Advice for a First Time Author

I tried to write down all the dumb shit I did when I was a kid, but was either too embarrassed or thought it was too dull to bother with. During moments when I find the courage to talk about these things, I'm told they're fascinating, but I still don't see it. Maybe I'm unconsciously embellishing.

 

It will be important to perhaps make a second trip back in time to just after the second wave of video games to remind your younger self that the "create your character" screen that will be shortly seen on all video games has NOTHING to do with you as a writer.

 

Mine your memories with the eye of a film producer. What makes a good story here?

Write in the third person. It will give you detachment from yourself.

Learn to edit well.

You'll be fine.

 

Study illustration and creative writing at uni. You won't get a job with the degree you actually ended up with anyway. So if both degrees are useless and unmarketable, then for goodness' sake, go with the one that you actually wanna do!

Incidentally the one I ended up with, Art History, I actually really enjoyed but I ended up with it entirely by accident. I don't regret having done Art History - I just regret not having done creative writing.

 

Having never played video games (nothing that warranted building a character, anyway) I have no idea what this means.

When was the second wave? Was that after Pong or are you talking about when video games became computer games (you know, the era of Impossible Mission)? Or maybe later than that, like around the time of StarCraft... or when everything became 1st person POV for a while.

I simply don't know if I'm out of touch or too well informed. (sigh)

 

my advice would be more about what I did if I hated work: I used to just delete it --gone forever--

Now, even if I hate it, I put it in a folder because you never know when you might have time to go back and try again.

I am really annoyed at myself for throwing so much written stuff away.

 

Pick a story that you're actually able to tell.
I have spent years trying to tackle stories that were too complicated, overwrought, or just plain too big for me to handle at my current skill level. I shot for Tolkien or Martin, and because of that I barely got anything written, and what I *did* write was mostly crap.

Finally, I gave up and moved onto a much simpler story idea. I'm currently 60,000 words in (hey, I said simpler, not shorter,) and loving it, because I'm actually able to accomplish what I set out to do.

 

I know what you mean. When I started using a computer for writing (back in the dark ages) I didn't take the time to delete all that stuff I hated. Reading it years later, I actually found some stuff wasn't that bad. Not saleable, but still, not bad.

 

And that's exactly what I did do when I got serious about writing... until I realized it wasn't the kind of stuff I wanted to write about and moved on. Ah! The days of youth.

 

Read all the things. Read news articles on liquor store robberies. Read essays about pizza slicers. Read plays about salesmen. Read poems about recreational drugs.

 

I thought quite hard about this and couldn't think of anything.
Looking at the past two years and seeing all the coincidences, I wouldn't dare change anything. Things would be hard pressed to get better, and they could very easily get worse.

So I'd probably tell him to keep going as he is.

 

N.B a point worth emphasizing -

18. You do not have to 'suffer' for your art. Good writing is hard enough.
It involves stamina, discipline, routine and commitment. The work will take it out of you.
Park the suffering. Its a myth. You don't need it.

When all is said and done, there are whole worlds out there - without the angst of 'writing'.
Don't get lost in a magic post-adolescent bubble.
There are other mediums out there.
Have a good look around. You may surprise yourself.

Have fun.

 

Pay attention to plot, and don't gumby characters cause they don't bend that way idiot. Also follow a train of thought beyond what your hormones are telling you to follow. Thanks. To my younger me.

Oh Yeah. For all my mistakes, at least I had the common courtesy to use details and be descriptive you jerk. The devil is in the details, so don't be lazy. Thanks. From the younger me to my older self.

 

Get an accountability partner that is willing to ask you if you're sticking to the writing goals that you have set for yourself based on your personal comfort levels. This person should also ask you to reevaluate those goals as your writing becomes more consistent.

Don't over think it, just write it.

 

It depends on how young that younger self is.

To the 11-year-old reluctant reader, staring at a blank sheet of paper in Mom's manual typewriter and sensing the power that lay within: "Don't read because they keep pressing you to read, or because you need to read for school, or because you 'should'. Read because you want to write, and reading is the fuel that feeds the writing engine. Read because it is the gateway to every place you desperately want to visit, even if you don't know it, yet. Read because it's what elevates us over those who don't. Read because you breathe, because you think, because you are."

