Come up with three good questions about your work.  Try to answer those questions on paper, not worrying about what you put on the page.

By doing this you’re making yourself take on a different role because you’re the one acting as the editor, thinking about the piece in a new light and actively answering questions that have arisen.

Take a novel, any novel, and read the first chapter.  Look at how it’s structured.  Think about how the author introduces the characters, the setting, the premise of the story.  Make some notes about what works, and what doesn’t work, for you as a reader.  Notice what the dialogue does, and what the description does, then notice which parts you prefer on the page.

Take these thoughts and read over (or write) a first chapter of your own.  What do you discover?

The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.  Mark Twain

I’m not censoring Mr Twain on this site – he’s too good of a writer.  I’ll be thinking about his words this week and appreciating that he took the time to express them.