Alarie Tennille
MY FIVE R'S OF WRITING (advice for an aspiring writer)
(1) READ, READ, READ. Since you're on Goodreads, you're likely an avid reader, but be sure to read the genre you wish to write.
(2) REVIEW. Grammar drills are boring, but you must be sure you've mastered the mechanics of writing or editors will be tossing out any work you send them.
(3) REVISE. No matter how good a first draft is, you can find ways to improve it. Put it away and look at it a few days later.
(4) RESEARCH. You know the standard advice to "write what you know," so expand what you know. Also research potential markets for your writing.
(5)REACH OUT. You need to find some trusted reviewers who will critique your writing and give you an honest opinion. You also need to develop your own critiquing skills. Take advantage of writing centers or workshops near you to learn from those with more experience. Once you get some publishing experience, reach out to other new writers. It's a nice payback for all the mentors who've helped you.
(1) READ, READ, READ. Since you're on Goodreads, you're likely an avid reader, but be sure to read the genre you wish to write.
(2) REVIEW. Grammar drills are boring, but you must be sure you've mastered the mechanics of writing or editors will be tossing out any work you send them.
(3) REVISE. No matter how good a first draft is, you can find ways to improve it. Put it away and look at it a few days later.
(4) RESEARCH. You know the standard advice to "write what you know," so expand what you know. Also research potential markets for your writing.
(5)REACH OUT. You need to find some trusted reviewers who will critique your writing and give you an honest opinion. You also need to develop your own critiquing skills. Take advantage of writing centers or workshops near you to learn from those with more experience. Once you get some publishing experience, reach out to other new writers. It's a nice payback for all the mentors who've helped you.
More Answered Questions
Boweavil
asked
Alarie Tennille:
Thank you for writing this. The ladies of Gee's Bend didn't enter their quilts into the national quilt shows. People took their work and dragged it around the country but did little for them. The day I went to an exhibit of the quilts, I walked into the room and was grabbed by the emotion of the quilt made of the denim bibs and jeans of the dead husband of one of the quilters. Isn't this what art should be?
Laurie Byro
asked
Alarie Tennille:
We are both Kelsay book authors, glad to meet you. Have you been writing poetry long? I started in a class when I was 30, abandoned prose, but before that thought Walt Whitman was a chain of schools across the US. NOT kidding. Have been running a poetry circle for 23 years in various NJ and NY libraries.
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