Reaching Your Goals in 2010: Tips For A Newbie
January 13th 2010 12:45
On the WriYe forums I found a thread from a newbie writer asking for advice. This person has never written a novel before this year. So I got to thinking: what kinds of advice would I give to a newbie writer? I may not be a well known author with dozens of publications under my belt, but I've been writing for about half my lifetime and I like to think that I've learned a fair bit about it throughout the last few years.
So I've come up with a few tips for reaching your writing goals in 2010. These are tips aimed to help the beginner, but they're also good to keep in mind no matter how many years of experience you have. So here goes:
~Experiment with different writing styles, different voices, and different PoVs (Point Of Views) to figure out what works best for you
~Try to write something every day, if not for your story then something to a random prompt
~Never give up; this is your dream, this is what you love, so keep on doing it even if people tell you you suck-people tell me I suck all the time and I keep going, I've been going for years.
~Don't spend extreme amounts of time on character and worldbuilding before you start writing. Get a general sense of your story, your characters, and your setting, and then get a move on; if you do a bunch of work in advance you're probably going to end up having to change it quite a bit.
~Don't edit while you write; you'll start to feel like what you're writing is worthless, you might fall into a depressed rut, and you might just get bogged down in an endless series of edits.
~Find yourself a strong writing community. Look for either a community in your town/city or an online community which you fit into. For friendly, somewhat competitive, goal oriented writers look to WriYe(clicky) or to the Nanowrimo forums.
~Read a lot. Read blogs about writing, blogs about other subjects you're interested in, books of your genre and of any other genre you enjoy reading. Read everything that you can get your hands on and find the time to read. Set yourself a goal of reading at least one book a month for the next year.
~Seriously consider starting a blog. Blogging is a great way to get into and stay in the habit of writing regularly, it allows you to get your thoughts out there, and it's a good way to find readers and even make friends.
What steps am I taking to help me reach my goals? More on that tomorrow.
So I've come up with a few tips for reaching your writing goals in 2010. These are tips aimed to help the beginner, but they're also good to keep in mind no matter how many years of experience you have. So here goes:
~Experiment with different writing styles, different voices, and different PoVs (Point Of Views) to figure out what works best for you
~Try to write something every day, if not for your story then something to a random prompt
~Never give up; this is your dream, this is what you love, so keep on doing it even if people tell you you suck-people tell me I suck all the time and I keep going, I've been going for years.
~Don't spend extreme amounts of time on character and worldbuilding before you start writing. Get a general sense of your story, your characters, and your setting, and then get a move on; if you do a bunch of work in advance you're probably going to end up having to change it quite a bit.
~Don't edit while you write; you'll start to feel like what you're writing is worthless, you might fall into a depressed rut, and you might just get bogged down in an endless series of edits.
~Find yourself a strong writing community. Look for either a community in your town/city or an online community which you fit into. For friendly, somewhat competitive, goal oriented writers look to WriYe(clicky) or to the Nanowrimo forums.
~Read a lot. Read blogs about writing, blogs about other subjects you're interested in, books of your genre and of any other genre you enjoy reading. Read everything that you can get your hands on and find the time to read. Set yourself a goal of reading at least one book a month for the next year.
~Seriously consider starting a blog. Blogging is a great way to get into and stay in the habit of writing regularly, it allows you to get your thoughts out there, and it's a good way to find readers and even make friends.
What steps am I taking to help me reach my goals? More on that tomorrow.
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Comment by Sonya 1
Freelance Tips
Writing Words
I cannot stress enough how important it is not to listen to other people when you first start out. If you want to write, don't listen to others unless they are other writers who give constructive criticism. Oh, and write every day, of course.
Comment by Dianna G
I Wish This Was 42
Fictional Worlds
I'm glad you agree. I've never been sure about the 'writing every day' thing, because I myself don't write every day, but writing almost every day is definitely a good idea.
~Dianna
Comment by Sonya 1
Freelance Tips
Writing Words
I guess once you have a few years' writing experience, you don't necessarily have to sit down every day anymore. And if you don't do it as a newbie writer, it will take you longer to suss out which genre and which point of view suit you best, etc.
Comment by Dianna G
I Wish This Was 42
Fictional Worlds
I think that everyone needs a break once in a while, no matter how much they love their craft. And some writers, such as myself, tend to work better doing a lot of writing (ex-for Nano I wrote 250K) in short bursts and then taking a few days or a few weeks away from it. Everyone's process is different.
~Dianna
Comment by Nonymous
Philosophy Blog
Comment by Dianna G
I Wish This Was 42
Fictional Worlds
That's a great quote. Sometimes I can't finish a book in a day-but I can finish at least one manga... (I'm reading some particularly awesome manga at the moment)
Thanks for reading,
~Dianna