Skyring's Blog - Posts Tagged "advice"
Instinctive writing
I just finished John Grisham's
Calico Joe
and was struck by how well his writing has improved over the years. Many authors put out a string of great books and then feel that they can do no wrong, their books are automatic best-sellers, they just need to crank them out. Tom Clancy, Patricia Cornwell, RAH - they all reached a point where they needed a good firm editor to sort them down.
Some people have a gift of telling a story, of putting you in the scene, of creating a great character. They can do it without thinking, it seems.
Others struggle. And it shows.
I think that writing good fiction - or good anything - is less inspiration and more perspiration. I checked out the newsagent and the library yesterday, and there are magazines and books devoted to writing. Not many - maybe a tenth of one percent in both places - but enough to have a market.
Not to mention websites and blogs. I could list a hundred excellent ones without straining myself.
How to write good is out there. For free or for a modest price. Just read the instructions, follow them, and you can write a novel. In 30 days, if you follow the NaNoWriMo advice given in No Plot, No Problem!
Well, actually a lot of NaNoWriMo novels - including mine - are best hidden away. But the advice is good if followed. I've set myself a goal of reading a few thousand words each day of advice on writing, as well as my target output of a thousand word chapter.
But, well, sometimes I don't get it done. I'm sidetracked by a great read - like the John Grisham book I mentioned!
Some people have a gift of telling a story, of putting you in the scene, of creating a great character. They can do it without thinking, it seems.
Others struggle. And it shows.
I think that writing good fiction - or good anything - is less inspiration and more perspiration. I checked out the newsagent and the library yesterday, and there are magazines and books devoted to writing. Not many - maybe a tenth of one percent in both places - but enough to have a market.
Not to mention websites and blogs. I could list a hundred excellent ones without straining myself.
How to write good is out there. For free or for a modest price. Just read the instructions, follow them, and you can write a novel. In 30 days, if you follow the NaNoWriMo advice given in No Plot, No Problem!
Well, actually a lot of NaNoWriMo novels - including mine - are best hidden away. But the advice is good if followed. I've set myself a goal of reading a few thousand words each day of advice on writing, as well as my target output of a thousand word chapter.
But, well, sometimes I don't get it done. I'm sidetracked by a great read - like the John Grisham book I mentioned!
