Writing Tips for Writers from Writers

       So this week I found this whole blog post on writing tips which I thought I’d share. I love this part of the writing community because I can always find something to make me better from those who have “made it.” 

Stephen King:

“If you want to be a writer,” says Stephen King, “you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”

John Grisham:

“Before you can be a writer you have to experience some things, see some of the world, go through things–love, heartbreak, and so on–, because you need to have something to say.”

Ernest Hemingway:

Interviewer: How much rewriting do you do? 

Hemingway: It depends, I re-wrote the ending to “Farewell to Arms”, the last page of it, thirty-nine times before I was satisfied. 

Interviewer: Was there some technical problem there? What was it that had stumped you?

Hemingway: Getting the words right. 

Kurt Vonnegut:

“Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.”

“Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.”

James Patterson:

“I’m always pretending that I’m sitting across from somebody. I’m telling them a story, and I don’t want them to get up until it’s finished.”

Margaret Atwood:

“If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.”

One aspect of writing that I noticed is that if I don’t want to read my own writing then no one else will as well. It’s such simple advice, to write what you know, to write what you love, but its so often overlooked. Sometimes I feel that when people ask how to be a writer they look past all of these simple pieces of advice and look for something grand. As writers we need to remember, its about writing and perseverance. You have those two, and you can be a writer. 

Ya, I couldn't help it

Go forth and Write!!

Much love, 

Valia