General advice from published authors to aspiring writers
- Thread starter Brian G Turner
- Start date
Xwing Mom
Armchair Archaeologist
It goes without saying that one needs to write, rewrite and rewrite again. But there comes a point when you've polished your work till there's no more polishing to be done.
That's when you simply have to believe in your work (or have someone believe strongly enough in you to keep you going.)
While getting that first novel published at a big name company (or even a small press that hands out nice little advances)is what we all dream about, the reality is that doesn't happen very often. Sometimes you have to make your entrance.
Financial genius Dave Ramsey ALWAYS recommends using a self-publisher to break into print. Sell your books yourself, he says, and then the big companies will come after you.
I have to admit after 15 years of rejection slips a mile deep (no, I'm not exaggerating! --well, maybe just a little!
), I was encouraged to try a self-publishing company. I did NOT choose a vanity publisher. I spent years perfecting my book and I'm not about to pay someone else to publish my work. So I would never recommend that type of company.
Last year I published my first sci fi novel with PublishAmerica. It's very satisfying to hold one's creation in one's hands. The royalty checks are nice, too! Even better is doing book signings. While I haven't broken a million books yet (looonnggg way to go), I've found it a very good way to break into print with my first novel.
As a general rule, most first novels have a difficult time selling and this is one way to improve your craft.
That's when you simply have to believe in your work (or have someone believe strongly enough in you to keep you going.)
While getting that first novel published at a big name company (or even a small press that hands out nice little advances)is what we all dream about, the reality is that doesn't happen very often. Sometimes you have to make your entrance.
Financial genius Dave Ramsey ALWAYS recommends using a self-publisher to break into print. Sell your books yourself, he says, and then the big companies will come after you.
I have to admit after 15 years of rejection slips a mile deep (no, I'm not exaggerating! --well, maybe just a little!
), I was encouraged to try a self-publishing company. I did NOT choose a vanity publisher. I spent years perfecting my book and I'm not about to pay someone else to publish my work. So I would never recommend that type of company.Last year I published my first sci fi novel with PublishAmerica. It's very satisfying to hold one's creation in one's hands. The royalty checks are nice, too! Even better is doing book signings. While I haven't broken a million books yet (looonnggg way to go), I've found it a very good way to break into print with my first novel.
As a general rule, most first novels have a difficult time selling and this is one way to improve your craft.
Anthony G Williams
Greybeard
Those thinking about self-publishing (or just generally interested in publishing) may wish to read this: ON PUBLISHING FICTION
I have yet to deal with publishers or agents, and as a 21-year old I'm not at all sure if I want to just yet.
But I do have some rules for myself, and I would appreciate feedback on them:
1. Keep writing. I've had a year or two in which I didn't write anything, just because one day I didn't feel like it. The longer you stay off from writing the harder it gets to start up again. There are so much things to do in life, and the only good way to make yourself want to write is by writing itself, it makes me think about my characters, my story, etc.
2. Don't do one thing at a time. The good news is, I love reading, I love writing, and I love thinking up plots. The bad news is I don't like rewriting, and I don't like writing down plots. But every one of these processes is nescesary for me. If I spend 3 days on rewriting, or 3 days on writing down plots, I lose motivation. So my mandate for myself is to spend an equal amount of time on each of these processes each day (expect thinking up plots - that should happen all day long and if it doesn't I'm not doing a good enough job).
3. Don't read too many other aspiring artist/poet works. That can seriously get you unmotivated because you're bound to run into things you think are boring.
4. Similarly, only show your own work to people you know are good at critisising and won't just say "it sucks", or even worse "splendid, I love it!".
5. Write about yourself as a character. Then take what you like from that character, and ditch what you don't. Never use the character, but keep it as an archetype.
6. Similarly, in every situation and scene, think of how you or someone you know would act, say and what the motivation would be.
7. Keep reading. Know what you like, and what you don't like. Know what you can pull off, and where you limits are. Don't be afraid to say "now that's a good author, I could never write like that but I sure love it". Then think of how you cán write.
8. Never plan too much in advance. Give yourself some breathing space. Don't plan too many character deaths - you'll want to have room left over to use them when writing.
