Forty Years as a Writer: Lessons Learned
Well, forty-two, actually. I was eighteenwhen I decided to dedicate my life to writing, and I’m sixty now. This seemedlike a good time to take a look back and pass along some of the most importantthings I’ve learned about writing and publishing over the course of my longcareer. I mean, I guess it’s long. Seems like I just started yesterday, but oldpeople always say stuff like that, don’t they? The following items aren’t inany particular order. I wrote them as they came to me. If you’re a long-timereader of my blog, you may have encountered some of the following in previousposts, but hopefully most should be new to you.
· Take your writingas far as you can. Ipass along this advice all the time. When I was nineteen and a collegeundergrad, the teaching assistant who taught my composition class – Pam Doyle –held end-of-the-course conferences with students. During my conference, shesaid, “I urge you to take your writing as far as you can.” This is the bestwriting advice I’ve ever received. Pam didn’t say “Publish a zillion books” or“become a bestseller.” She told me to continue writing and growing as a writer.And her advice was open-ended. It had no end point. I can continue taking mywriting as far as I can until they day I die (which is my plan!).
· I never argue withpeople’s opinions about my work. I learned this from science fiction writerMike Resnick at an SF convention. He was talking about whether writers shouldrespond to reviewers, and his view of readers’ or critics’ reactions to hiswork as “opinions” is exactly the right attitude. You can’t argue with anopinion – it is what it is – so why bother? It also speaks to how we should takereviews of our work, both the good and the bad. They’re just someone’sopinions, not divine judgments from on high.
· Scene and Sequel. I first learnedabout this technique from pro writers discussing it on convention panels thirtyor so years ago. They presented it as the technique to master if youwanted to write publishable popular fiction. They said they’d learned it from ahow-to book by Dwight V. Swain called Techniques of the Selling Writing.As soon as I could, I hauled ass to the closest bookstore, found a copy, boughtit, took it home, and devoured it. Rather than give you a short explanation of thetechnique here, I’ll link to the Wikipedia entry that discusses it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scene_and_sequel
· Listen to myinstincts. Thefirst story I sold to a professional-level market was “Mr. Punch,” whichappeared in the anthology Young Blood from Zebra Books in 1994.This is the story I think of as the first true “Tim Waggoner” story, the firstof the surreal/nightmarish type of horror tales that I’ve become known for. Theending was very abstract and symbolic, and when I read the story to my writers’group, they advised me to make the ending clearer. I felt they were wrong, butI tried anyway, but no matter how I tried to revise the ending, I knew myoriginal version was best. I submitted it to Young Blood, it wasaccepted, and when it was published, it was well received by the horrorcommunity. It made the Honorable Mention list in the Year’s Best FantasyHorror, too. I didn’t disregard all feedback after this experience, but ittaught me to pay attention when my inner author’s voice says, “Yeah, this storyis weird and messed-up, but that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
· Don’t tell peoplehow to view or enjoy my work. During an undergrad creative writingclass, I read aloud a chapter of a novel I was working on for feedback. Thebook was a fantasy adventure featuring mythological gods ruling a Mad Max-typewasteland. I was writing the book on two levels – one was as an adventurestory, but another was as a satire of adventure stories. I wanted the satire tobe very subtle, though. I read the chapter, which featured an action sequence.Afterward, I explained the satirical aspect of the book, and one of thestudents said, “Now I feel bad for enjoying it.” I realized then that it’s notmy place to tell people how to read or respond to my work. Stories are likejokes. They should explain themselves in the telling. Sometimes in interviewsI’ll talk about the different layers of my stories, but in general, I writethem and then shut the hell up while readers read them.
· The Rule of Twelve.Backbefore the advent of a little-known fad called the Internet, we writers used toget market information from print sources. Writer’s Digest Books’ annual Writers’Market was the go-to source, and I’d buy a copy every year. The front ofthe book always had articles on writing and submitting your work, most of whichI skimmed or ignored entirely, since they covered stuff I already knew. But oneyear I ran across an article titled “The Rule of Twelve.” (I wish I couldremember who wrote it.) The author talked about how after one of her storiesgot a couple rejections, she figured it was no good, put it away, and startedwriting something new. I thought, “Hey, I do the same thing!” One day shedecided she was going to send her stories out until they sold, no matter howlong it took. She eventually discovered that her stories sold, on average, tothe twelfth market she tried. After employing this technique, she began sellingher stories regularly. I decided to try the same thing, and I sold my stories,on average, to the ninth market I sent them. Eventually, I began sellingthem on the first or second time out. What I love about The Rule of Twelve isthat it’s a way to codify persistence that doesn’t require any emotional effort,so even if you’re depressed by a rejection, you know you’re supposed to keepsubmitting your work, so you do. I advise all writers to give The Rule ofTwelve a try!
