Books on writing -- advice needed

[Kerrybuchanan]

You remind me of myself 3 years ago, @richard sanchez. I did pretty much the same: writing in isolation and using the writers' and artists' yearbook to source all the agents and publishers I was certain would be queuing up to offer me money for my book.

They didn't, of course. Then I bumped into @Jo Zebedee, who pointed me at this forum and gave me much the same advice as you've been given up above here. Hone your skills in a community of like-minded writers and critique others' work until you have 30 posts, then put your opening chapter up and stick a bulletproof vest on.

The folks here represent some of the most skilled and experienced genre writers you could ever wish to meet. Much to my surprise (at the time), no one wanted to steal my ideas or my writing to claim for their own; in fact, everyone was incredibly kind and went out of their way to help me improve my writing. Yes, some of the critiques I received made me cry, but not because they were too harsh or unkind, just because they were annoyingly right!

It does take time and a lot of determination to produce a novel of publishable quality, but it really is worth the effort.

In answer to your question about the year book in the original post: yes, it's a good source of agents and publishers, BUT you've used it now and might not have too many you haven't already been rejected by. Communities like this one are a great place to hear about open submission windows tailored for genre writers, and we'll even critique your query letters and synopses for you , too.

 

[The Big Peat]

Here comes the second verse, same as the first.

If you are capable of reaching the standard of writing needed to be a success with just nothing but your books and your brain, you are a truly special writer, more special than pretty much anyone here. And there's a bunch of really good writers here, but most of them needed the help of other people to get there. Most of them are still getting the help of other people here - all of them are still learning in some respect.

I apologise if you've already got the message and didn't need people repeating it over and over, but I do think it is *that* important to reach out to other people that I wanted to be sure

Now, maybe the place is here. That would be cool. Stick around, chat with people, read other critiques (you can get so much form doing this) then post your own. Or maybe its some other forum, or maybe its a writing group you find near where you live, or some combination... but there's got to be something. Whatever works for you.

Good luck and hope to see you around.

 

[pambaddeley]

You only really learn by doing - and by learning through experience how to edit. But informed criticism, such as the kind available on this forum, is a big help with the latter. Good luck!

 

[goldhawk]

Another piece of advice.

Ira Glass on Beginners:

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners. I wish someone has told me. All of us who are in creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is a gap. For the first couple of years you make stuff, it's just not that good. It's trying to be good, it has potential, but it's not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer.

"And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase; they quit. Most people I know who do something interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn't have this special thing that we want it to have. We all got through this.

"And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know that it's normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you finish one piece.

"It's only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I've ever met. It's gonna take a while. It's normal to take a while. You just gotta fight your way through."

 

[sozme]

The folks here represent some of the most skilled and experienced genre writers you could ever wish to meet.

As someone who has been on multiple writing forums as well critique sites (including paid ones), I agree 100% with this.