Advice for a First Time Author

I can't decide if he's trolling or serious. I'll assume serious, for the time being.

 

Life's greatest mystery.

 

How would you expect a concert pianist to respond if you asked him, "Maestro, you sell out concert halls around the world. Please give me advice on how to be a great concert pianist."

He'd say, "Practice. Practice lots. For years. Keep practicing. Get really, really good at it."

Would you then say, "No, no - I've heard all that before from other musicians. What's the real story? What are the tips only insiders in the biz know? Come on, loosen up and stop feeding me the party line. Tell me the straight dope!"

He'd say, "I am telling you the straight dope. Practice. Tons of practice. That's how I got good, and that's how all the rest of us got good."

Would you then say, "You famous musicians are all alike. You just say practice, practice, practice like it's really how you do it. You're all a bunch of jerks."

He'd just shrug and turn away, muttering "Kids these days ... it's like they want some kind of iPhone app that'll make them musicians in an hour or so. Sheesh."

 

Amazing.

 

I am sure that every writer is unique and no one advice is supposed to fit all but
This is just my personal experience so it may not apply. But, for quite a while, I was writing "raw" ie. the way i knew best, and my writing was well received but I felt like I am not quite managing to write the story I wanted to write. The prospect of trying to write a good quality novel seemed very daunting, and I wasn't sure what to do. The classic "just write, keep writing no matter what it is" just didn't seem to produce the results I was hoping for, and since I am not formally educated in writing or literature, I felt that I was missing some theory behind it all. But I didn't want to do another Uni degree in order to become a writer.

And then, on the art site I belong to (deviantArt), I stumbled upon a tutorial called "Is your special character just too SPECIAL?" After I finished having total hysterics (this was the first time I ever heard of Mary Sue, and incidentally - I was writing one) I started reading some 50-odd tutorials that this girl wrote, all about how-to of fiction writing. And omg, the amount of knowledge, how much things started to make sense, I will forever be grateful to her for that, and the truth is, I have not seen this kind of useful advice anywhere else.
Since then I read a couple of books on style and plotting, and I feel that generic advice of "just work hard, develop discipline" etc are great motivational tips, but there is so much more that a beginner writer craves. Not necessarily generic writing exercises or being forced to develop a certain style to conform, but information about many things one doesn't even consider as a beginner, the useful ways to approach things and stuff like that.

 

^Hehehe... funny. I get it, too. But it's still rhetoric. Perhaps it's the wrong question to ask, because after all an answer is only as good as the question. So how about instead of asking for "advice", we ask for "tips and tricks". Dilligent practice is not a tip, it's common sense. A tip, however, is something specific that gives that bit of razzle dazzle to your work.

 

I don't agree with the concert pianist example, because playing an instrument at concert-performance level isn't comparable to being a writer. It's more comparable to being a professional-level athlete, or singer, or actor. Something that takes a tremendous amount of talent, practice and dedication (as does writing), but where the how-tos are already in front of you. Musicians have the notes in front of them. Athletes know the rules of the sport. They work incredibly hard to excel, but they don't have to create their own rules. Of course the best ones will add their own flair, and I certainly don't mean to say that those fields don't require creativity. However, I just don't think being a concert pianist and being a writer are in the same category: it's like comparing apples to oranges.

If we want to make a music comparison, I'd compare writing to being a music composer or a band member where you have to not only write the song lyrics but also write the song in terms of each instrument used. If someone in a novice garage band goes up to a band like Evanescence, and asks them for tips, and gets an answer like "Just practice and work hard," is that of much help? No.

Also, again, specific tips does not equal telling the person how to write. If I'm ever fortunate enough to be in a position where I'm publicly asked for writing advice, I'd never tell someone "Be sure to include a traitor among your group of characters" or "Make sure there are three major events in which someone important dies" or "Use lots of dialogue to characterize." That is telling someone how to write. However, I give the asker some advice like "Try to weave information in naturally, in passing, rather than in infodumps" or "Study up on the effects of active vs. passive voice, and of different types of sentence structures, so you can use syntax to create different moods for the story." That type of information is specific, and I was thrilled when I took a workshop class that actually taught that stuff. It's not forcing your writing style on someone else - it's giving them useful info that can help them grow. I agree that I'd love to see writers mention things like this, rather than just "keep at it" or "don't second-guess your ideas."