· Do an ego checkwhen dealing with editorial comments/changes. I haven’t been ina writers’ group for close to thirty years now, and I don’t use beta readers. Irely on my agent and my editors to give me feedback on my work. (I dotraditional publishing, so these are editors at publishing houses, not ones Ihire.) Since they’re professionals, I do my best to keep a tight reign on myego (or on my natural laziness when it comes to revision) when my initialimpulse is to say, “Screw you, it’s perfect the way it is!” Yeah, I know I said“trust your instincts” earlier, but trust doesn’t mean ignorefeedback completely. If, after careful consideration, an editorialsuggestion doesn’t seem right to me, I’ll discuss it with an editor or my agentand see what we can work out. But I work hard to truly consider suggestionsinstead of dismissing them out of hand merely because I hate revising.
· “All Americanwriters are regionalists.” As an undergrad, I worked in my university’s WritingCenter, and a co-worker asked to read one of my short stories. I chose acontemporary fantasy with a surreal/symbolic ending that was a precursor tostories like “Mr. Punch.” My co-worker asked me where the story was set. I toldhim I didn’t identify the setting beyond it being a lake with a campgroundnearby. I wanted the setting to feel universal to readers. My friend said thatI had to precisely identify the setting because I was an American writer, and“all American writers are regionalists.” I immediately recognized that he wasparroting something he’d learned in a lit class as if it was law. I told him itdidn’t matter exactly where the story was set. He read it, then said, “You wereright about the setting.” From this, I learned not to pay too much attention topeople when they try to tell me the “rules” of writing – especially rules theylearned from a college lit professor. Yes, there are techniques that tend towork for most readers more often than not, but these are more customs than theyare rules. I tell students that there’s only one real rule in writing: You mustuse marks on a page (or screen) to communicate ideas. Everything else issituational based on your purpose and audience.
· Don’t compareyourself to other writers. When I was in grad school, other students would talkabout wanting to write, but they always compared themselves to the writers theywere studying in their classes, feeling like they could never possibly measureup to The Greats. And so they never wrote anything. Learning from otherwriters is essential. I learn something from every writer whose work I read.But if you compare your work to theirs, you’ll always find yourselfwanting. Run your own race, and don’t worry about who’s ahead of you or behindyou. We run the race because the race is good to run, because we have torun it, we can’t imagine living without running it. The running is theentire point of the race.
· Strength-Basedapproach.Years ago, I read an article in Writer’s Digest written by Isaac Asimov.In it, he talked about how he was really good at plotting stories but sucked atwriting well-developed characters. Instead of wasting a lot of time trying toget better at writing characters (which he doubted he’d ever improve much on),he decided to focus on his main strength – plotting – and work to improve thatas much as possible. Many years later, this would become known as a strength-basedapproach. You focus on maximizing your strengths while getting just okay atareas you’re weak in. Some writers are strongest in plotting, some in style,some in dialogue, some in research, some in humor, some in generating ideas(this is me!), and so on. The more you lean into your strengths, the stronger –and more competitive – your writing will become.
