Advice to a new writer

[SamScribble]

One of the things about being what the essayist Joseph Epstein described as ‘an older dude’, and having been a published wordsmith for almost sixty years, I now find that younger writers sometimes email me – or phone me – seeking my opinion.

Last week, a young woman asked what advice I would give to a new writer. The woman said that she was planning to write an article based on the advice of twelve established writers.

What, I wondered, could I say that would be useful to a new writer?

I could suggest that, before they put pen to paper, before they put fingers to the keyboard, they should think. From careful thinking comes careful writing.

Or I could caution the new writer not to worry that their prose is too simple. From simplicity comes clarity.

Or (perhaps because I had just struggled through a long-winded polemic penned by a young writer with a serious grudge against baby boomers) I could advise against preaching. Tell your reader what you need them to know, and then stop.

But, in the end, I decided to simply advise the new writer to beware of advice. Beware, especially, of advice from old men.

What would you have suggested?

 

[Paul_Chance]

Here is the advice I give:

Read, Read, Read - especially in the genre/format you want to write in. That's how you know what works and what doesn't, what the rules are and how to successfully break them.

Write, Write, Write - many aspiring writers I know are caught up in being a "writer" or "author" and they spend way to much time talking about it or writing about it in online forums. Pick a forum or two to participate in and then mainly participate by reading/listening.

Decide early on who you're writing for. If your writing for your own entertainment and the occasional accolade and recognition is enough of a reward, great. But, if you're writing to supplement your income or be that elusive author who actually makes a living at it - rarely, if ever, write for free. That time you spend doing "free" stuff is better spent getting paid.

Being a professional writer requires an entire skill-set unique to the profession and very genre specific.

What ever type of writer you decide to become develop armor that makes you impervious to criticism because you will take a lot of shit from people who can't do what you do, but are absolutely convinced if they did they'd be better than you.

Fuck 'em and the horse they rode in on.

 

[Auden James]

To decide what they want to achieve: make bank or make art. And to choose their advisors accordingly.

 

[KeithD]

I'd suggest taking the time and effort to master basic grammar and publishing requirements. Not knowing it all yourself, but knowing where to go to get an authoritative answer to questions. Doing this will free you to imagine and write freely.

 

[8letters]

Or (perhaps because I had just struggled through a long-winded polemic penned by a young writer with a serious grudge against baby boomers) I could advise against preaching. Tell your reader what you need them to know, and then stop.

In many of my stories, I preach. In my latest story, I preached against businessmen who think them getting a little on the side while traveling won't hurt their marriage. In the story before that, I preached against bosses who think forcing their employees to work longer hours is the solution to every problem. In the story I'm finalizing, I preach against groping women. I don't lecture, but the stories deliver a clear message.

 

[HeyAll]

Can't beat the basics:

Read a lot. Write a lot.

 

[litfan10]

My big thing to serious newbies is to honor the process of writing and keep the steps distinct or it is going to be harder with worse results.

What the heck do I mean by this:

Writing something from germ of an idea to finished published work can be broken down into five distinct steps. Keeping the steps separate and completely doing the steps is important.I

(1.) Prewrite or think. Develop your idea in your head and get your facts straight, but also do your homework on the market. What works, what doesn't work, what is expected.
Someone with a Tesla in the 1940's didn't do his/her research. Someone writing a bestiality story or underage didn't do his/her market research on Literotica.

(2.) Write. And just write and only write. You start thinking of grammar and punctuation and you're blocking the flow of words. You are making the clay and the more clay, the easier it is to shape into a masterpiece later.

(3.) Edit. This means strengths and weaknesses not grammar, spelling etc. Focus on quality. Does it make sense. Is it smooth. Read it aloud. How does it sound? Once you think, wow, this sounds good - move on.

(4.) Proof - fix the grammar, spelling and punctuation. Edit first because if you correctly decide a whole big chunk (even pages sometimes) needs to go, well you wasted all that time fixing grammar and such. Another thing I tell serious newbies - get other people involved in this step. You made the mistake because you didn't know. How can you fix it if you don't know? Someone who thinks bestiality is spelled beastiality will spell it with two a's. And I HATE spellcheck. Don't trust it, and definitely turn it off when writing or it will throw off the flow of words same as if you proof when writing.

(5.) Publish. Do this only after you are very, very happy with the completion of the other four steps and you did your job well on the steps. Now put it into the acceptable format for your chosen publisher which you know because you did you research and give it to them in their preferred way (again, determined by research.)

That's my advice for what it's worth. I came to believe this as with most crappy writing I can spot what part of the process got shortchanged.

Happy writing!

 

[SimonDoom]

I agree with HeyAll. Read a lot. Write a lot.

The more you read, the more you acquaint yourself with good writing. You learn what's good and what's not. You learn what works, and what doesn't.

And just write. This might be the most important lesson. Don't overthink things. Keep writing. The best way to get good at something is to keep doing it. It's as true of writing as it is of anything else.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Write small before you write large. Take tiny steps before you run. Do an apprenticeship first to discover your natural style before you get too ambitious. Learn the basic technical stuff. Believe in yourself. Then aim for the sky.

 

[NotWise]

But, in the end, I decided to simply advise the new writer to beware of advice. Beware, especially, of advice from old men.

I like this advice, especially when given to a younger woman.

I also like LAHomeDog's comment on another thread that (paraphrasing, I think) in art, there are no rules.

I like it but I don't entirely agree with it. There are rules, and artists need to understand the rules before they ignore them.

That's only relevant to fiction.

 

[lovecraft68]

Just write the damn thing, then go back and tweak/clean it up later.

I recently used my daughters in an analogy about writing and how my style with it-and everything else-is the dive balls in and start swinging and figure it out later.

My older daughter took forever to learn how to ride a bike, longer to swim...I took her all the time showed her, spent the time with her, but she over thought everything even when she was little...what if I fall, what if my head goes under what if...

Her sister, 3 years younger....one day I look out in the backyard to see my younger daughter riding her sister's bike around the yard...no training wheels and doing fine, until then she'd only ridden her trike.

I go out and asked her how she did it. She shrugged and said "I just wanted to so I did."

It is that simple.

 

[LAHomedog]

I can't tell you how many times in my career someone came to me and said they wanted to be a writer and would I help. Usually a friend of a friend. I'd say, "Sure, let me read something of yours," and the person would say, "I haven't written anything yet."

If you want to be a writer, write. They write some more. And write some more. You've got to write.

One of my favorite movies of all time is "Finding Forrester" with Sean Connery as a J.D. Salinger type of writer who is tutoring a talented young man who is a writer played brilliantly by Rob Brown in his first screen performance.

It is a master's class in writing and how to be a writer. Nowadays if someone came to me and asked for help, I'd tell them to write, and to get on Netflix and watch the movie cause they'd learn from "Finding Forrester" than they would from me.