 

Yeah, but that is where the "reading" part in the, "write and read everyday," advice comes into play.

All of that can be figured out by reading and studying good authors. Everything you and Mercury12000 keep bringing up is directly found out by reading and writing.

That is why so many people give that advice. It is not out of being lazy or being an asshole; it is just the truth.

However, I am not saying giving more in depth advice is bad. I am just saying the authors who give this so called "terrible advice" are not doing anything wrong.

 

It's true that reading a lot will help, and that that's good advice. I'm not saying it isn't. I'd had in mind advice like "write for yourself" or "don't give up," which is probably not going to do anything for someone who's genuinely stuck. But yes, reading a lot would help someone in that predicament.

 

I agree, that kind of advice is lame, haha.

Though, I guess it is true. But it is still lame.

 

But you see, don't you, what the difference is here - you went to a workshop, and they told you what to study. You didn't read an interview or article by an author who was asked for tips on writing. I think that's the gist of the discussion here - authors aren't teachers. They didn't sign on to be teachers. They gave an interview or wrote a short article. And they shouldn't be chastised for not including things as you mentioned.

 

It's true that they're not teachers, and they definitely shouldn't be expected to freely offer tutorials, seminars, classes, in-depth discussion etc. if that's not what they feel a desire to do. But what if they're specifically asked, say during an interview, for a tidbit of info that would help developing writers - don't you think something more specific would be appreciated? I do. Don't get me wrong, I'm not for forcing them to, or for calling them a "jerk" if they don't (I hate entitlement), but all we're saying is that it'd be nice. It doesn't have to be paragraphs of explanation. Just a sentence or two about something specific that helped the quality of their writing to grow.

It seems like some posts in this discussion are comparing two extreme views: that people see such authors as jerks, bigots etc if they don't freely spend a ton of their resources on helping developing writers. No one thinks they're bad for this, or expects that from them. It's not that black and white. I don't think anyone's advocating that authors should be chastised for not being teachers.

 

Yes, you could be right about it being the wrong question. It's too general. With a question that broad, so too is the advice.

If you're an IT guy and someone calls you up and says 'My computer's not working,' the first thing you're going to say is 'Is it switched on?' not 'We're going to need to edit your registry files'.

Ask a specific question and there are plenty of books out there with specific answers.

 

You say you hate entitlement? Wherever I get to be in life, it's not going to have anything to do with advice I get from someone like that. It'll be the way my parents raised me, the way I continued to grow, and my own motivations. If I become famous and someone asks me for advice, there's nothing there for me to tell them. They're not going to have the same opportunities as me or the same chances and very likely a different audience. Someone different will be reading their first novel when it goes into the slushpile than the person who reads mine. It's all different.

So yeah, I don't see why authors would even have ready advice like the kind you guys think they should. In a perfect world, of course they'd be helpful, but it's unlikely that they ever had anyone to help them either. Hell, the more you go back, the more the world becomes closed off. If they ever met any of their favourite authors, that means they were in the right place at the right time (for a book signing or something similar), had a lot of money, or the author was local. I live across the ocean from all of my favourite authors. But thanks to the internet, I have the ability to talk to them (thankfully they're still new enough in the world of writing to be able to answer e-mails from people like me), so why would I waste my time expecting them to help me? I'd rather actually hold a conversation with them, show them that I want to be their equal.

I don't want to ever purposefully lower myself in front of someone I respect like that, and I don't want them to condescend to give me some "helpful" advice that they made up but probably don't even feel. Telling me to read more and write for myself is the best advice I'd want.

 

One of the main problems between musicians and writers is the general perception: everyone knows that musicians have to practice for years before they can wrangle a tune from their instrument, or they have to be incredibly talented, but writing... we can all write. Writing is easy. You write in school. And we all have fantasies, so 'creative' writing, how difficult can it be? Which is, of course, utter bollocks. Creative writing, stirring the soul with words on paper, is one of the most difficult artistic endeavours, but people assume a novel is just the essay from school 'how I spend my holidays', but with more words. It's exactly the fact that you have all the tools for writing under your hands that makes it so deceptively simple.