9. Start off by going "what does my novel have that other novels don't have?". Be original but stay within one genre.
10. Think up one cool thing that defines your novel/character/scene. Base the rest around it.
But I do have some rules for myself, and I would appreciate feedback on them:
1. Keep writing. I've had a year or two in which I didn't write anything, just because one day I didn't feel like it. The longer you stay off from writing the harder it gets to start up again. There are so much things to do in life, and the only good way to make yourself want to write is by writing itself, it makes me think about my characters, my story, etc.
2. Don't do one thing at a time. The good news is, I love reading, I love writing, and I love thinking up plots. The bad news is I don't like rewriting, and I don't like writing down plots. But every one of these processes is nescesary for me. If I spend 3 days on rewriting, or 3 days on writing down plots, I lose motivation. So my mandate for myself is to spend an equal amount of time on each of these processes each day (expect thinking up plots - that should happen all day long and if it doesn't I'm not doing a good enough job).
3. Don't read too many other aspiring artist/poet works. That can seriously get you unmotivated because you're bound to run into things you think are boring.
4. Similarly, only show your own work to people you know are good at critisising and won't just say "it sucks", or even worse "splendid, I love it!".
5. Write about yourself as a character. Then take what you like from that character, and ditch what you don't. Never use the character, but keep it as an archetype.
6. Similarly, in every situation and scene, think of how you or someone you know would act, say and what the motivation would be.
7. Keep reading. Know what you like, and what you don't like. Know what you can pull off, and where you limits are. Don't be afraid to say "now that's a good author, I could never write like that but I sure love it". Then think of how you cán write.
8. Never plan too much in advance. Give yourself some breathing space. Don't plan too many character deaths - you'll want to have room left over to use them when writing.
9. Start off by going "what does my novel have that other novels don't have?". Be original but stay within one genre.
10. Think up one cool thing that defines your novel/character/scene. Base the rest around it.
HBrookhouse
Active Member
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2009
- Messages
- 41
I never refer to myself as an aspiring writer. I always refer to myself as a writer, because that's what I do. And there is the assumption that this is what I will, one day, be paid to do. An aspiring writer is a job title which has implicit failure written through its core like blackpool rock.
Ever since I was 4 years old, the only thing I ever wanted was to be a police officer. I got thrown out because I had this strange notion that I was there to serve the public, not the police. Writing science fiction is the only thing I have ever found to replace that innate being.
To be technical about this, I call this the "Occupational manifestation of self". If you can't say, either, "If my job didn't exist, I'd have to invent it." or "If I could do my job without being paid, I'd still have to do it." you're in the wrong job.
Ever since I was 4 years old, the only thing I ever wanted was to be a police officer. I got thrown out because I had this strange notion that I was there to serve the public, not the police. Writing science fiction is the only thing I have ever found to replace that innate being.
To be technical about this, I call this the "Occupational manifestation of self". If you can't say, either, "If my job didn't exist, I'd have to invent it." or "If I could do my job without being paid, I'd still have to do it." you're in the wrong job.
mygoditsraining
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2008
- Messages
- 448
Interesting series of articles running semi-regularly over at io9 on writing;
What's The Difference Between Denouement And Picking At A Scab? - Writing - io9
What's The Difference Between Denouement And Picking At A Scab? - Writing - io9
get matt writing
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2010
- Messages
- 1
Not sure if this thread is still going, but whatever, it's a great resource that I think should continue to be added to.
With that in mind, here is a link to a recent post on the Guardian newspaper site. If you follow the links, here are ten rules of writing from Elmore Leonard, which are all fantastic pieces of advice, plus there are further tips and rules from over twenty other published authors!
(replace space with fullstop/period)
www getmewriting.com/techniques-and-tips/guardian-posts-writerly-advice/
With that in mind, here is a link to a recent post on the Guardian newspaper site. If you follow the links, here are ten rules of writing from Elmore Leonard, which are all fantastic pieces of advice, plus there are further tips and rules from over twenty other published authors!
