What’s your biggest writerly fault, and how do you cope with it?

"Papering over plot holes with lavishly atmospheric description. But I can only do this for so long before I snarl at myself to get to grips with the story, why don’t you?" - Margo Lanagan, author of The Brides of Rollrock Island.
"Rushing. I am terminally bored. Writing is such a slow process that, to entertain myself, I sometimes rush through things to get to the next bit of excitement. If I didn’t have an editor to help me slow down, my novels would be tiring, I think. Right now I’m working on doing that myself." - Dan Krokos, author of False Memory.
"Self doubt. And I tell myself how much I suck to be doubting myself all the time. And then my biggest fault becomes self-loathing." - Martha Brockenbrough, author of Devine Intervention.
"I have a love affair with the words: just, sort of, kind of. That's what editing is for! Remove. Remove. Remove." - Joy Peble, author of Anastasia Forever.
"Procrastination. Specifically, internet procrastination. LeechBlock, a timer, and getting myself to an internet-free coffee shop are my best weapons." - Kirsten Hubbard, author of Wanderlove.
"I tend to think anything I write is crap. I remind myself that most authors feel this way." - Cyn Balog, author of Touched.
"Impatience and perfectionism. I am not good at waiting for a story to grow, letting things stew. I want to write the whole book RIGHT NOW! The perfectionism comes in later when I just read and reread a draft to death. Words start blurring into meaningless letters and still I force myself to read the thing ONE MORE TIME. I cope with the impatience by having this sort of motherly voice in my head that sits the creative part down and tells her to take a time out, that nothing good is happening for her right now and couldn’t she use a break? The perfectionism is cured by the miracle of deadlines." - Dayna Lorentz, author of No Safety in Numbers.
"I overwrite, or tend to gild the lily at times. I try to be aware of that fault, especially during revision, and keep a premium on lean, direct sentences. And when I do reach for something bigger, I try to keep those moments infrequent and, hopefully, therefore more powerful. I also like quiet books, as a reader and a writer, and I sometimes fret that it makes me out of sync with readers who prefer plot-driven books. I cope with it by trying to write according to my own sensibilities, not those of some phantom reader." - James Preller, author of Before You Go.
"Self-doubt is my biggest writerly fault. If I can’t trust myself then I try to trust that my characters know what they want and where they need to go." - Katie McGarry, author of Pushing the Limits.

"I have a tendency to write quiet stories and not torture my characters enough. For Love and Leftovers I made a list of very bad things to put my main character through and stuck with it." - Sarah Tregay, author of Love and Leftovers.

Find out Thursday what the rest of the authors believe are their writerly faults!
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