To the 13-year-old who was afraid to say out loud that he wanted to be a writer: "It doesn't matter what others think of what you want to do. It only matters that you want to do it. Writing will be your weapon against everything in your life that you hate."

To the 15-year-old who, for the second time, couldn't get through The Red Badge of Courage: "It's not you. Crane sucks. Wait until you're in your fifties and you see the shit he wrote about the Spanish American War!"

To the 18-year-old suddenly enamored with university politics: "DON'T!! MAJOR TIME-SUCK!! Time much better spent writing."

To the 22-year-old who had just decided to embark on researching an epic historical novel: "Great idea, but for later. For a first novel, try something of more limited scope that won't require years and years of research. Right now, your need to write is far greater than your need to research."

To the 37-year-old who finally started writing a novel: "Read Kipling's 'If' often and carefully, but no part moreso than this - 'If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowances for their doubting, too' - for that is the essence of receiving critique."

 

You're not bad at writing, you're just crippled with anxiety and low self esteem.
Sure you can't spell for shit and the Texas school system dropped the ball on grammar, but don't let those nazis stop you from writing.

 

Read more Non-Fiction.

 

I've written some short stories and some poetry, but none of my finished works are longer than ten or so pages. I've taken a creative writing class, which was not as helpful as I had hoped, as the instructor only provided constructive criticism beyond "this has potential" when the stories involved violence.

I have ideas for novels, but I am having troubles getting started and fitting pieces together.

So... what advice do you have for a novice writer?

 

Well, it'd be nice to know the genres you plan to write in to narrow it down a bit.

 

Welcome! That's a pretty broad question you're asking, there. Nevertheless, here are some thoughts I have for you on getting started:

Firstly, write. Plain and simple. When an idea comes into your mind, write it down. Ruminate on it and write down those wandering thoughts. Write little things, long things, whatever occurs to you. The more to write, the easier it will be, the more natural your flow.

Secondly, ask yourself some key questions about your ideas for novels. If you have a setting in mind, ask yourself what some of the problems of that setting or world might be, or what caused it to be the way it is. If you have characters, what drives them? In what areas do they need to grow? How to they see the world around them, and how what circumstances could cause that to change?

How do you see yourself as a writer? What do you like to read, and what do you like to write?

And I know it's annoying advice, but read as much as you can. Anything and everything. There is a book entitled Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative. It might be helpful to you, if you want to read it. I mention it, however, because in it he talks at length about how most creatives start out by emulating the artists (writers) they love. It's an important step in the beginning of your creative journey and it's nothing to be ashamed of. Read what you love and write like what you read, it'll help you learn and find your own voice.

 

Don't expect perfection. Get your hands dirty, muck around, see what works and what doesn't work. Writing isn't a straight line - learn to enjoy the zigzags!

 

I love me a good collection of shorts.

I will tell you what I have learned. At the very least have a concept and some good characters. Then add all manner of tom foolery to mess with em. The grittier the better. Make 'em beg for mercy, but just keep piling on the tough love. And the most important part is the ending, so make it a good one.

You have to have determination and time dedicated into your longer investments. Either have an outline of how you want things to go (like an organized individual), or just simply do what I do make it up as you go along while maintaining continuity to your story. Reread your work often for errors and story line missteps. Edit like a succubus is insatiable, and never be afraid to ask somebody to take a look at what you have for opinions. Bay View is right in not being afraid to get your hands filthy. Don't let a topic or action deter you from exploring a creative avenue.

And lastly have fun and let it flow.
This shall be your inspiration to write and write and write, because writing is the good kind of masochism.

 

Get motivated, get inspired, and get to typing.
Until you finish your first, a book is this unknowable obstacle that gets bigger and bigger in your mind as time goes on.

Also, make sure its a reasonable book for a first try. Don't be an idiot like me that writes their first book in multiple POV's, different settings, and somehow manages to write a book inside of a book.