(replace space with fullstop/period)
www getmewriting.com/techniques-and-tips/guardian-posts-writerly-advice/
uncertain_absolutist
Member
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2010
- Messages
- 7
These were very helpful to read. Though I wonder, John J. Nance spoke of something I had been wondering about regarding balancing simply what your writing and producing with its potential appeal to a market audience. Here, I am curious if alteration of one’s story should keep that in mind. In any case, overall, I was surprise to read the advice of not watching too much TV, though I can see its truism.
Other than that, I was also kind of surprised so many said to read, read, read, read a lot when you're writing. I do read a lot, but I try to read less of the genre I'm writing on once I get into my story so as not to accidently take a similar voice to my favorite authors.
Other than that, I was also kind of surprised so many said to read, read, read, read a lot when you're writing. I do read a lot, but I try to read less of the genre I'm writing on once I get into my story so as not to accidently take a similar voice to my favorite authors.
Arkose
Waiting for tea time
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2011
- Messages
- 264
Lot of good quotes in here. I am also surprised by all the reading advice but in the end the more I read the more motivated I get to write. More because I find the plots i like to know more about not really written in stories I have read.
I agree with Ivaron though, that i lose interest if I focus on one area too much. I'll write a short story, re-write, and than stop for a couple of months. I guess its maturity and learning my own limitations but I am getting better at reading, writing down ideas, and most importantly writing every day.
Starting seems very hard thing to do right now. Glade too see all the advice.
I agree with Ivaron though, that i lose interest if I focus on one area too much. I'll write a short story, re-write, and than stop for a couple of months. I guess its maturity and learning my own limitations but I am getting better at reading, writing down ideas, and most importantly writing every day.
Starting seems very hard thing to do right now. Glade too see all the advice.
WJCherf
Ancient Historian
The mainstream publishing world is a shark tank. Get used to it and move on.
Have faith in your work.
Share it with friends and famly.
Listen to their reactions.
Act on those reactions. Clean up your act grammatically.
Find a good editor that you can work with easily. Whether you like it or not it you will form a partnership, and hopefully, a friendship as well. If you don't click, find another editor.
Once the ms. is in tip-top shape, have some non-friends and family read it. Again, listen to their reactions.
Fix as needed.
Now, if the ms. is ready, screw the mainstream publishing world and put it on Amazon as an ebook and enjoy, currently, 70% royalties. This simple fact is one that no mainstream publishing house will extend to any green, first-time authors.
Now comes the really difficult part: marketing your book. If you went the ebook route then you are computer savvy. Stick with the computer, use social sites, blogs in your specialty (like this one), and do your homework to "get hip" to what is currently working.
Have faith in your work.
Share it with friends and famly.
Listen to their reactions.
Act on those reactions. Clean up your act grammatically.
Find a good editor that you can work with easily. Whether you like it or not it you will form a partnership, and hopefully, a friendship as well. If you don't click, find another editor.
Once the ms. is in tip-top shape, have some non-friends and family read it. Again, listen to their reactions.
Fix as needed.
Now, if the ms. is ready, screw the mainstream publishing world and put it on Amazon as an ebook and enjoy, currently, 70% royalties. This simple fact is one that no mainstream publishing house will extend to any green, first-time authors.
Now comes the really difficult part: marketing your book. If you went the ebook route then you are computer savvy. Stick with the computer, use social sites, blogs in your specialty (like this one), and do your homework to "get hip" to what is currently working.
Not a fact -- as a little research into how many debut authors the mainstream houses publish each year would tell you.
Not very many debut authors compared to the number of submissions they receive, but to say that it never happens is simply not true. Unfortunately, this kind of misinformation discourages many talented writers from even trying. It doesn't hurt to try it first -- 8% of ten thousand copies sold is better than 70% of the handful most self-published writers sell -- because self-publishing remains an option afterward.
I find the advise on getting someone you trust to read your work a little bit annoying, writing is my little secret because there is the thing "you are always changing your mind on what you want to do" and I enjoy writing, I enjoy reading. I have told my mum to read one of my short stories, I gave it to her over a month ago and she still hasnt read it with the excuse that she is busy or tired. If even my own mum can't read my work and tell how wondeful it is...whats the point of teling anybody! sorry, my confidence has plumeted big style...
