Writing Tips and Tidbits

Joe Fassler spoke with one-hundred writers asking for advice, tips for writers. Following are the suggestions (in bold) he gathered, along with the tidbits I picked up along my writing journey.

    1) Neglect everything else. We have our jobs and families, but writers need to dedicate themselves to finding time to write every day. If we look hard enough, we’ll be able to locate a pocket, a window of time allowing us to blurt out some thoughts and ideas on the white screen.

2)    Beginnings matter. It’s not only the first chapter that matters but the first sentence. Jump right in with dialogue or a problem. Flow is essential throughout the story, so why not begin the flow on the first page. If agents and publishers aren’t enthralled by page ten, your story hits the bottom of the trash can. Michael Chabon says, “the seed of the novel…was in the first sentence.”

3)    Follow the headlights. One thing I had to learn to do, which goes against the grain, is outlining. I can’t say enough about Blake Snyder’s beat sheets. But even with an outline, you still have freedom. Freedom is important because it starts painting the picture outside the headlights that may not be in your immediate plans for the story. Outside of the lights, in that freedom, theme, setting, character etc., can often be found. Andre Dubus calls this the “architecture” of our story.

4)    Sound it out. I admit I haven’t done this yet, but reading your work aloud to yourself has tremendous benefits – especially when you’re on the third, fourth, eighteenth draft. George Saunders says the “sound shows him where the energy is.” Without energy, flow, rhythm, don’t expect many sales.

5)    It’s supposed to be difficult. What else is there to say, but the magical thing about writing is no matter how difficult it is – because it’s always hard no matter how established you are – it is worth the pain, the struggle, the maddening bursts of anger.

6)    Keep a totem. Dickens, according to Fassler, had figurines spread out over his desk to keep him company while he wrote. Totems can be anything from family pictures or a favorite quote. Apparently, it can be your cat that seems to think half your desk is hers. Currently, I have a picture of my dad and me. When I turned in my last assignment for my MA, I picked it up and held it in front of me. Let’s just say it was emotional.

7)    Find the joy. Amen. If you know you are a writer, and you know you have a story to tell, but you aren’t finding the joy between throwing your laptop out the window and yelling at your tokens, then take a step back. Take time to invest in reading from experts in the field, or take a class. The key is to humble yourself and listen to what they say. And do what they say.

https://lithub.com/i-talked-to-150-writers-and-heres-the-best-advice-they-had/

Above is the link for Joe Fassler’s article, I Talked to 150 Writers and Here’s the Best Advice They Had: Joe Fassler on Seven of the Most Common Writing Tips.