General advice from published authors to aspiring writers

[sknox]

"Write like you have a message from the king"

Love that line.
I don't much care for the "write your passion" stuff. I don't have some dark secret burning my soul. I just have some stories in my head that I think people will enjoy reading, but more than that I have a strong desire to get the damn things written. I want to do the doing of it, to see if I can build it, to see how it turns out. Then I want to hear from others and see if I can make it better.

No epic passion, no swooning needs, and no utilitarian desire to crack a market and make a buck. I have a craftsman's attitude: a fascination with the tools, admiration for a piece well made, and a hope that some day I'll make my masterpiece and be admitted into the guild.

 

[BetaWolf]

Michael Moorcock http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/20/10-rules-for-writing-fiction-part-two

1 My first rule was given to me by TH White, author of The Sword in the Stone and other Arthurian fantasies and was: Read. Read everything you can lay hands on. I always advise people who want to write a fantasy or science fiction or romance to stop reading everything in those genres and start reading everything else from Bunyan to Byatt.

2 Find an author you admire (mine was Conrad) and copy their plots and characters in order to tell your own story, just as people learn to draw and paint by copying the masters.

3 Introduce your main characters and themes in the first third of your novel.

4 If you are writing a plot-driven genre novel make sure all your major themes/plot elements are introduced in the first third, which you can call the introduction.

5 Develop your themes and characters in your second third, the development.

6 Resolve your themes, mysteries and so on in the final third, the resolution.

7 For a good melodrama study the famous "Lester Dent master plot formula" which you can find online. It was written to show how to write a short story for the pulps, but can be adapted successfully for most stories of any length or genre. http://www.paper-dragon.com/1939/dent.html

8 If possible have something going on while you have your characters delivering exposition or philosophising. This helps retain dramatic tension.

9 Carrot and stick – have protagonists pursued (by an obsession or a villain) and pursuing (idea, object, person, mystery).

10 Ignore all proferred rules and create your own, suitable for what you want to say.

 

[Shashi Kadapa]

This is a very useful forum and as an aspiring (perspiring) writer, it is awesome. In any case, the posts are about 7-8 years old. Has the market changed in the meantime and are any new agents available, who can be approached?

 

[Brian G Turner]

Hi Shashi and welcome to chronicles.

There are quite a few resources on the Writing Resources board, including for agent contacts:
Writing Resources - Science Fiction Fantasy Chronicles: forums

I don't think the industry has changed too much in its approach to debut writers - the problem, as always, is writers short-changing themselves by submitting a first draft thinking it's a completed manuscript.

The big change has been the eBook publishing revolution, which makes being self-published much more accessible and cheaper - but in no way entitles anyone to being a success with readers.

Oh - and publishers now think the web only went social with Twitter.

Hope that helps!

 

[C.E. Gee]

Most all of the advice given here was applicable.

But the most helpful advice I read here was "DON"T GIVE UP!"

It took me three years of writing four hours a day for five days a week, AND!!!! 124 rejection notices before someone published one of my stories.

And it took another seven years !!!!!! and another 60 some rejection letters before I reached the point where my stories started being published on a regular basis. Even then, only about 40% of what I write gets published. DO NOT GIVE UP!!!

Jerry Pournelle once famously stated that you have to write a million words before you can become a published writer. I did it with about 350,000.

Keep at it. NEVER GIVE UP. If I can do it, you can!

I was a blue collar worker. I graduated high-school 1/2 credit above the minimum -- never attended a university. I was born and raised in a "white-trash" culture in extremely remote areas.

To date, I've a dozen stories published in half-a-dozen magazines.

If I can do it, you certainly can. NEVER EVER GIVE UP!!!!!

NAMASTE

C.E. Gee aka Chuck