I absolutely love this fabulous post on writing advice from kt literary client Susan Adrian:
With the New Year a lot of people make resolutions to start writing, to write more, to get serious about writing. Yay! We need more good stories. But these new writers or newly serious writers get a lot of advice thrown at them. I’ve been seeing it popping up lately, all over. Especially from published writers.
I read a blog the other day from a published writer telling readers if they want to be a “real” writer they need to write every day. Sure, they didn’t HAVE to. But if they were serious about it…well. This writer made it sound like if you don’t write every day, you might as well give up now, because you weren’t dedicated enough.
NO. NO NO NO NO NO. Guys, I may have growled at the screen a little.
I’ve seen so many writers give advice like that over the years. Not “I did this, or I do this, and it works for me.” That’s useful! But that’s not what I see everywhere. I see “If you want to get published, or be successful:”
- you should write every day (this is a huge one in the community)
- you should outline (sure, pantsing is okay for newbies, but not for people with contracts…)
- you should NOT outline
- you should use Scrivener
- you should use Word
- you should write in cafes, like real writers do
- you should turn off Internet while you write
- you should let your manuscript sit for (2 weeks, 1 week, a month) after the first draft. Whatever you do, don’t touch it before then!
- you should fast-draft and then revise
- you should revise as you go
- you should have 3 (or however many) crit partners for each stage
- you shouldn’t have crit partners after a certain point, just agent/editor
- you should have a certain number of stages in drafting
etc., etc. RULES. Not tools, or thoughts, or ideas to consider. RULES. And new writers are going to suck those rules right up and try to do all of them, even though many of them conflict! I know I did. I flailed.
There’s more on Susan’s blog, including the three simple pieces of advice that are really all most writers ever need. Check it out.
4 thoughts on ““Rules” on Being a Writer”
"You don't have to be a gangster to paint here so please don't act like one" <–LOL! Also, that was a great blog post, thanks for sharing 🙂
I love the three pieces of advice at the end. I might write them out to stick on my wall; they're not hard to remember, but I think being reminded about what's most important can only be a good thing (especially that last one!).
Awesome rules to follow! They are ones I know—have learned—and yet my last MS slipped out without a fourth and final read. (And by slipped out I mean went out because of eagerness to query, holiday chaos, eagerness to query, a crit parter who always has the last looksy but was sick, and eagerness to query ) I'm regretting it big time, as something inside has nagged at me ever since. After satisfying that nag by rereading the novel, for the hundredth time in a year, I found some minor but very frustrating errors that could have been avoided. I have three other novels and have Never been that stupid before. Kate, if you had the chance to read Club Neverland then you know what I'm referring to. ***Kicks self as I write this*** On a good note, I've caught them all and fixed them, if you’re interested. Number one writing New Year’s Resolution: If awesome final proofreading partner is out with flu, wait the extra month to reread novel before querying.
Hermès est une marque de leur maison, il ya beaucoup de paquet plus célèbre est BIRKIN, KELLY, LADY une classe, bien s?r, l’autre est très classique. Presque tous les forfaits ont corticale différente (parfois les mêmes espèces d’espèces animales peuvent être divisés en une variété de parties d’animaux) de différentes couleurs. Clients VIP donnés marques d’entrer dans le sac de sorte qu’il peut être des couleurs mélangées. Comme pour BIRKIN encore relativement rare dans la pate de brouillard et d’autres relativement rare, il est poussé à le prix du forfait de diamant. Sacs prix sont généralement moins que les modèles de base de seulement 100 000, si la peau de lézard alligator d’autruche que vous n’avez pas nécessairement se faire frapper, peut-être même rencontrer aussi des expositions, de ne pas vendre. Personnellement comme BIRKIN d’épaule et mini Birkin. Togo générale des prix plus pratiques et abordables de bonne santé.