InkyBlots

I was recently asked to be on a panel of veteran writers who were asked what they wished they’d known at the very beginning, and believe me, it made me think—about attitudes, mostly. But also about craft. Cultivating both is absolutely imperative.

Most people give up too soon. They’re talented, but they just don’t have the drive. And those who do make it turn overnight into sour old pros—i.e., the greatest writer who ever lived, who’s not going to beaten down by their damned publisher who doesn’t know anything and is out to screw them.  And I mean overnight. The previously desperate, do-anything-to-get-published wannabe is instantly insufferable. It always makes me giggle.

But maybe it isn’t funny. May I suggest that those two attitudes should be reversed? Arrogant (secretly, of course),  i.e. “the world’s greatest writer” in the unpublished state (so as to keep up one’s drive) ; humble and grateful after the acceptance letter. Humble, grateful, and willing to help others. It’ll be so much better all around.

I can hear it right now if you’re pre-published. Check, okay, anything. Just how do I get to that acceptance letter? First, two simple things:  Number One, use contractions—this is the number one most overlooked key to smooth writing. Failing to use them is the mark of the amateur. Number Two, use the “find and replace” function to delete every unnecessary “that” Example:  “I remembered that she wore glasses.”  Wouldn’t that sound just as good without the “that”? That one isn’t particularly annoying, but most “thats” are and they just need to go.

Second, write a great first chapter. Sure, easier said than done, but here’s a hint, and I mean a major hint: Just write it as action, and keep it all in the present. Don’t try to cram in who everyone is and their life history.  Yesterday can wait till tomorrow—or at least Chapter Two. Don’t go off on tangents. (New writers love tangents.)  Don’t even tell us what’s really happening here. Make us wait. In other words, adopt this simple rule: No digressions, no flashbacks, no exposition. It’s your new best friend.

And then of course you’ll want to write the rest of the book. Seventh-Inning Burnout is the number one cause of never getting published. You’ve got to have a book to sell a book. So do this: Find your best writing rhythm. Experiment with morning, afternoon, or night, music or no music, steady or binge; whatever seems in your way, do it another way. If all else fails, just swear to write a page a day—if you do that, you’ll have a book in a year. Or do Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) and you’ll have a book in a month.

Finally, always remember the Three True Rules of Writing:

1. Start it. (As in don’t just talk about it.)

2. Put your Heart In It. (This doesn’t mean work hard—of course you’re going to work hard. It means get feeling into it. Put your soul in it. Make it real, make it important, make it wrenching. Also hilarious if that’s the way you roll.)

3. Part With It (The Number Two cause of never getting a book published is trying to perfect it. It’ll never be perfect. At some point, you just have to consider it done.)

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Julie Smith is the award-winning author of twenty novels and as many short stories. She’s a former reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune and the San Francisco Chronicle,  as well as a veteran of her own online writing school, plus an editorial service she founded with two other writers. She’s also taught writing at the  University of New Orleans and in numerous private seminars. During her long career as a novelist, she has created four mystery series, including two set in New Orleans where she lives, featuring homicide detective Skip Langdon and poet/P.I. Talba Wallis. In 1991, she won the prestigious Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel. Counting all the novels, all the stories in all the anthologies, the odd essay, and a progressive novel or so, her publishers include just about every big publisher– Ballantine, St. Martin’s, Tor, Walker & Company, Knopf,  Doubleday, Avon, Harper-Collins, Berkley, Warner,  and Oxford University Press– plus some smaller ones, including Akashic Books,  Carrol&Graf,  Allen &Unwin, Taplinger, and Four Star.

Her latest book is a how to writing book titled Writing Your Way: The Great American Novel Track.

Visit her website at www.booksbnimble.com.  Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/booksbnimble and Facebook at http://on.fb.me/nMW52h.  She welcomes your email at Julie@booksbnimble.com.