How I Found the Write Path

Carrie Butler is celebrating her blogiversary! She’s hosting a blogfest called How I Found the Write Path. See who is participating, and sign up yourself.

The Prompt: Please write a letter/note to yourself when you first started writing toward publication.

Since I often talk to myself (in third person even), this was easy. Below is the advice I’d give, if I could send a letter back through time.

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Dear Loni,

Hi, it’s me, your future self. No, this isn’t some scam trying to get your money. Go on, I’ll wait while you check the headers and track the IP.

You done? Okay, fine, so you’re still skeptical. I’ll prove it.

You know that masterpiece you’ve had stewing in your mind since you were 15? Yeah, Thanmir War. Guess what! It’s going to completely change. First-draft beta readers will hate your main characters, not to mention all your info-dumping confuses them. You’ll spend hours reworking both.

Before you start tossing out all your work, let me tell you two valuable words that will save your caboose—ones I had to discover on my own.

Critique Partners.

Remember those words. Find them online. Actively seek them out in your community. These people will change your life.

No, that’s not me being melodramatic (kinda sounds that way, though, doesn’t it?). I know what your life is like right now. Limited connections with absolutely no idea where to start. It’s just you and that story you’ve been terrified to show to anyone, afraid they’ll judge you.

Get over it. They’ll judge your writing before they judge you.

Critique partners will help hone your skill, point out flaws you never noticed, and suggest rewording that gives a whole new perspective on word delivery. Not only will these people turn you into a better writer, they’ll become your friends.

Okay, maybe I am being mushy now.

Well, my dear past self, another thing critique partners teach you is brevity. Yes, you, Miss Long-Winded, can learn to write something quick and snappy.

With that, I leave you to your writing.

Sincerely,

Loni Townsend

Author of the Niniers Series

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Are you participating? What advice would you give?

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