Writing on Wednesday is my weekly feature for sharing great writing tips I’ve found around the web. As an aspiring writer I’m always open to advice from other more experienced writers and often authors. Today I’m looking at random advice direct from the authors.
1. “To prevent getting all dried up, stop half way through an exciting part of your writing, leave some for tomorrow and know where to start again.” — Phillipa Ballantine
2. “Finish the short story, print it out, then put it in a drawer and write other things. When you’re ready, pick it up and read it, as if you’ve never read it before. If there are things you aren’t satisfied with as a reader, go in and fix them as a writer: that’s revision.” — Neil Gaiman
3. “Sucking when you start is okay. Every new project, no matter how brilliant the idea at the heart of it happens to be, is going to start by sucking. Just deal with it, and soldier through. Every sentence is a learning experience.” — Seanan McGuire
4. “Read as much as you can and write as much as you can. Reading feeds your own story-telling, and writing, like anything worth doing well, needs practise. It needs practise practise practise PRACTISE.” — Robin McKinley
5. “Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” — E.L. Doctorow
Great advice Amanda! I used to love creative writing when I was younger. Don’t write much anymore, but I appreciate it. =)
xx
samos
Thank you Stephanie! You know, many times I find that advice I find for writing can also be applied to creating art. The source for creativity is the same for both creative writing and the visual arts. 🙂
Lots of gems here! I love the idea of saving something for tomorrow—I believe Hemingway said something similar—and as for not feeling bad about writing crap in the beginning, AMEN! I said the same thing when I spoke to the creative writing class at my old high school the other day.
Thanks for sharing these!
You’re welcome! Sometimes it’s the little words of wisdom that can make all the difference, especially to an aspiring writer like myself! 😉