Seven Tears Into the Sea
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Monday, August 13, 2007
RIGHT NOW WRITE NOW (Tip #1)
"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one know what they are."
W.Somerset Maugham
Dear Readers,
Don't look.
Summer's end is in sight.
And that story you promised yourself you'd write? Uh....you meant to...and you DID tap out a dynamite page one...but people have no idea how busy you've been. There were picnics to plan, movies to see, beaches to explore, Harry Potter to read... you'd be culturally illiterate if you didn't...and...how sad, because you REALLY wanted to write that book! And the readers of the world -- even if they don't know it yet -- will have their lives changed forever by your masterpiece.
So don't give up.
I don't know the surefire rules for writing a novel, but I'll give you what I've got. For the next week or two, I'll intersperse my blog posts with six ways that I've jumpstarted my own writing.
Fingers crossed that one of them works for you,
Terri
#1 Ask yourself: What piece of earth do I stand on that has never been occupied by an author before?
Answer that question, (substitute ALMOST never, if you must) & you'll come up with a feeling, situation or character that sets your work apart from that of other writers.
When I answered it, I realized most writers haven't seen wild horses' shock and fear when a trap is slammed shut behind them. Lots of writers haven't ridden on a ten day cattle drive. Few writers have spent hours coaxing an orphan sea lion to take a bottle. And not everyone has faced an adult education student so frustrated, he waits until the night school classroom is empty, then throws a desk at his first year teacher.
Are any of these events unique? No, but they pack an emotional jolt that makes my fingers itch to get writing.
In scanning your past, search for something no one knows about you. Recall stories you've told to friends which made them ask, "Then what did you do?"
Identify those experiences, try using one as a skeleton you can flesh out as a work of fiction. Maybe you'll transplant the feeling to another setting. Or you could change your experience so that you didn't duck, didn't succeed or didn't fail.
Whatever you decide to do with that experience, you can then write
a query letter which begins: "I am uniquely qualified to write this book because..." That's a phrase guaranteed to catch an editor's eye.
After that, it's up to you!
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 3:49 PM
Comments: Post a Comment
RIGHT NOW WRITE NOW (Tip #1)
"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one know what they are."
W.Somerset Maugham
Dear Readers,
Don't look.
Summer's end is in sight.
And that story you promised yourself you'd write? Uh....you meant to...and you DID tap out a dynamite page one...but people have no idea how busy you've been. There were picnics to plan, movies to see, beaches to explore, Harry Potter to read... you'd be culturally illiterate if you didn't...and...how sad, because you REALLY wanted to write that book! And the readers of the world -- even if they don't know it yet -- will have their lives changed forever by your masterpiece.
So don't give up.
I don't know the surefire rules for writing a novel, but I'll give you what I've got. For the next week or two, I'll intersperse my blog posts with six ways that I've jumpstarted my own writing.
Fingers crossed that one of them works for you,
Terri
#1 Ask yourself: What piece of earth do I stand on that has never been occupied by an author before?
Answer that question, (substitute ALMOST never, if you must) & you'll come up with a feeling, situation or character that sets your work apart from that of other writers.
When I answered it, I realized most writers haven't seen wild horses' shock and fear when a trap is slammed shut behind them. Lots of writers haven't ridden on a ten day cattle drive. Few writers have spent hours coaxing an orphan sea lion to take a bottle. And not everyone has faced an adult education student so frustrated, he waits until the night school classroom is empty, then throws a desk at his first year teacher.
Are any of these events unique? No, but they pack an emotional jolt that makes my fingers itch to get writing.
In scanning your past, search for something no one knows about you. Recall stories you've told to friends which made them ask, "Then what did you do?"
Identify those experiences, try using one as a skeleton you can flesh out as a work of fiction. Maybe you'll transplant the feeling to another setting. Or you could change your experience so that you didn't duck, didn't succeed or didn't fail.
Whatever you decide to do with that experience, you can then write
a query letter which begins: "I am uniquely qualified to write this book because..." That's a phrase guaranteed to catch an editor's eye.
After that, it's up to you!
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by Terri Farley @ 3:49 PM
Comments: Post a Comment