Dante DiBenedetto
Well-Known Member
I remember watching an interview with Elmore Leonard (Three-Ten to Yuma). He said he researched the market before he ever wrote his first short story meant for publication. That was a piece of advice that really stuck me a few years back. He didn't have much difficulty getting published because of that.
So I guess it really depends on how you want to approach your writing and what you prioritize. Do you want to become published more, or do you just want to write whatever whim is fluttering in your heart at the time?
I've only written one short story where pursuing publication was pre-meditated. The novel I'm working on right now is as well. However, that doesn't mean that I outlined tropes/strategies specifically to sell my wares. I simply used the research acquired to help me understand what it is that tickles the entertainment bone of the reader.
I dismiss published authors that like to call that strategy selling out. If they had no idea what the demands of publishing houses and agents were before submitting their manuscripts and their book deviated from the norms, they were ridiculously lucky and should be grateful.
So I guess it really depends on how you want to approach your writing and what you prioritize. Do you want to become published more, or do you just want to write whatever whim is fluttering in your heart at the time?
I've only written one short story where pursuing publication was pre-meditated. The novel I'm working on right now is as well. However, that doesn't mean that I outlined tropes/strategies specifically to sell my wares. I simply used the research acquired to help me understand what it is that tickles the entertainment bone of the reader.
I dismiss published authors that like to call that strategy selling out. If they had no idea what the demands of publishing houses and agents were before submitting their manuscripts and their book deviated from the norms, they were ridiculously lucky and should be grateful.
If authors only submitted for publication that which was selling "at the moment" (or what was being accepted by publishers a year or more before), nothing essentially new would ever be published, only riffs on what's already out there.
So perhaps it is we readers who ought to be grateful that some writers are willing to risk commercial disappointment or failure to bring us what they hope will be selling in the future. After all, even if we buy a book, it only costs us a few dollars, pounds or euros; the book has cost the writer months (or even years) of toil, without any guarantee at all of a single cent or penny in return.
So perhaps it is we readers who ought to be grateful that some writers are willing to risk commercial disappointment or failure to bring us what they hope will be selling in the future. After all, even if we buy a book, it only costs us a few dollars, pounds or euros; the book has cost the writer months (or even years) of toil, without any guarantee at all of a single cent or penny in return.
That's an incredibly dismissive way of putting it. I don't think anyone who works hard on a novel for several years can be accused of writing on a fluttering whim.
So might I, if I knew they existed. I don't know I've ever come across a published author who said this. (Some unpublished ones, sure.)
And so were we. Without that, there would be no Riddley Walker, and probably no Lord of the Rings (Tolkien's publishers wanted another Hobbit, remember). If everyone wrote to the market, where would the groundbreaking stuff come from? We need a mix of both, but I'd suggest we need the risktakers more.
Dante DiBenedetto
Well-Known Member
I'm not ragging on authors at all who end up being published without researching the market. Many writers end up doing so unconsciously, simply through emulating their favorite writers. I'm also not advocating being formulaic for the sake of a sale.
I was simply remarking that if your goal is to be published, as opposed to hoping to publish something you ended up writing, then you damn well better make sure you've done some planning, and that the people you're submitting to have published something in the vein of whatever you wrote.
The first novel I ended up writing was purely for pleasure, and had no market in mind. It was a complete joy ride and one of the best experiences in my life. A few years later, I'm looking to write something in hopes of being published. It's just practical advice. It's the same advice any agent would give you.
I apologize if I wasn't clear in my original post. I hope that sorts it for you.
Kissmequick
loony
It's perfectly possible to keep one eye on the market, while still writing what your fluttering heart demands. It's not an either/or proposition.
The book(s) I've got coming out with Orbit next year started with me realising I was enjoying the trend of cynical/snarky anti-heroes. It sounded like fun to write one, so I did. (And it was fun). Am I writing hard-heartedly to the market? No, I don't think so. It's still my story, the way I wanted it, what my fluttering heart demanded. Just so happened that the market sparked the idea.
