Tonight I had the pleasure of doing a live Q&A. It is one of my favorite things to do because I get to talk about writing or more specifically my writing. Maybe that makes me sound vain but that’s okay because I love what I do. I get to talk about Savannah and what is to come. What makes her tick and of course all the other characters. Tonight I was asked a question I never get asked. Every author I have ever read or have known personally has gotten the question: what is your advice for aspiring authors. It was exciting to finally get that question. It felt like I have finally made it as an author. Maybe I’m weird or crazy or it is just wishful thinking on my part but that is the way it feels. So the blog for this week is going to be about my advice to aspiring authors. Some of it will be things that others have said others not so much. So here we go!

The first piece of advice is to write everyday. It can be for five minutes or an hour. It doesn’t matter the time you spend on writing, the point is to write. Write everyday until it becomes a habit. Write when you do not want to or you do not know what to write. Just write. When you make it a habit, writing comes easier as a whole. You will have times when you do not want to write because you have writer’s block or you are having trouble with a scene but when you make it a habit it becomes easier to work through those issues. Even when you hit difficult times in life you will be able to escape into your writing.

The next piece of advice is to read. Do not just read one genre or one author, read everything. You will learn from other authors about different styles of writing. You will learn different techniques for descriptions, word usage, eteceta. There is so much to learn from other authors. There is also a moment when you are reading a book and there is a description that takes your breath away. For me it was a sentence, one sentence by Michael Connelly. It was so beautifully written that I stopped reading and said I want to write like that. Since that moment I have strived to be that good. This leads us to the next piece of advice I have.

Strive for greatness. I read a post from an author who was complaining about having to sell books against authors like J.R.R. Tolkin. She was complaining that it is impossible to compete with a dead author. My take on it is you should want to compete against great authors like J.R.R. Tolkin. You should want to compete against the Michael Connelly’s in the world of writing because they are the best. Anything you do in life you should strive to be the best. Being mediocre is never okay in my book. This also goes with the advice of writing everyday. When you write everyday your writing improves.

The next piece of advice is do not listen to the critics. You will never make everyone happy. All you can do is make yourself happy. If you are happy with your story that is all that matters. J.R. Ward gave great advice to authors several months ago. She said “Reviews are readers business not author business.” She is correct, so do not read reviews or what a critic has to say because at the end of the day if you do not like what you write neither will anyone else. The joy you feel when you write will always come through in what you are doing.

The last piece of advice is something many would disagree with me on. Many times you hear authors say look at what is selling or what is popular. I disagree with this. Write the story you want to read. Do not worry about what is popular or what is the “In Thing”. Write what you enjoy. Again if you are writing what others want you to write the joy will not be there. The writing will be boring and flat. Be you, do you.

For now that’s all I have to say on the topic. Until next time!