His point #5 interests me. I realize it's a joke but, there's also a certain usefulness about it. Two of the biggest problems I have as a writer, and they're related problems, are (a) I spend so much time setting the background that (b) my impatience with the story not actually going anywhere causes me to abandon it.

What I try to do these days is work the scene-setting/background into the fabric of the story -- to reveal things as I go.

anonymouse