I'm a voracious reader, like you. And I don't understand why people who don't read voraciously would consider writing a book. A poll at another writing site resulted in a large group of wannabe writers who rarely read. They watched a lot of television and played games and that was supposed to compensate. And they grew irate from the avid, voracious readers advising them to read more. Some claimed to have no time to read. Others said that reading was boring. Why would anyone who claims not to have the time to read or think reading was boring assume that writing would be a viable career option?

What if an author would reply that he isn't qualified to teach and that budding writers should buy a book on writing or follow a workshop?

The thing is, if someone asks an inane question that has been answered a million times before - in books and articles and on the internet - and you reply, 'why don't you go and do some research for yourself first, before you ask your question here', you're likely to be considered rude or disdainful. To me, it makes sense to find the answer to your questions yourself, before you ask others to help. But I learned how to write in the pre-internet days, so perhaps now it's normal to just fling your question on a forum without wondering if it wouldn't be more educating to learn how to research and find the answers yourself.
In fact, I think it's pretty rude to impose on others, when you can solve your problem yourself with a little time and effort.

 

Not sure what you're getting at here. When I said I hate entitlement, it was referring to the people who would think that authors HAVE to go out of their way to give specific advice. Or, specifically, those who believe that they are owed inspiration by others. And you obviously don't fit this bill, and I don't think anyone in specific on this thread does, either. My point was that it would nice if authors gave specific advice about what helped them, but that it isn't and shouldn't be demanded or expected. That's what the OP was about, I believe, but then a lot of replies were about how authors don't owe anyone writing lessons, when the OP was not saying that they were. That's my point.

 

Sure seems like the OP thinks he's entitled to helpful advice...

 

^Sure. I'm entitled to helpful advice. Why not? You may be content with being brushed off, but I prefer to get what I want out of people. And if they want to be standoffish and give BS answers, then I will call them on it, just like I'm calling you on it. It's obvious that Mallory is much more intuitive than you, Amsterdam.

 

Just why are you entitled to it?

 

Mercury, you seem to be going on the premise that authors are giving objectively bad advice. But as you've seen, people here are divided. So when you see an author that you think "brushes off" the audience, isn't it possible your impression is completely false? You might think that reading books is a bad advice, but I think it's a great one. The only reason I won't be too excited about it is that I heard it before, so hearing it again doesn't help much.

 

Agree totally, but, you know, here we are. Just trying to be as helpful as we can be.

 

Sometimes the helpful thing is to let people work it out themselves...

I'm not above to dispense helpful advice, but people like Mercury don't want advice. They want shortcuts, a way to skip the difficult parts of the profession. In short, they don't want to write, they want to be 'writers'.

 

I think 'Famous' writers say the things they do in soundbite format because that's the best advice they can give in the least amount of air time. Really, if you actually sat down with Neil Gaimen in front of his cavernous mahogany fireplace (as i'd imagine), he'd be happy to spend an hour with you discussing how he bounces free association exercises in his head when he goes grocery shopping, or how he finely sharpens his ability to concieve spatial relations on a near physical level in his head as he writes settings, or how he never starts a story with introducing the conflict, or how he avoids overdescribes his characters physically. But even if he does do these things and is willing to discuss his craft with you in detail; that still dosn't mean it'll work for you.

Really the only truly helpful advice that is universal and concise is the 'read, write consistantly, and experiment' type of responses.

That and coffee.

 

I have Stephen King on a pedastool. Although I haven't read his On Writing I'm sure I would like it, but I won't make an opinion something I haven't read yet. Nonetheless, everyone writes differently, so I think different pieces of advice will be useful to different people, such as what CH878 posted, which I have quoted below.

Again, different things work for different people. Sometimes I need advice for motivation to write, and sometimes I need advice with the specifics of actually writing.

& to OP, I think those three points are good, & I can't recall any bad advice I've heard from famous writers. Not because I agree with them all, but because I just haven't heard much. The only advice I've heard from a famous writer was Anne Rice, who I agreed with.

 

Hi there,

Can anyone advise me on picking and maintaining a narrative style? This is the one element I'm struggling with at the moment so any general help or suggestions/advice would be appreciated.

Thanks