Recently, I’ve been thinking back. Maybe I’m just in a nostalgic mood, but I’ve
been wondering about the me from ten years ago.
What would she think of me now?
And what would I tell her, if I had the chance?
There’s been so many paths that I’ve taken that I never
imagined existed when I was a teenager.
To answer the first question, I think fifteen year old me
would be amazed by who I was today. I’ve
overcome so many fears, experienced so many new things, taken so many risks.
And that would be my biggest advice to the younger version
of me. Don’t be afraid to take those
risks. Don’t be afraid of pain. Because without that, I would never be who I
am today. Those growing moments are the
moments that I cherish more than the easy times.
In the writing sense, there are so many things I wish I
could tell myself. Things I wish that I’d
known when I first started writing.
 |
| Me from many years ago |
1.
First drafts.
It’s
the one area where you can take words and just put them together on paper. There’s always the chance to improve, the
revise, to rewrite. But without that
first draft, there’s nothing to build on.
Get the words on the page. Get
the story out. The first draft is one of
the greatest things that a writer can create because once it’s finished, it’s
written.
2.
Writing is harder than it looks.
Can
I count the number of novels that I’ve never finished? No.
Having an idea is just the first step.
The most exciting step, admittedly, but the steam runs out first. It takes determination, perseverance and just
a little bit of crazy. But there’s
nothing like actually finishing a draft.
Knowing that you were able to focus for just long enough to create
something.
3.
Practice, Practice, Practice.
One improves writing by writing. Practicing putting sentences together, putting
thoughts one after another on a page.
You can’t just learn that by reading a book or taking a class. It’s a matter of doing it yourself and
putting what you learn to use. It’s like
anything else you want to learn. If you
want to play the piano, practice. If you
want to be able to place a folley, practice.
Never stop practicing.
This will be continued next week! What kind of advice would you tell your
writer self from ten years ago?
It took me a long time to truly realize the first point. I can't tell you how many times I stopped writing and kept going back to edit what I'd already written. In the end I went crazy for three days straight just writing, writing, writing. But I got that first draft finished!
ReplyDeleteIt was one of the most important things a writer can learn. It took me quite awhile to actually sit down and write instead of thinking and planning about writing.
DeleteYou learn more by writing six stories than you do by writing one story and rewriting/revising it five times. Especially when you're first learning, start a story, finish it, start another one, repeat.
ReplyDeleteMarketing is worthless until you have 15-20 titles out. Keep writing. The best promo for the book you just published is your next book.
Corollary: swag (personalized items like bookmarks, pens, buttons, wristbands, water bottles, mousepads, et-freaking-cetera, are a waste, don't sell books, and will cost you more money than you'll ever make on extra sales of the book they're advertising. Don't bother. Keep writing.
Editors are individuals and disagree all the time. Just because your story has gotten five or fifteen form rejections doesn't mean the next editor won't love it and buy it. Keep sending it out. In the mean time, write the next one, and the one after that.
Corollary: the worst thing you can do if you're tradpubbing is to write a novel, send it out, and wait until it's either sold or collected fifty rejections before starting your next one. Or if you indie pub, the worst thing you can do is put it up and then take the next year to promo it. Send it out or put it up, then get to work writing the next one. (Yes, there's a trend here.)
Read and understand your contract. If there's a part you don't understand, hire a lawyer to read it and explain it to you. Don't take the editor/publisher's word for what it means; they're biased, no matter how nice they might be. And these days, way too many agents are letting truly egregious clauses slip by as well. Contracts call for lawyers, not agents, not editors, not your best friend. (Unless your best friend is a contracts or IP attorney.)
You are responsible for your own career -- Dean Wesley Smith
The only way to build a fan base is to have a lot of material out there for readers to find. You can't manufacture a fan base. You create it, one story at a time -- Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Thank you for that great advice! I really appreciate it.
DeleteExcellent advice! And thankfully, that's exactly what I'm doing :)
ReplyDeleteI think I have no regrets. The only advice I would give myself is don t be so hard on yourself! And maybe take a couple more writing classes during college :)
ReplyDeleteI would tell myself not to listen to naysayers and have confidence in my creations. As artists, we deal with enough self-doubt and cannot afford room inside for other's negative opinions. :)
ReplyDelete