This evening I went to a beginner writers workshop. Susan Fish, author of Seeker of Stars, presented the information lively. Here are the notes I took.
Suggestions:
It takes 10 000 hours to be really good at something. Practice writing using writing prompts. Make a list of your favourite adjectives and then put them in a jar. Each day, pull one or two out and write something with them. Sometimes you need to paint cornfields over and over. Write a side passage from a book of fiction (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies type thing). Find a subject you care about. Don't get too comfortable. Don't play it safe. Its good to make a writing date and time. Keep that appointment just like you would any other. Find how you work the best (Computer, Graph paper, Blank paper, lined paper, Notebooks, etc.). Use a soundtrack. Take a trip one weekend. Write in the bathtub. Write while standing up. Write while laying down. Anything that makes it easier to start and continue! Read, read, read and cross-pollinate. Go to lectures. Lead a rich life. Creativity is having great ideas, figuring out how to do it, and then doing it. Learning new words. Use dictionaries. Work on the craft. Use verbs well. Choose your details. Follow your energy. Reward yourself for finishing. Find a community of support. Follow an agent on Twitter.
Quotes:
"If I had to say what writing is, we would define it essentially as an act of courage." Cynthia Ozick
"Start writing. No Matter what.
The water doesn't flow until the tap is turned on." Louis L-Amour
"Be willing to write a shitty first draft" Anne Lamott
"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader." Robert Frost
Recommended Reading:
The Joy of Writing by Pierre Burton
Our Town by Thornton Wilder (Play)
Making a Literary Life by Carolyn See
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Suggestions:
It takes 10 000 hours to be really good at something. Practice writing using writing prompts. Make a list of your favourite adjectives and then put them in a jar. Each day, pull one or two out and write something with them. Sometimes you need to paint cornfields over and over. Write a side passage from a book of fiction (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies type thing). Find a subject you care about. Don't get too comfortable. Don't play it safe. Its good to make a writing date and time. Keep that appointment just like you would any other. Find how you work the best (Computer, Graph paper, Blank paper, lined paper, Notebooks, etc.). Use a soundtrack. Take a trip one weekend. Write in the bathtub. Write while standing up. Write while laying down. Anything that makes it easier to start and continue! Read, read, read and cross-pollinate. Go to lectures. Lead a rich life. Creativity is having great ideas, figuring out how to do it, and then doing it. Learning new words. Use dictionaries. Work on the craft. Use verbs well. Choose your details. Follow your energy. Reward yourself for finishing. Find a community of support. Follow an agent on Twitter.
Quotes:
"If I had to say what writing is, we would define it essentially as an act of courage." Cynthia Ozick
"Start writing. No Matter what.
The water doesn't flow until the tap is turned on." Louis L-Amour
"Be willing to write a shitty first draft" Anne Lamott
"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader." Robert Frost
Recommended Reading:
The Joy of Writing by Pierre Burton
Our Town by Thornton Wilder (Play)
Making a Literary Life by Carolyn See
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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