This is the place I'll come and share random thoughts, comments and some basic BS I feel is worth sharing. You, however, may not feel like it’s worth reading. I make no promises that any of it will make sense, or will even make you laugh… Although, I will certainly try.
I hope you enjoy my musings and my insanity!

P.S. Don’t forget… Tip your waitress on your way out the door!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

My Best Advice, as a New Writer to…New Writers

The following is a post written for Peevish Penman's: My Best Advice for New Writers blogfest


I had the privilege of attending RomCon this past weekend in Denver Colorado. It’s a Romance book genre conference meant for readers; what I noticed, though, is that among many of those readers, I found writers of all kinds. Some were bloggers, some reviewers and yes, most importantly, some aspiring romance writers. Since I had been asked to participate in this blog, I grabbed the opportunity before me, while at RomCon, to ask some published authors what was the best advice they had been given when they, themselves, were aspiring writers.


All of them answered my question quite graciously. “Keep going! Don’t stop because you never know which book it is that will get you published,” or, “Join a local chapter of writer’s groups,” and, “Don’t keep polishing. Move onto the next story.”


These authors had retained this valuable advice, and it’s what they now pass on to those seeking their wisdom and wanting to learn the craft.


I’m a new writer, and by new, I mean I didn’t start writing until August 2009. I have been told many of the same things I listed above, most frequently, “Don’t give up! Keep writing!” and “Show your stuff to people that will give you honest feedback and help you grow.” That being said, it can be scary to put yourself out there. It can be hard to not take the feedback or criticism personally. There will be people who may, at times, come across as being harsh, so it’s important that you find people who are willing to teach you and share what they have learned. The criticism must be constructive or it will do you no good. I have some wonderful and patient writer friends who are not afraid to tell me the truth and to push me. They are also willing to teach me. A big thank you to them!


My biggest struggle as a new writer has been trying to get the visions of the story in my head translated into actual words on the page. I’m finally beginning to string some words together. In the meantime, I’ve written a lot of poetry. The poetry has allowed me to experiment with different words and different ways of expressing my thoughts. This has helped me immensely. However, because I was writing only poems until recently, I didn’t even dare refer to myself as a writer.


This is not to say that I think other writers of poetry are not “real” writers. I truly believe they are. This is my own crazy thinking and only pertains to me, because what I want to do is write fiction. Never mind the fact that this writing thing happened for me out of nowhere.


Me? Seriously? A writer? *gasp*


I’ve had the hardest time calling myself a writer. I was recently speaking with a friend about the short story I had just written. He said, “Do you believe you are a writer now?” Again, my answer was no. Of course, he lectured me.


Here’s the thing: now that I have finally written and finished my first fictional short story, my thoughts have changed. I don’t want to be just a writer. I want to be a good writer! And, I suppose, in my magic mind, until I consider myself a good writer, I will have trouble calling myself one.


On that note, I really don’t think I have any business giving advice to anyone, considering the fact that I am a beginner.

I will say, as it’s been said to me, “If you write, then you are a writer!”


And please, don’t give up before your miracle happens!


WookiesGirl

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

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Carrie Clevenger said...

Exactly. Well-said. And you did give advice. Don't give up. Practice, practice, practice. It's taken me ten years to get where I feel I'm a comparable writer. We all make mistakes. Learn and keep going up.

stu said...

It's strange. People seem to be much more awkward about when they have hit the point marked 'writer' these days. When you consider that most writers a few hundred years ago hardly published anything, it seems ludicrous.

Andrew Rosenberg said...

Good stuff.
Yep...just keep writing!

Jamie D. said...

I like one of the comments you got at the conference - don't keep polishing, move on. That's so hard for many of us to do, just sending things out even when they may not be absolutely perfect (because there's no such thing).

Wishing you much luck in your fiction...I'll be looking forward to hearing/reading about your progress. :-)

C Bailey said...

WookiesGirl, I started in Sept '09! The first thing I've published has been poetry. You're entertaining and genuine. I can't wait to see where your writing takes you.

Thanks for this post!

JJ said...

Thanks for sharing! Some great advice there.

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