I made this so I can put it up on my wall. You fellow writers are welcome to do the same.
LOOK AT HIS DISAPPROVING FACE. WRITE. NOW.
Do I look THAT grumpy? I probably do. But I like the sentiment.
Rebloggable by request…
Yes. And I’ve written things that DID upset members of my family.
How do I get past it? I suppose because I feel my responsibility is to the story, not to myself.
I have no doubt that the people who love me sometimes sigh when they see versions of themselves portrayed oddly in stories, or read something I’ve written they consider wrong or distasteful. But they love me, and they get over it. And what the people who do not love think does not worry me at all.
You know, for about 75% of the queries that come in about writing on the ask line, this really is the answer.
Illustrated my favourite Neil Gaiman quote for writers. :-) (and thanks to Neil for his permission)
It’s as true now as when I first said it…
FROM LITREACTOR - HOW TO AVOID PUBLISHING SCAMS…
The Litreactor site is worth its weight in rare metals…
In every industry there are amazing people who are full of passion, dedication and honesty.
And then there are scumbags looking to prey on your hopes and dreams so that they can separate you from your wallet.
For our purposes, I want to talk about the Nigerian 419 scammers of the publishing industry—the vanity presses, the fake literary agents, and the scam contests—all designed to inflate your ego just enough so you don’t notice their hand in your pocket.
With just a little caution, research and common sense, you can protect yourself. Here are the three most common types of scams, and how to avoid them.
GO AND READ THE REST OF IT AT http://litreactor.com/columns/the-dark-side-of-the-publishing-industry-how-to-avoid-scams
For all the people who ask me for writing advice…
1 Write.
2 Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.
3 Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.
4 Put it aside. Read it pretending you’ve never read it before. Show it to friends whose opinion you respect and who like the kind of thing that this is.
5 Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
6 Fix it. Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.
7 Laugh at your own jokes.
8 The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you’re allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it’s definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I’m not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.
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Read the whole article. It’s filled with great advice from wonderful writers…
