I read other writing blogs all of the time. I am impressed by them. I also read books by writers telling other so-called would be writers how to be writers. I look at the classes that are offered online and in the universities and colleges. I am impressed by all of them.
This blog isn't fancy and full of resources you can access such as the places I have visited. No, this is a different sort of blog. I try and put things on this blog that I think writers need to know but are not always told. Maybe that is useless information, but it is information that I found out through trial and error and have become golden for me.
For instance, many places touch upon the need to read other writers. It isn't a need. It is a necessity. If you don't do it, then you are a hack, a writer who will never rise above the waves and waves of mediocre writers out there. That is it, pure and simple. If you don't like to read, then maybe you should try another field of endeavor. There isn't a whole lot of difference between writing and reading.
You can go to all of the schools of writing in the world, but you won't learn as much as you will if you do two things every single day: read and write. You have to write every single day as if your life depends on it because your writing life does. You are the violinist that needs to practice on the violin and if you don't then your talent will wither away. Even if you can't get a story going, write in your journal about anything. I had a monster writer's block until I found out that I wanted to write about some things in my life in my journal that I was not allowing myself to do. Then when I did, I got my "groove" back.
Every day, you need to read and that does not mean you read all authors. You can read the ones you like. I suggest you give up your library card and start to buy books, second hand books or books on sale at your local Barnes and Noble. Then you can go as slow as you want with a pencil and mark the heck out of it. Let the writers that have gone before you teach you how to write and it is a heck of a lot cheaper than taking a class. Go slowly and develop your instinct for what works and what does not. You are alone and no one is saying over your shoulder how to write. Let's face, writing is a solitary affair. It will never be otherwise and you need to learn to depend on yourself.
If there is a third part to this, let yourself dream. Create stories in your head, move the parts and people around and notice what works for you and what does not. If you get bored with the story in your head, chances are others will too. Let yourself loose. Put everything in a fantasy you want and when if you decide to write it, the unrealistic parts will go away. Play around with the imagination. That is what it is for. Have some fun with it. Writing is fun if you allow it.
Lastly, have faith in your creative imagination. If no one is publishing your kind of stories, keep going. If some professor tells you that your stories stink, quit his class and do all of the above. Don't let any editor or critic tell you at the beginning level what works with your writing and what does not. If you are getting ready for publication and an editor wants to change something consider it, but at the beginning put it down the way the story comes to you. And for heavens sake, edit it. Your pencil is your best friend.
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