· Don’t keep yourdistance from fans – unless you need to. In the mid-1990s, a friend of minenamed Ron Sarti sold a fantasy trilogy to Ace Books. We’d been going to SFconventions for years, but once the first volume in his trilogy came out, Ifelt uncomfortable seeing him talk to fans at cons as if – gasp! – they were equals.This was a subconscious thing on my part, and it took me a while to figure itout. I’d seen so many pros keep their distance from fans over the years thatI’d come to view this as professional behavior. Since Ron had reached prolevel, he should’ve acted like a pro, right? Once I understood where thisfeeling came from, I got over it quickly. Sure, some writers might –consciously or subconsciously – think they’re better than fans, but I thinkmore writers are simply introverts that aren’t comfortable interacting with alot of people at events, and so they keep to themselves or go hide in the baror their hotel room when they need some alone time. Other writers are so famousthat they’d be mobbed by fans wherever they went at a con, so they need to keeptheir distance to avoid getting overwhelmed. I’m an introvert, but I don’t goto cons to stay away from people. If I wanted to do that, I’d stay home. WhenI’m at a con, I always try to remember how Ron behaved, as if there was nothingseparating him from the fans, because, of course, there wasn’t. We’re allpeople, gathered to celebrate something we love – writing and reading.
· Editors work forthe publisher, not for writers. Editors work with writers. Business-wise,editors are not your friend. They always represent the company’s interests, notyours. (This is less true for small-press editors who often are thecompany.) Artistically, they can be your friend, and they can be your friendoutside of business matters (like when hanging out at a con). I’ve had book editorslie to me about advances (“This really is as much as we can offer right now”)when I know they’ve given higher advances to other writers. You can choose tohave an adversarial relationship with editors and assume they’re always out toscrew you, but that’s not true, and it’s certainly not helpful. I think it’sbest to go into a relationship with an editor knowing the business and artisticaspects of it are two different – and often mutually exclusive – things.
· Write with a closeidentification with a character’s point of view. Movies andvideogames can deliver images and sound. But only fiction can put people intothe heads of characters, allowing them to experience the story more deeply andintimately. Too many beginning writers write as if they’re passive audiencemembers watching their story play out on a screen before them. Write yourstories as if you are the character living them, so you can give readers thesame experience.
· Family and friendswon’t become readers if they aren’t already. Your family and friends may beproud of you and talk up your writing to people whenever they get a chance. Butthat doesn’t mean they’ll read everything – or even anything – you write.People don’t change their reading tastes if they love you, and they don’tsuddenly become readers if they aren’t readers already. I once gave my sister acopy of one of my earliest novels. During a visit to her place, I found itlying on the kitchen floor next to the cat food bowl. Gary A. Braunbeck oncetold me of visiting a relative’s house to find them using one of his books tohelp prop up their coffee table. I don’t offer to give family members copies ofmy book anymore, and they never ask. I don’t resent them for it, though.
· You’ll never be an“expert.” Yearsback (seems like I’m starting most of these items with that sort of phrase), Isaw a writer who’d gotten her first small-press book contract suddenly startgiving everyone advice on the Horror Writers’ Association’s members-onlymessage board. She’d never given out any advice before, but once she’dsigned a contract, she acted as if she was the expert on all mattersrelated to writing and publishing. Who knows? Maybe she was just so excited tofinally land a deal that she was eager to interact with people. Maybe it gaveher the confidence to share ideas about writing that she’d previously kept toherself. But I always think of her whenever I’m tempted to believe that I KnowIt All. I’ll never learn everything there is to learn about writing andpublishing as long as I live. My goal is to learn as much as I possibly canbefore I die. Plus, it’s always useful to keep a beginner’s mind. That’s how westay excited about our craft as the years go by, and that’s how we grow.
· I can’t tell whowill “make it” as a writer. I can recognize when someone demonstrates writingtalent and ability, and I can tell when they have a natural feel for storytelling.But I have no way of knowing how hard they’re willing to work to develop theirskills, and if they’ll be mentally tough enough to keep going despite all theobstacles and setbacks they’ll encounter. Someone whose writing doesn’t lookvery promising today can work their ass off for years and become a skilledprofessional. Someone else with a shit-ton of natural talent may not do a damnthing with it throughout their life. There’s simply no way for me to know.
· You’re going toget your heart broken, probably multiple times. Rejections, dealsthat fall through, bad reviews (or worse, complete indifference from readers),being nominated for awards and not winning, never appearing on theend-of-the-year best lists, never having your work selected for Best-Ofanthologies, never getting film and TV options on your work, seeing writersyounger than you being catapulted to financial success and critical acclaimwhile you’re still struggling all these years later . . . There’s a reason whyyou need thick, adamantium-tough skin to be a writer. You’ll have lots ofpositive experiences, too, but you need to make peace with the fact thatsometimes you’re going to hurt, and maybe hurt bad. In this way, a writingcareer is like life itself. You need to find a way to take a hit – sometimes anextremely hard one – and keep going.
