Quotes and Cookies: Don't be lazy!

I recently read SAVE THE CAT for the first time. Ohmygosh. I wish I would've known about this book 4 1/2 years ago when I first started writing! It is nothing short of brilliant. Blake Snyder's fifteen "beats" are one of those things that once you read them, you think Of course it needs to be that way! It just feels right. If you haven't read it, I'd definitely recommend it. I wrote a synopsis of my book 2 my usual way and sent it to my agent. Then I wrote a synopsis of the same book using the beat sheet to send to my editor, and it's about a billion times better! (Sorry, Sara, for sending you the crap one first.) I'll never write another synopsis (or another book!) without using the beat sheet. So, in honor of my new found love, today's quote comes straight from SAVE THE CAT. It's one of the paragraphs at the end, after he suggests all the things you should do to make your manuscript shine.

If you are having any nagging doubts about [your manuscript], you now know what to do. You have the tools to go back in and fix it. But will you? That's the rub. Here's a tip: When in doubt, do it. Don't be lazy! Don't say "Oh well, no one will notice" because... they will.

You only get the one shot at a first impression. Try to get over the love affair you have with yourself and your work and do what needs to be done. This is what separates the pros from the wannabes--- that nagging voice that says: "It sucks!" And the mature, adult, professional voice that quickly chimes in: "And I know how to fix it!"

~Blake Snyder

So I guess that means we need both the nagging voice and the professional voice to get us through it... And possibly a cookie.

By http://www.flickr.com/photos/rusvaplauke/ [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Have a fabulous weekend!