Advice for a First Time Author

Necessarily, no. Often? Yes.

 

None. I don't know any writers.

 

Best advice I got:

When you are brainstorming ideas, discard the first thing to pop into your head. It came easily because it's derivative and you've seen it a million times.

 

I was looking through the thread where people are posting about the worst writing advice they ever got, but what about the best advice? Personally, I think I could use some good advice right now. And as the flip side to that other thread, let's share the best advice we've received as writers.

 

The "dumbest" advice thread was actually posted because of the best advice thread: https://www.writingforums.org/threads/whats-the-best-piece-of-writing-advice-youve-been-given.151553/

It's like adviceception.

 

Great advice! Thanks for sharing!

 

The best piece of advice I ever got was to listen.

Too often, we (or at least I used to) ask for someone's opinion on something and then immediately feel the need to defend what we've done. It's understandable, we've worked hard to put words on a page, but it's never perfect. When your first instinct is to defend it, you're not listening to what they're saying. You're never as good as you think you are.

Also - just sit your ass in the chair and write. This one doesn't necessarily work for everyone, but I've never been an outliner, so it totally works for me. I can clean up the messes once it's down.

 

There's a long quote from Neil Gaiman I love about "Making good art".

He finished it by saying "Make it on the bad days, make it on the good days, too."

For some reason this really stuck with me and I think about it almost on a daily basis. I think Gaiman's brutal honesty towards writing really struck home. It's too easy to avoid creating something on your bad days, convincing yourself that you'll pick it back up on a better day. If you truly want to be a writer, or creator of anything, you have to do it on a daily basis. If you want creation to be part of who you are, instead of just a day job, you don't take days off.

That doesn't mean that you'll always create good material on a daily basis, but just the effort of putting something on paper daily makes writing part of who you are.

I think that will always stick with me. Funny as it is, considering I haven't read any of his books... I really should - there just hasn't been enough time! If I keep quoting him as much as I do, I really should give him some royalties.

 

Expanding on the OP’s original it was eradications, Joe Bunting in Let’s Write a Short Story advises rooting out weak verbs such as: is, am, were, being, are, get, and got; and weak words such as very, really, stuff, thing, almost, I think, much, just, so, and people.

 

I'v never understood this approach. I assume it doesn't apply to dialogue, but even in narrative, if we're writing in first or close third, we're going to try to use a character "voice", right? Avoiding a bunch of really common words just seems like a recipe for purple prose...

 

How is 'people' a weak word? I've seen most of these before but that's a new one on me.

 

When Tom Paxton was an aspiring folk musician, his goal was to write one song a day, every day. He said that 99% of those songs were crap, but the other 1% was worth polishing. Now, with several Grammies under his belt and a list of songs that have become classics ("Marvelous Little Toy," "Ramblin' Boy," "Last Thing on My Mind," etc.), he's proved that the method works, at least for him.

 

A key concept in one of my creative writing units as an undergrad has stayed with me ever since: that the purpose of writing is to generate something to say.

It really resonated with me, and has continued to do so; the question I ask myself about anything I write is, "what is it that I'm saying?" (and the slightly intimidating "is it worth saying?").

In the context of my day job, which involves a more technical kind of writing, this translates to "what is my key value proposition", and it helps me keep the content on track. The flip side is, as a creative writer, I have a tendency to overthink and get hung up on the purpose a little too much - to the point where I have a hard time getting started. But nevertheless I think the notion of having a central point is an important one for me.

 

"Shut up and get to work." No other piece of advice has done so much for my writing, no other piece of advice have I constantly told myself, and no other piece of advice have I so adamantly ignored.

 

that everyone has shitty first drafts so get your done.

 

I'm not saying everybody should do this, but I find the same benefit. In my case, I find it a lot easier to write if I start from theme. I have a lot better grip on what needs to happen if I know what the story's about.

The current novel is about "forgiveness." The previous one was about "hope."

Distilling the story to a single idea (and its spinoffs - a story about hope is also a story about despair, for example) may help by actually narrowing my options.

 

At the ripe old age of 55, this female has just started thinking about writing. I don't read much, and I get bored easily and am frequently restless. But here is my reason. I am a daydreamer, and have a rich fantasy life. I am married and sometimes crush on other men. When I do I tend to obsess and sometimes can't stop thinking about scenerios and play out conversations, situations, etc. This never gets beyond my brain, and I would never act on it, so I don't want to discuss the morals.

 

I wanted to add this but it wouldn't let me. Is this a good enough reason and has anyone else been "motivated" but obsessive thoughts. Also my thoughts tend to loop the same or a few scenerios, I don't flesh it out to much so not sure if I have it in me to really expand it into a story.

 

I don't think there's any particularly 'good' or 'bad' reason to write. If you want to write, go for it.

 

Go write!
I'm 63 and just started. I sometimes start with an in-my-brain fragment. That can be a dream or a daydream or a memory that pops up. It could also be something I see.

I think your daydreams and fantasies could be a good starting point.

Try to do some flash fiction 500-1000 words describing one of these episodes.

You will find that if you take just a raw episode and try to get it on paper there are so many things missing, your daydreaming brain accepts so incomplete stories without questions.
You will have to fill in lots of details if you want anyone else to understand. But ... once you are filling in those things you will find the real kick of writing, you are in control. You can change whatever you like. If your "fantasy" starts with two people on a bus you can just let it happen in a coffee shop or on a park bench (as you need someone walking by with a dog in order to introduce a subject in your dialogue). Your freedom is unlimited.

So your written story is not a fantasy, it's inspired by a fantasy.

Start with very short stories so that you get something that gets finished (and you can start with a new story).

If you start with something too long you will never see the end and probably give up.

Good luck.

If you look in the workshop section on this forum you will find flash fiction and there are a lot of stories you can look at.
Short stories romance could also give you some ideas.
The main interest on this forum is fantasy, science fiction, horror and rather dark stories but don't let this scare you.

 

Write your heart out! I am very much a new writer as well. If day dreaming is where your content comes from then build off of it!

I look forward to seeing your work!

 

Yeah, flash fiction is very popular right now. There are a lot of blogs where people share their art. I'd try to find some of them and get a feeling for the style, because you might like it.

 

If you put words on paper you are a writer. Doesn't matter if your reason for doing so is good or bad. Whether you become a published writer is to be determined, but I can't imagine a publishing house turning down a killer manuscript because they question the reason you write. Look at the book Wolf of Wall Street. The author wrote the book based on his horrible behavior. Turns out he is a phenomenal writer with a highly entertaining tale to tell. So there you go. Bad reason, great writing.

 

There is no good or bad reason to write.

My story started from me imagining a situation in my head one day, and it wouldn't leave. Probably within a couple days (I can't remember because this was almost two years ago and I didn't think too much of it) my book was born. Not complete by any means, but that one scene started it all.