Saturday, March 4, 2017

9 Things I Wish I'd Known at the Beginning of My Writing Journey

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about my early years as a writer. I had no idea what I was doing and I was so eager to learn. I took courses and went to critique groups and attended conferences, all in an effort to figure out how to do this writing thing right. And do you know what I remember most about that time?


Being confused.

There are so many different books, different authors, different opinions.
Here are a few…
  • Outlines are a must. Outlines are evil.
  • Read everything. Don’t read much at all.
  • Write in the morning. Write at night.
  • Write every day. Write 1000 words a day. Write 2 hours a day. Write at the same time every day.
  • Edit as you go. Finish your first draft before you revise a word.
  • Use Scrivener. Only use Word.
  • Critique groups are a must. Critique groups are a waste of time.
  • Join ten different professional organizations. Don’t join any.
  • Get an agent. Don’t get an agent.
  • Traditional! Indie!

Are you confused yet? I know I certainly was. As a card carrying member of the Perfectionistic People Pleasers Club, all the different opinions made it very hard for me to figure out what *my* writing process was. I was terribly afraid that someone was going to find out how I was doing it and they were going to tell me that I was doing it ALL wrong.

You can read the rest of this post over at The Write Conversation. I hope you'll click over and join the conversation! 

0 comments: