Krashen (2006) identifies  six habits of good writers:

1. Plan before writing.
2. Revise after writing.
3. Delay editing while writing.
4. Reread while writing.
5. Write daily.
6. Incubate.

So how do my habits compare?

Well, let's see. I generally do plan before writing. If it's a story, I don't even start before I have a premise. If it's an essay, I don't even start before I have a topic and theme. If it's a story, I think about how it will likely develop, how the action will progress from beginning to end. I also give some thought to the characters. If it's an essay, I consider the points I wish to touch on and how they interact.

I haven't been in the habit of revising stories. What revisions I've undertaken generally consist of little tweaks, often where tweaks were needed while writing. A good revision requires distance, anyway, so most of what I've written in the last year or two is waiting for the day I can read it critically. My essays are usually so well planned that little revision is required, but many an essay has felt the axe in places as I've adjusted for length.

Although I do tweak a bit while rereading, I don't get bogged down in editing before the piece is done.

When I get to the end of a section, or run out of ideas, or just get tired, I go back and reread what I've read. I look for inconsistencies and discontinuities, and hone in on the style and tone.

I keep daily journals for myself and three sons, write almost daily blog entries, and keep several logs related to work and study, so I most definitely write daily. I don't write stories daily, however. There isn't always time.

I work on a piece until I run out of exciting ideas for it or until a fresh piece suggests itself. After a break to look after the fresh piece, I return to the old piece, especially if I've come up with new ideas for it. For a lengthy piece, this process could be repeated numerous times.

I guess that puts me in contention for the label of good writer.

Krashen, S. D. 2006. English Fever. Crane Publishing Co., Ltd. Taipei, Taiwan. 35-36.

Because of events detailed in my blog Bli-fi, I plan to put together an electronic tool which will allow authors and their helpers to save time and money as they attempt to market pieces of writing. I call it MAPP (Match Author and Publisher Profile).

MAPP works on the principle that any journal, magazine or publishing house can be profiled on the basis of identifiable (though not necessarily quantifiable) criteria such as the lengths, themes and genres they publish, and that authors and their works can be profiled for the same criteria. A MAPP user will be able to profile an author or one of his or her pieces of writing and, using a database, match the author or a piece with a list of publishers. Acceptance is not guaranteed, of course, at any given time or ever, but the chances of acceptance should rise substantially based on MAPP comparisons.