· Some people willglom onto you as their private unpaid teacher. Some beginningwriters seek out pros to attach themselves to in order to get free feedback andcareer advice. I’m not talking about people who ask you a few questions everynow and then, or who ask if you’ll read a short story or a novel chapter forfeedback. I’m talking about needy, almost desperate people who want you to givethem everything all the time. Of course, you can choose to help whoever youwant, however much you want. At this point in my career, if I said I’d readpeople’s work for free, I’d have so many takers that I’d never get to doanything but read and critique others’ writing. I teach creative writing at mycollege, and I volunteer as a mentor in the Horror Writers Associationmentorship program. Otherwise, I do my best to protect my writing time. If Ididn’t, I wouldn’t have any.
· Some people willuse you as a stepping stone. Some new writers befriend you for a timeuntil they can move on to another writer who’s farther up the ladder of successthan you are. Afterward, they may never interact with you again in any way.It’s like you no longer exist to them. Some may say hi if they see you at acon, but they won’t spend any time with you. It’s funny to watch them on socialmedia as they comment on a writer’s posts and give them shout-outs and praisetheir work until they latch onto a bigger writer. It would be easy to becomejaded and cynical and assume every new writer who approaches you only wants touse you. I get that. I choose to believe that any writers who approach me aregenuinely interested in getting to know me, and if they eventually toss measide without a second thought as they move on to someone they consider abigger, more useful writer, I try not to let it bother me. I’m sad forthem because this kind of career climbing in the writing world rarely, if ever,works. You don’t become a better writer by cynically using other people. And youend up with a reputation as a career climber without having built a truenetwork of friends and colleagues. You end up alone, and usually no better offcareer-wise than where you started.
· More writing is (often)the solution to writing problems. Life circumstances aside – illness,depression, new baby, new job, recovering from surgery, etc. – I think writers’block is really writing avoidance. There’s some reason why you don’twant to – or are afraid to – work on a piece of writing. The solution is towrite anyway (even if it’s on a different project) and to keep writing untileverything starts flowing smoothly again. Sometimes I’ll have students who saythey write better under pressure. I tell them this is an illusion. “You writebetter because you’re actually writing. You breathe better when you breathe,you eat better when you eat, you sleep better when you sleep. It’s the samething. You’re writing better because you’re finally writing.”
· You will neverstop doubting yourself. Get to work anyway. This one doesn’t need muchelaboration. There will not come a magical day when all the negative thoughtsabout yourself and your writing disappear forever. Just don’t let thosethoughts stop you. As I always tell students, “Remember: Those dark voices alwayslie. They may speak, but you don’t have to listen to what they say.”
· Write the storiesonly you can tell. Iread an article by Dean Koontz in Writers’ Digest some years ago(there’s that phrase again!) in which he said the only thing writers reallyhave to sell – or perhaps, the best thing they have to sell – is theirunique vision. He used himself as an example. He started out writingrun-of-the-mill science fiction novels, but he eventually shifted to writinghis combo of horror/suspense/science fiction, and that’s when he started tohave significant success in his career. It’s a simple transition to make. Weall start out by imitating our favorite writer or by trying to figure outwhat’s most marketable and producing that. And trying to figure out your“unique vision” isn’t easy. It takes time, experimentation, exploration, andself-reflection. And it helps if you’ve gotten enough feedback on your work tostart to get an idea of what elements readers particularly enjoy or respondmost strongly to. I can write a lot of different things, but I’ve had the mostsuccess with my weird-ass horror novels, my action/character/humor- orientedurban fantasy, my media tie-in books, and my nonfiction books about writinghorror. But it took time and my trying different types of writing to get there.
· It’s all worth it.Everysacrifice I’ve made for my writing, every hardship I’ve had to deal with, everyobstacle I’ve had to overcome, everything I had to learn, and every way I hadto grow (sometimes painfully) for my writing has been worth it.
· The most importantthing to give a hero. I learned this from SF legend Lois McMaster Bujold, acouple decades ago when we were in the same writing group. “What’s the mostimportant thing to give a hero? Pockets.” This is one of the wisest pieces ofwriting advice I’ve ever received.
