Another writing "trick" that works for some people is to write the first draft on the computer, then do a round of editing on the hard copy and then type it all again into the computer. The reason being is a) then it goes through the forebrain all over again, and b) the writer then has a motive to cut cut cut to give themselves less typing to do.

yes and yes and yes. Mine is a "read-aloud" version: I find reading it aloud from the screen is nowhere near as revealing and effective as reading it off paper.

eta addendum: I don't retype everything. No way - again, multiple sclerosis is very unforgiving on the hands. And if I was remotely uncertain about the changes, no deleting either. Save a Version 1/Version 2 to disc, would seem to be sensible.

Mine is wanting to strangle characters. Would she do that? Why does this read so bloody stilted? Goddamnit, this has to happen but it makes him look like a moron if he does it.

Sometimes people are bloody morons. I often have the opposite problem, as in, I don't at first let characters make mistakes, which is sometimes neccesary for them to do.

Victor, nononono. Not as in "he'll look unintelligent if he does that". More like "having this particular character do this is so completely not this character that he'll look as though his brains suddenly leaked out his ears if he does that."

Consistency. ALL my characters make mistakes. In fact, I insist on it.

My few attempts at Original Fiction involve a lot of coffee drinking. And ennui. And basically not a hell of a lot of plot, just angst.

The horror.

Err. This may be because most of the stuff was written a decade ago.

Deleting the first draft file before rekeying would pretty much be X-Treme Writing for me -- I would live in fear that just this once the first draft would have a sentence or image or piece of dialogue that someday I might want to go back to.

Besides, I figure I've got to allow my future Christopher Tolkien to have something to publish, right? :-)

Mine is wanting to strangle characters. Would she do that?

I've always lumped that in under plot. I need certain people to get to certain places, and when they drag their feet I want to kick them. If they're resisting, either there's something illogical in the plot or in them.

I don't have writers' block. I have "god this sucks let's fix that sentence no it isn't quite right let's fix it again maybe another sentence would be better no go fix the first sentence again."

Anal-retentive: not just a choice, but a lifestyle.

More like "having this particular character do this is so completely not this character that he'll look as though his brains suddenly leaked out his ears if he does that."

Oh, I getcha.

Theodosia, that terrifies me so much that I have a snippets file. When a scene doesn't work or isn't really necessary, I cut it out and move it to snippets. Maybe it will return, maybe it won't, but it doesn't feel as bad as throwing it away entirely.

Betsy, I read that (the anal-retentive, fuss with first draft post) and had I been anything other than a complete pagan, I'd have crossed myself.

I expect I'm anal-retentive about damned near everything else. Just not that....