For this blog chain round, the awesome Cole asks the following:
Christmas is a time of gift giving. If you could gift aspiring authors with one piece of advice, what would it be?
I have a ton of things I'd love to say, but the most important is one I've already shared on the Operation Awesome blog: bleed on the page.
What do I mean by that? Well, I explained it to the best of my ability in the OA post, so I'll just go ahead and show y'all what I wrote:
When I say I want you to bleed on the page, what I mean is, whatever you write (short story/poem/novel), please write it from a place that makes you feel. It can hurt, make you laugh till you cry, or both. Doesn't matter. I want you to sit down and write something that costs you. Something that stirs the deepest parts of your core and never. Lets. Go. Most importantly, I want you to write something that forces you to pour everything that makes you you on that page.
I'm not asking you to seek publication, or to write something suitable for publication. I'm not asking you to follow trends, or write something you think will be a trend in the coming months.
I'm asking you to write for yourself.
Confession: I wrote for myself this year. I ended up with a (messy) first draft of a book I thought I could never even begin. Now I'm revising it. Horribly slowly, but revising it.
And I'm the happiest I've been in a while.
So yeah. Follow all sorts of guidelines in terms of manuscript format, hone your writing craft as best you can, but always bleed on the page. It's hard, but oh is it worth it.
Thanks to Cole for this topic! Make sure to check out what she had to say, then stay tuned tomorrow for Margie's take on it.
Happy Thursday, everyone!
Happy New Year 2013
ReplyDeleteOh yes, it is true that if you want to write something that truly touches the reader, you are going to have to bleed on the page.
ReplyDeleteI faced that fact when planning out my next project, a sequel. I was faced with the "How do I make this one as good as the first one, without repeating what I did before, but extending and deepening the themes while making sure it's still an action adventure for the reader?"
And I came upon an idea that made me feel sick. I shared it with a CP, and she said, "I hate it. It's perfect." I shared it with my husband, and he actually flinched. And then I shared it with my 12 year old daughter, the target audience, and she said, "Do it. Do it. Do it."
It will hurt to write. I will bleed. But this is what has to be done. Great post, and great advice!
Excellent advice :) Happy new year!
ReplyDelete