These aren’t all the lessons I’ve learnedin forty-two years, of course. I actually had a number of other items on myoriginal list for this blog entry, but it was getting so long, I trimmed it down.But these are some of the most important, and the ones that I hope willbe most useful to you.
Now go learn more lessons, and when thetime comes, pass them on.
DEPARTMENT OF SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION
The Atrocity Engine is Unleashed Uponthe World!
Myhorror/urban fantasy novel, The Atrocity Engine, was released this week,and so far, the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. It’s the firstvolume in the Custodians of the Cosmos series, and the other two – Book ofMadness and The Desolation War – will be released on July 30thand October 30th respectively.
Creaturesfrom dark dimensions infesting your home? Demonic beings trying to drive youinsane? Alien gods attempting to destroy your universe?
Justcall Maintenance.
Thisunderpaid and overworked secret organization is dedicated to battling forcesthat seek to speed up Entropy and hasten the Omniverse’s inevitable death.
NealHudson is a twenty-year veteran of Maintenance. A surveyor who drives throughthe streets of Ash Creek, Ohio constantly scanning for the deadly energy knownas Corruption. Since the death of his previous partner, Neal prefers to workalone, and he’s not happy when he’s assigned to mentor a rookie.
Butthey better learn to get along fast.
TheMultitude, a group of godlike beings who seek to increase Entropy at everyopportunity, are creating an Atrocity Engine. This foul magical device candestroy the Earth, and they don’t care how many innocent lives it takes tobuild it. (Spoiler alert: It’s a lot!)
Justanother day on the job. . .
“Waggoneroffers a fresh variation on the trope of a covert agency combating evil in hisblood-drenched Custodians of the Cosmos series opener.” – Publishers Weekly
“Thisgripping dark fantasy boasts an indelible cast and an unwavering pace.” – KirkusReviews
"THEATROCITY ENGINE is a wild ride full of entertaining scenarios and scarymonsters!" – Booklist
“THEATROCITY ENGINE is a kick-ass cross-genre thrill ride of a novel!”– JonathanMaberry, NY Times bestselling author of CAVE 13 and NECROTEK
"Thisis edge-of-your-seat Horror Fantasy. It's as if Stephen King wrote MEN INBLACK!" —Scott Sigler, #1 NYT Bestselling author of EARTHCORE
“Fast-paced,cleverly thought-through, and deeply unnerving in all the right places—urbanhorror fantasy with a decidedly creepy difference. Don't read it in the dark!”– Diane Duane, New York Times bestselling author of TALES OF THE FIVE:THE LIBRARIAN
B&NHardcover: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/book/1144299910?ean=9781949890891
NewShort Story Collection Up for Preorder
My eighth short story collection, Old Monsters NeverDie, will be coming out from Winding Road Stories on May 28th.It collects stories I wrote from 2017 to 2019.
From the mind of four-time Bram Stoker Award winnerTim Waggoner comes 18 provocative tales of terror that explore the darkestcorners of the human mind. This comprehensive collection concludes with anunforgettable metafictional story on what it takes to be a horror writer. Withthis carefully curated selection of short stories. discover why no matter howmuch we try, in our deepest subconscious, Old Monsters Never Die.
“Tim Waggoner is easily one of today’s best horrorwriters.” – Jonathan Maberry
“His style is very unique — evocative enough to standquietly with Charles Grant but visceral enough to punch with Richard Laymon.” –Brian Keene
B&N Paperback: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/old-monsters-never-die-tim-waggoner/1145455344?ean=9781960724205
SCHEDULED APPEARANCES
StokerCon 2024. May 30th toJune 2nd. San Diego, California.
In Your Write Mind. June 27thto June 30th. Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
IGW Genre Con. August 17thand August 18th. Huntington, West Virginia.
WHERE TO FIND ME ONLINE
Newsletter Sign-Up: https://timwaggoner.com/contact.htm Website: www.timwaggoner.com Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Tim-Waggoner/author/B001JP0XFM?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true Blog: http://writinginthedarktw.blogspot.com/ YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/timwaggonerswritinginthedark Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tim.waggoner.9 Instagram: tim.waggoner.scribe Threads: @tim.waggoner.scribe@threads.net
