TheNextBigWriter Premium → Advice from Experts
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We have a couple of single-use forums for writerly advice links. I have a link, but hate the idea of a single-use forum. It makes the lists long and tedious to search.
So here I present Steven King's advice to writers.
I would quibble slightly on #9, on grammar. As I see it, grammar is a worthless master but a good servant, one that does some things well and others ill, and that must be carefully instructed if he is to work his best.
I would quibble with a few others ...
Put your desk in the corner of the room, and eliminate all possible distractions, from phones to open windows.
In ideal world. When you have to write while your kid is playing a cricket game or taking swimming lessons or golf lessons, it's best to learn how to shut the world out rather than to try and eliminate the world.
So I agree with what he is saying, just differently.
Take your writing seriously.
This is one of the many things I've learned here on TNBW. And for me, it started with Sol's advice (on the old site, not sure it came over to the new one) - When you do a review, use the character's names, don't use he or she. This approach makes characters real. And from then on (for me at least) it started to get serious.
Finish your first draft in three months.
I agree, but again, differently. In an ideal world, where I'm a full-time writer, I can see this happening. In the real world, after a 10-hr work day, having kids with sports/birthday parties and other family commitments, I'd be happy with twelve months. I've long ago realised I'd be lucky if I can finish a 100,000 word novel (first draft and second revision) every two years. I don't think I'm special or the only one. Or that not meeting this target = failure. This also means that you need to put other systems in place to avoid it from "taking on an odd feel" ...
Stay married, be healthy, and live a good life.
See the previous point ... sometimes you need to compromise. And I'd rather compromise and take 12 months to write a first draft than compromise where my marriage and kids are concerned. In an ideal world, you can have it all. I'm glad if this works for him, but I'm not so sure it was entirely written with "part-time" writers in mind.
Excellent points, Janet Reid. All writers are not the same. Thus, not all things work for all writers. Find your niche and what works for you. I, too, wear lots of hats. I have HAND written most of my novels while at the soccer field, a choir presentation, a football game, a track meet, etc. I NEVER hide out and isolate myself from the world around me. There is always noise at my house. So, I just go with the flow. I just took a short break from final edits to get on here. Had to have a breather.
Janet and Janet, Love hearing from both of you. I put off writing until I retired, and could concentrate on it without distractions. I cheated myself. My house was full of kids- mine and other people's, and still gets that way sometimes. I bake cookies with eleven-year-olds, play games with four-year-olds, talk story ideas with their parents, who were once my students, and strike up conversations with any friendly-faced people I meet. I like people; I just didn't know how much I was going to like writing.
Do whatever you can to make time for the things you want to do NOW. If it works for you, then it's all good. JP
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TheNextBigWriter Premium → Advice from Experts
