One of the things I learned about my writing during my first sale and now is how much I need the sticky notes. When those OMG, I need to fix that! lightbulb moments came—usually while showering, washing dishes, driving or otherwise occupied—I used to go back in the manuscript and rewrite until it was fixed. This led to a condition which mimics the symptoms of contestitis—the best first three chapters ever and then…nothing.

Now I jot that lightbulb revelation down on a sticky note—real ones in the notebook or using the sticky note program on the computer. That way I know the thought is preserved and the problem will be fixed, but it doesn’t have to be right now. I can just keep chugging forward (or backward, I guess, since I write out of order.)

I can’t share all of them because spoilers suck, but here are a few of the notes I’ve written to myself for DG3:

* There’s no physical description of anybody except the villain. Anywhere.

* Is there some special DG-issue cream that magically heals gunshot wounds, dumbass?

* Helicopter crashes generally cause SOME kind of injuries, dumbass.

* How many :censor: bullets does he have in that gun, anyway?

* Why isn’t he wearing a coat? He’s not REALLY Superman, dumbass.

(Umm, yeah, I call myself dumbass a lot during this stage of writing, but it’s meant affectionately. Honest. A petname, like sweetie or honey. Just…dumbass.)

* Is he gonna pull that “necessary , hard-to-get component” out of his ass?

* This is the lamest line of dialogue ever written in the entire history of fiction.

* Doublecheck all instances of Gallagher calling her Grace instead of Carmen are fixed. (I don’t know WTF is going on in the subconscious, but Rossi’s gonna kick his ass if he doesn’t get it straight.)

It’s time start picking sticky notes to fix, which is a good thing, because that means it’s almost done!