In my little attempt at procrastinating today, I decided to
set down in stone (or a word.doc) the rule that I stand by with my writing. And
when finished (and needing to waste a little more time) have decided to share
it with you all.
1.
Write and write every day. This should be a no
brainer: you can’t call yourself a writer is you are sitting around drinking
coffee. Get into a routine and stick to it – make a star chart if that helps,
but make sure you write something. I try to keep a journal, but it doesn’t always
work – I have about three on the go at the moment – and use it to jot down
anything that you think deserves to be formulated into words. Write out
conversations you overhear, scenarios you think up, or even just a re-cap of
what you did that day. Write it all out.
2.
Read – Widely and Critically. Reading has got to
be the best way to improve your own writing. You can see how others handle the
craft, their word choice and how they handle the hard stuff. But then, when you
have finished reading, take the time to think about how and why it worked (or
didn’t) and then apply it to your own writing.
3.
Don’t let the Editor write and don’t let the Writer
edit. I find that my editor and my writer live in different parts of my brain
and although I need them both, I don’t need them all the time. Allow yourself
to be both at different times. It will save yourself a lot of internal
conflict.
4.
Finish What you Start – even if it’s a recount
of your day or an elaborate shopping list. Learn the art of a complete story;
don’t leave your readers hanging or get too comfortable with the incomplete.
5.
Create Writing Time and Space – Virginia Woolf
famously said that a writer needs a room of one’s own. I’m going to expand on
that and say you also need an hour or five. Don’t let anything or anyone interrupt that
time when you are in your writing zone, Barr the door and brew some tea (or
wine, whatever it is you need) and just write.
6.
Learn When It Is Time To Do Something Else –
When your hit a road block that starts to hurt your head, do something else. Getting
up and shifting perspective makes for a more productive writing session next
time and will hopefully stop you before you bash your head onto the desk.
7.
Don’t Be Afraid To Talk About Your Writing. If
you can’t talk about your writing, how do you expect to write about it? Have
someone you trust read over it, (or a complete stranger, whatever you are more
comfortable with) make yourselves a pot of tea and talk about it. Getting the
perspective from a reader is invaluable for a writer and two brains are almost
always better than one when you are trying to get over a tricky road block.
8.
A Book Is Not A Baby – Learn To Take Criticism
Well! If you feel the need to defend everything you have ever written, you will
never be able to let your writing grow and evolve into something much better. I
struggle with this a lot and still very far from mastering it, but it one of
the memos I have posted in the hope it sinks in soon.
9.
Read What You Write Aloud – If it doesn’t sound
right, it might not be. Or better yet, get someone else to read it aloud – if
they aren’t reading it with the same tone or expression you intended, you might
need to re-write.
10.
Enjoy The
Art Of Rewriting – and re-rewriting and re-re-rewriting. You writing can always
get better, and if not, you did save your previous draft – right?
So, what do you think? Which ones do you struggle with the
most – which ones are the easiest and how to you manage to overcome it all?
I would love to hear, x Katie
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