I thought I'd share an advice sheet that I put together for my students at the end of their ten week course. Every batch of students do an exercise in which I ask them to list the reasons - practical and emotional - which stop them writing. Then I compile a list of all the reasons together. Every time they are surprised to find how the same things trip up almost everyone, especially those depressing self-judging emotions.
So, this is what I tell them:
1
Create
a writing routine - identify times when
you can (at least) think about your story once a day and write at least three
times a week. Do not try and write all
day every day - a few hours concentrated
work is fine. You might have to get up early or wait until everyone else is in
bed. Be tough about it. You deserve a few hours a week to yourself
2.
Create
goals - short and long term. So aim to
write a certain amount of words a day, and have a date in mind when the book
will be finished. Tell yourself that it is more important to reach that goal
than anything else - should stop you
fretting too much over whether it is perfect or not.
3.
It
won’t be perfect immediately - it’s only a first
draft! So stop winding yourself up and just get on with it.
4.
One
project at a time is best. It's too easy to get distracted.
5.
You
need to be in love with and excited by your story. Think about what makes you
love a book - the story, the characters,
the writing - and use that as your way
in.
6.
Have
a list of writing exercises ready to help you develop your story and combat
writer’s block. So if you run out of
steam use your writing time to write a letter from one character to another, or
send them into the future, or write about their past, or write an outline of
the story . You do not have to write your story chronologically.
7.
Find
a writing space. A café can work very well. Lots of people find it difficult to
work at home.
8.
Write
about yourself as a child – this can help with depression and feelings of low
self esteem, by giving you a new perspective on your own childhood. Sometimes
writing for children can stir up old memories -
but writing about them, especially in a fictionalised form, can help a
lot.
9.
Failure
can be defined so many ways that it’s not worth worrying about. You might fail
to get an agent/publisher/sell many copies/win prizes etc. What matters is that
you enjoy writing and think your work is good, and that children enjoy reading
it.
10 Read books for children. Get involved
in the world of children’s writing (SCBWI is a good place to start). Get on
twitter, Facebook. Have fun.
12 comments:
Great advice, Keren, especially about creating a goal and not expecting it to be perfect first time - so many new writers agonise over this. I bet you'll miss teaching the course. :)
A useful list so thanks for sharing it, Keren.
I am musing on the "not everyone can write at home" . . .
Thanks, Keren - I'll be sharing this with some young writers and with myself!
Brilliant Keren, thank you, will be sharing this with some of my students too if that is ok
Ha - excellent, Keren *steals for next term*
I've certainly got some big boots to fill!
Great advice, even for the non-fiction scribbler.
Got on a roll during latest holiday, funnily enough, but now, the challenge is giving It time in my Real Life.
Oops, sorry, can't spell! Wanted to say some excellent advice, Keren, thanks for sharing.
I especially like 'failure can be defined in many ways'...important for all of us to acknowledge at whatever stage!
Really helpful. Keren - will pass this on to the class I teach, too.
Really helpful. Keren - will pass this on to the class I teach, too.
Thanks for that, Keren. There are many points in there that I like - although I don't really believe in writer's block!
I'd like to share my hard-learned list, too, in the hope that it may also prove useful to others:
1. Be prepared to work very hard for many years just to learn how to write reasonably well.
2. Read as if your life depends on it.
3. Write in every moment you can find.
4. Finish what you start.
5. Seek constructive criticism of your finished work.
6. Rewrite your work as many times as you need to in order to get it right.
In the end, I think you are spot on to focus at the outset on the fears and anxieties that trouble all writers, especially new writers. If there is one golden quality that a writer needs, it seems to me it is, above all else, courage.
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