How to Be a Writer...
...in Three, Easy Steps:
Yesterday I had a conversation with someone who had just finished reading my book and wanted me to know that my writing annoyed her. It'd had a strong emotional impact on her, she said, and she didn't know how she could ever write like that. She wondered about legacy. What was she leaving behind?
(She, who for five years has been a professional dancer in the most successful Broadway show of all time)
It's a good question. So I thought that for the educational benefit of anyone who might wander by this site, I would outline the "secret" to any improvement I've made over my years as a writer.
Be forewarned, though: the path to providing real literary worth is very, very difficult. You will have to sacrifice relationships. You will have to sacrifice experiences, money, and so much of your own time. When it's all over and your words have been arranged and frozen onto the pages of a book, it is very likely that people will refuse to pay you for them. This will feel like being turned down as a prom-date, over and over again. It will hurt. A lot.
If, knowing that, you are still interested in this fool's errand, here is my super-secret, three-step program to becoming a writer:
- - -
*Note: for elaboration from other (better) writers, follow THIS LINK.
Yesterday I had a conversation with someone who had just finished reading my book and wanted me to know that my writing annoyed her. It'd had a strong emotional impact on her, she said, and she didn't know how she could ever write like that. She wondered about legacy. What was she leaving behind?
(She, who for five years has been a professional dancer in the most successful Broadway show of all time)
It's a good question. So I thought that for the educational benefit of anyone who might wander by this site, I would outline the "secret" to any improvement I've made over my years as a writer.
Be forewarned, though: the path to providing real literary worth is very, very difficult. You will have to sacrifice relationships. You will have to sacrifice experiences, money, and so much of your own time. When it's all over and your words have been arranged and frozen onto the pages of a book, it is very likely that people will refuse to pay you for them. This will feel like being turned down as a prom-date, over and over again. It will hurt. A lot.
If, knowing that, you are still interested in this fool's errand, here is my super-secret, three-step program to becoming a writer:
- Write all the time.
- When you're not writing, re-write.
- When you're not re-writing, read.
- - -
*Note: for elaboration from other (better) writers, follow THIS LINK.
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