ISBW #77 - Trust yourself as a writer
- In this podcast I talk about how to find what works for you.
- Promo: Rejection Letter Audio
- Promo: Voice of Free Planet X
- Feedback links: Nathan Bransford’s blog on querying, Kristin Nelson’s blog, Free Range Librarian, David Wong’s free novel, John Dies at the End, Getting Things Written.
- I’ll be at PNME this week, so be sure to say hi!
About the Author: I am a writer and podcast producer, writing for magazines and RPGs. I am a wanna-be fiction writer with several short fiction, comic scripts, and one novel sale. Playing For Keeps will be out August, '08.
Dischord | Sep 25, 2007 | Reply
No comment on the passing of Robert Jordan? It’s big news in the scifi/fantasy world.
admin | Sep 25, 2007 | Reply
As I said in the podcast, the majority of it was recorded last week before his death. I didn’t discuss Madeline L’Engle’s death either, and her works inspired me greatly.
jh | Sep 26, 2007 | Reply
Might just be me, for some reason.. but that rejection letter audio link doesn’t seem to work..
admin | Sep 26, 2007 | Reply
Sorry, link fixed.
Daniel Woods | Sep 26, 2007 | Reply
Just wanted to agree with your comments on ‘finding your own method’ - I tried to ‘just write’ for a long time, and all I produced was a mountain of absolute rubbish. Did I go back to rewrite and edit? Good lord yes, but when you’re surrounded by notes, wading through complete rewrite 12 or 13 and there’s still only minimal improvement, it’s very easy to get discouraged (or just plain fed up).
So, I stopped doing that, and resolved to never leave a sentence until I’m happy with it (or, if I’m REALLY stumped, mark it for later and surround it with ‘I want this sentence to be’s). Yes, at first, the progress was incredibly slow - hours would pass and I’d have written 200 words. But the quality of the writing? Infinitely better, and I found that, for me, 3 ounces of gold is far more motivating than 16 buckets of shit. With practice, this ‘editing as I go’ becomes automatic - types of sentence that I used to spend 15 minutes constructing now take 2 or 3, and sometimes just come out fully formed.
Am I ‘doing it wrong’? Arguably. But hey, it seems to work.
Great show Mur, thanks for sharing your journey with us :).
Daniel (UK).
Fox Cutter | Oct 8, 2007 | Reply
One way to silence your inner editor and just sit down and write is to use a typewriter. This is a surprising change from using a computer. You can’t go back and edit or change what you wrote before.
I’ve been doing this of late and it’s been a nice change. It’s a nice way to just sit down and write… just write whatever, and it’s been a nice change.