You can look at the market and think, ooh, actually I can do something with that....
Other than that:
Read
Write
Read more, and analyse it
Write more
Observe the world and people around you, in detail.
Study what is selling, and while not writing especially to it, keep the market, and the reader, in the back of your mind when you write.
Critique others' work (you'll find it easier to see problems in others work and then you'll see where you've done exactly the same in yours...). Also pays dividends when you need someone to crit your work. A writers group is great, if you can find one that meshes with you and where you are at.
Do not suffer from Golden Word Syndrome - be prepared to murder your darlings. With a chainsaw and napalm if necessary. You are not a special snowflake, or the gods' gift to the literary world (Probably anyway!)
Remember you can always still learn. There is no 'I have finished' to it. Learn, and keep on learning.
Remember there is no one book in the whole history of books that everyone loved. Develop a thick skin, and know that criticism of your work is not criticism of you. Even when it feels like it.
Then write some more. Always be working on one project or another (even if just daydreaming about the plot etc, which is the extent of my planning).
When it comes to querying do your research. I cannot emphasise that enough. Make sure you aren't querying anyone dodgy (lots of scammers out there, and dodgy publishers too), that they have a good record. Have they sold, or are especially looking for, the sort if thing you have written? Before you sign, ask LOTS of questions, make sure you are totally happy with them.
And cultivate sheer dogged persistence.
The book(s) I've got coming out with Orbit next year started with me realising I was enjoying the trend of cynical/snarky anti-heroes. It sounded like fun to write one, so I did. (And it was fun). Am I writing hard-heartedly to the market? No, I don't think so. It's still my story, the way I wanted it, what my fluttering heart demanded. Just so happened that the market sparked the idea.
You can look at the market and think, ooh, actually I can do something with that....
Other than that:
Read
Write
Read more, and analyse it
Write more
Observe the world and people around you, in detail.
Study what is selling, and while not writing especially to it, keep the market, and the reader, in the back of your mind when you write.
Critique others' work (you'll find it easier to see problems in others work and then you'll see where you've done exactly the same in yours...). Also pays dividends when you need someone to crit your work. A writers group is great, if you can find one that meshes with you and where you are at.
Do not suffer from Golden Word Syndrome - be prepared to murder your darlings. With a chainsaw and napalm if necessary. You are not a special snowflake, or the gods' gift to the literary world (Probably anyway!
) Remember you can always still learn. There is no 'I have finished' to it. Learn, and keep on learning.
Remember there is no one book in the whole history of books that everyone loved. Develop a thick skin, and know that criticism of your work is not criticism of you. Even when it feels like it.
Then write some more. Always be working on one project or another (even if just daydreaming about the plot etc, which is the extent of my planning).
When it comes to querying do your research. I cannot emphasise that enough. Make sure you aren't querying anyone dodgy (lots of scammers out there, and dodgy publishers too), that they have a good record. Have they sold, or are especially looking for, the sort if thing you have written? Before you sign, ask LOTS of questions, make sure you are totally happy with them.
And cultivate sheer dogged persistence.
Dante DiBenedetto
Well-Known Member
Oh man. You guys are never going to let me live that fluttering line down, are you... haha.
I really love your piece of advice
Reading with a critical eye has helped me extensively. I have my editor to thank for that. Thanks for sharing your advice!
I really love your piece of advice
Reading with a critical eye has helped me extensively. I have my editor to thank for that. Thanks for sharing your advice!
Christopher Lee
Formerly BluePhoenix711
Great advice, most all of it I found early on in Stephen king's A Memoir of the Craft. Still the most honest, inspiring book I've read.
I've found that the more I've been reading, the better my writing has gotten. I don't read with a critical eye, rather it's almost as if I pick up things here and there automatically (or perhaps, subconsciously I am reading with a critical eye). I read for pleasure, and it seems to inevitably find it's way into my writing.
I've found that the more I've been reading, the better my writing has gotten. I don't read with a critical eye, rather it's almost as if I pick up things here and there automatically (or perhaps, subconsciously I am reading with a critical eye). I read for pleasure, and it seems to inevitably find it's way into my writing.
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