Advice for a new [fill in the blank]
May. 4th, 2010 02:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mollyringleIn a list of interview questions for someone's blog recently, I was asked, "What advice would you give a new writer?"
My answer, should you be wondering:
Aside from changing the font every so often while the work is in progress (it gives you a fresher eye on the whole story), I'd also implore you to take revisions very seriously. Your first draft is light-years away from being ready for publication. You have to put it away and not look at it for at least a month. Then you have to look at it again and fix the problems you see. Then you have to seek honest feedback from other writers (really good writers, ideally) and LISTEN to that feedback. Don't dismiss the remarks you don't want to hear. Stop and consider all suggestions. Even if the criticism stings at first, it will probably give you awesome ideas for new scenes and character details, and your manuscript will be ten times better for it.
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So now I'm wondering: what advice would you give to a newbie in whatever your field of work is? Further advice for new writers is always welcome, too. Despite having worked at this for nearly two decades, I still consider myself somewhat new.
My answer, should you be wondering:
Aside from changing the font every so often while the work is in progress (it gives you a fresher eye on the whole story), I'd also implore you to take revisions very seriously. Your first draft is light-years away from being ready for publication. You have to put it away and not look at it for at least a month. Then you have to look at it again and fix the problems you see. Then you have to seek honest feedback from other writers (really good writers, ideally) and LISTEN to that feedback. Don't dismiss the remarks you don't want to hear. Stop and consider all suggestions. Even if the criticism stings at first, it will probably give you awesome ideas for new scenes and character details, and your manuscript will be ten times better for it.
---
So now I'm wondering: what advice would you give to a newbie in whatever your field of work is? Further advice for new writers is always welcome, too. Despite having worked at this for nearly two decades, I still consider myself somewhat new.
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Date: 2010-05-05 08:45 pm (UTC)I haven't submitted much lately (because the manuscripts aren't ready), and it's making me antsy. Must get them ready!
When you advise against paying anyone, I assume you primarily mean the agents and editors charging a reading fee. Always a bad sign. Or do you include self-publishing? I admit I've shied away from that, despite occasionally being tempted, because of the stigma I keep hearing about. Also, I'm not interested in doing all my own marketing. Self-pub is just so seldom a success--though the only stories people hear are the one-in-a-million successes.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 09:30 pm (UTC)Both reading fees and self- and/or vanity publishing, actually. Any time you're spending money without some sort of contract or guarantee in your hand, it's a bad sign. And yes, every (non-writer) person you talk to will tell stories like Eragon. The truth is Eragon was a real case of self-publishing. The parents actually already ran a printing concern. And what are the chances that Mr. Very Famous Writer is going to be on vacation, pick up a copy for his bored step-son, and then use his Famous Writer influence to make you a star?
I was just thinking -- I bet if you asked people who advocate self-publishing, "Would you give the grocery store $100 with the understanding that sometime in the future, you were going to come back and collect some food?" they'd say, "That's stupid!"
Back to subbing. Good writer! Cookie...