breakfast. It'll be a piece of cake!)

~Cheryl