5 Top Pieces Of Advice From Famous Authors
Practical advice that actually makes sense.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I like to think that if I just do exactly what a particular famous author does then it is inevitable I will become just as famous as them! Sounds like a flawless plan, doesn’t it? Not so much. It’s not about finding the author who’s routines you can match, or whose life you can adapt to your own. It is the fundamental aspect of writing that all these authors have in common, that all of them agree upon, that needs to be trained and perfected in your life. It’s like training at the gym; a personal trainer will tell you compound movements (that work multiple muscles at once) are more effective to muscle growth than isolated movements (that work one muscle only). It is the same case with the following tips:
“Always stop while you are going good and don’t worry about it until you start to write the next day. That way your subconscious will work on it all the time. But if you think about it consciously or worry bout it you will kill it and your brain will be tired before you start.” — Ernest Hemingway
I cannot tell you how many authors have told me that when they finish their writing sessions on a high note, they are left excited! They can’t wait for their next session! And are often coming up with new ideas in anticipation of that next session. Just the same, when they have finished in a plot hole, or in an area that is boring or they feel stuck, they hesitate towards going back to it. There is less of a motivation to jump back into it.
2. “Make people believe in your story first and foremost.” — Gabriel Garcia Marquez
I would go even further into this and say that if you don’t believe in your story, why would anyone else? There is a reason your story is being told, there is a reason you chose to write it! Dive into that and be your story’s number one supporter.
3. “Pick the hours that work best for you.” — Leo Tolstoy
There are authors who find their mind is in a place to write best when it is morning, others at night. None of them are right, or wrong. Find the time that works for you. Experiment with it. Work the morning, the night, midday, whenever you’d like and calculate how effective your writing sessions were in those times.
4. “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time — or the tools — to write. Simple as that.” — Stephen King
J. K. Rowling has also said this in a speech previously, as have many other authors. Reading is essential to your writing craft, skill level, and imagination. It is equally as important as the actual act of writing!
5. “This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard, and you put one word after another until it’s done. It is that easy, and that hard.” — Neil Gaiman
One word at a time. No pressure. Just words. And eventually, those words will round off into an ending, and you will have a completed manuscript on your hands! Have you ever driven home, and once you’ve reached your house you realise you have no memory of the drive? You just sort of…ended up at your destination? Yeah, it’ll be just like that.
