What do J.M. Peace, Alex Hammond, Athena Daniels, Emma Viskic, Kendall Talbot and Jock Serong all have in common? They are brilliant writers, they dropped by my blog this year, and they have all been generous in sharing some tips for aspiring and emerging writers. As I interviewed Kathryn Ledson and Greg Barron late last year, their sage advice missed my previous posts with author tips, so theirs are included here too. I have also thrown my two cents in. I hope something resonates with you, helps you find your way as a fellow creative.
Sandi Wallace
I’ve shared tips with you before but after having my debut out there for over a year and with my sequel coming next year, I now have extra perspective that I’d love to pass on. For me, 2015 has been a wonderful year although it’s had some speed humps. The biggest was the production delay of Black Saturday, which makes me very much look forward to 2016, so I can let that baby fly into the wilds too. … See what I did there? I turned a gutting experience over to find the silver lining – that is something writers need to become adept at, and leads to my first tip: expect the unexpected, while maintaining belief and resilience.
Every single thing in my first year as a published author has highlighted to me that writing books is not a race or destination; it is a journey. It will come with ups and downs. It will bring amazing people and experiences into your life. Just remember to maintain some sort of balance between the crazy life of a writer and the rest of your self and your world. Slow down, do your best work, and enjoy the ride. Because it is an incredible thing to dream, plan, plot, write and polish a story until it becomes a book, and entertains others. And because the challenges and disappointments are as rewarding, albeit in a different way, as beautiful feedback from readers – combined they make us stronger, more rounded, more grounded, and better at doing what we love doing: writing.
Greg Barron
Tip One: Lots of writing books tell you to ignore your inner critic. That advice didn’t work for me. Your inner critic is the subconscious observer that sits on your shoulder while you read books. When it tells you you’re off the track, or writing total garbage, listen to it, even on the first draft. There’s no point writing reams of material that you know will have to be deleted later.
Tip Two: When in doubt, get the notepad out and brainstorm.
Tip Three: Your final drafts need to be done on paper. You see things you don’t notice on screen.
Kathryn Ledson
Number One Tip = REMAIN INVISIBLE. There’s nothing more annoying for a reader than being dragged from your carefully-created story world by poor writing. When I say poor writing, I mean any of these things (and much more): typos and spelling mistakes, trying too hard (flowery writing), not trying hard enough (clichés), telling not showing, inappropriate scene setting (the smell of sweet jasmine during a car chase), unrealistic dialogue, characters acting out of character, convenient plot twists, contrivances of all kinds, and so forth. There’s a particular author who’s successful and popular – and I love the kind of stuff he writes – but I can’t read his work because his dialogue’s so wooden and he “shouts” to create tension. All I can see is him bashing away at his keyboard. Never typing. Bashing.
J.M. Peace
I don’t presume to have any answers this early in my writing career. I have given a lot of thought as to why I have been published and some of my friends have not. Clearly, being a serving police officer has given me an edge, not just in writing the manuscript but also being able to offer a different backstory. I think publishers are looking for a package that goes beyond a strong manuscript. So find the story that you are the best person to tell and prepare an author platform.
Athena Daniels
My first tip would be to network. Connect with and follow authors and publishers to keep up to date with what is happening within the industry. Create a professional author platform and begin establishing your presence as an author even before you have published your first novel. Believe in yourself and keep writing. Personally, every day I discover something new, even if it is simply a new way of using a word. I believe writing is like a muscle; it strengthens the more you use it.
Another tip would be that sometimes you just have to trust yourself and go for it! For example, I submitted a section of my first novel for critique. I received some great feedback that I gratefully took on board, but was then told that suspense is not written in first person and to rewrite it in third. I was crushed. And what was more devastating was that no matter how long I looked at my manuscript, I couldn’t imagine it being written any other way. So, I ploughed on, finished it the way I’d started, and sent it off for submission. In a couple of weeks, my romantic suspense had received interest from three separate publishers and I’d received two firm offers of contract.
What I took away from this experience was that the feedback I was given was “advice” and not a “rule”. Typically suspense works better when written in third person because you can add in the perspective of the villain. I can see the value in this, and to date all my other suspense novels have been written in third person. But it wasn’t true for me on that occasion. Sometimes, if it feels right, you just have to trust yourself and go for it!
Alex Hammond
Treat your writing as a profession – set deadlines and hold yourself to them, set your standards to those of your favourite authors, think of the market you are writing for.
Emma Viskic
First drafts are messy, malformed things. The magic comes with rewriting.
Kendall Talbot
Turn off the television. If you need to watch something, watch a movie and analyse it until you work out what works and what doesn’t. Keep an eye out for the pivotal points and really study the dialogue, as this will help you improve your voice. By the way, I do most of my movie watching in my home gym, that way I exercise and study at the same time.
I also restrict my social media to 45 minutes each morning and 1 hour each night, it’s too easy to get sucked into the social media time warp.
Jock Serong
I think you have to back yourself. The big ol’ world out there is very uncaring, and unless you doggedly call yourself an artist and organise your life around producing art, no-one is ever going to tap you on the shoulder and say “hey, you’re an artist, why don’t you make something?” Sounds self-evident, but I think a lot of people (me included, for years and years) sit around waiting for fate or destiny or some other nonsense to play its hand. It’s not going to, so look inside yourself. You just have to make a call and then stick with it through the poverty and empty printer cartridges and bad coffee and sore backs. This is a career, and like any career it requires commitment and a willingness to endure the sad and boring parts.
Another tip would be, find some mentors and squeeze every last drop of wisdom out of them. I’ve been very, very fortunate to make some great friends among writers who are established and have good ideas to share. Having just said the world is uncaring, it’s also true that fellow writers are empathetic, are likely to have been through the same precarious early stages, and will readily help and share. Although writing is a solitary business, there are some fantastic people out there who will listen and encourage you.
What else have I got? Do develop habits and disciplines. If you put writing off until the angels are singing and you’ve got an exquisite three-sentence hook to bang down, you’ll never get anywhere. The angels do sing sometimes, but a lot of the time you’re going to feel like you’re pushing a boulder along. You can still work productively on those days – editing, researching, emailing people with your ideas…even just checking for better ways to describe things. Find a comfortable place to work, and a working style that suits you – some people are longhanders in cafes, others are straight-up typists, or a combination of both. Some people like loud death metal or Brahms or silence or birds or whatever. It’s good to experiment.
Thanks again to all my special guests for sharing their journey in their interviews, along with the pearls of wisdom above.
Big thanks also to my readers and supporters.
Wishing you and yours a happy and safe festive season and may 2016 be a great year!
Cheers,
Sandi
