Kimberly Erwin
asked
Forrest Aguirre:
Forrest, just one question. But 1st THANKS! I enjoyed your review of Stanley Fish's book on "Sentences." Instead of buying it and then (most likely) not reading it...I just chose to NOT buy or read it AND to GET TO WRITING! (I have a book to write-13 years in the making!-and it is time I finish it. It's on RACE & ETHNICITY and it is a gem, if I may say so myself. I'll keep what you say in mind-any more don'ts?!
Forrest Aguirre
Hello, Kessa, and thank you! I'm glad to have helped in some small way. I apologize for taking so long to get to your question - life has been frantic the last year, to say the least, and I frankly just missed it. So, I'm repenting and answering now. As far as don'ts go:
1. Don't listen to writer's advice. If every writer had the magic bullet . . . well, if any one of them had the magic bullet, there wouldn't be a need for all the writer's advice books out there . . .
2. That includes me. Take whatever I say (or don't) with a grain of salt.
3. Always have a notebook with you, no matter where you go. Inspiration strikes at the most inconvenient times. I've had to stop in the middle of the grocery store, pull of the side of the highway (no, really), and jump out of the shower to make notes when my brain has caught fire. Seriously, don't fool yourself into thinking that you'll remember "it" later - you won't. Catch the fire in a bottle before it dissipates in any way. You can shape it later.
4. Don't try to get by without an outside editor. If you need to pay them, pay what you need to. Trust me - as both an author and an editor, I can tell you, it's worth it!
5. Don't give up when your writing gets to the stage where it feels like grinding gears. Yes, you can take a side project for a moment, but don't completely lose touch with that initial piece. When you come back off your side project, if you just can't seem to get back into the original, maybe it's time to rethink the original. Is it too long? Too short? Too focused? Too diffuse? Focused on the wrong person or problem? Your piece of writing is an experiment. Keep poking it, cutting it, burning it, and observing the results. If it's not viable, it will just plain die, but if it is viable, or if pieces of it are viable, they will react to all your poking and prodding and turn into something brilliant. Writing is a discovery.
6. Don't read in the genre you're writing in while you're writing. If I'm writing Science Fiction, for example, I am not reading Science Fiction or watching it on TV or movies. I'm reading, I don't know, Edwardian humor and a book about the history of West Africa. If I'm writing horror, guess how much horror I'm reading or watching? None. You don't want to be influenced, even subliminally, by the tropes of the genre you're writing in. You want the work to be yours and yours alone, as much as possible. Plus you'll want to steal techniques from outside your genre to experiment with inside your genre. The best books are uncategorizable, in my limited opinion.
7. Again, don't take my advice. I hate writing advice.
1. Don't listen to writer's advice. If every writer had the magic bullet . . . well, if any one of them had the magic bullet, there wouldn't be a need for all the writer's advice books out there . . .
2. That includes me. Take whatever I say (or don't) with a grain of salt.
3. Always have a notebook with you, no matter where you go. Inspiration strikes at the most inconvenient times. I've had to stop in the middle of the grocery store, pull of the side of the highway (no, really), and jump out of the shower to make notes when my brain has caught fire. Seriously, don't fool yourself into thinking that you'll remember "it" later - you won't. Catch the fire in a bottle before it dissipates in any way. You can shape it later.
4. Don't try to get by without an outside editor. If you need to pay them, pay what you need to. Trust me - as both an author and an editor, I can tell you, it's worth it!
5. Don't give up when your writing gets to the stage where it feels like grinding gears. Yes, you can take a side project for a moment, but don't completely lose touch with that initial piece. When you come back off your side project, if you just can't seem to get back into the original, maybe it's time to rethink the original. Is it too long? Too short? Too focused? Too diffuse? Focused on the wrong person or problem? Your piece of writing is an experiment. Keep poking it, cutting it, burning it, and observing the results. If it's not viable, it will just plain die, but if it is viable, or if pieces of it are viable, they will react to all your poking and prodding and turn into something brilliant. Writing is a discovery.
6. Don't read in the genre you're writing in while you're writing. If I'm writing Science Fiction, for example, I am not reading Science Fiction or watching it on TV or movies. I'm reading, I don't know, Edwardian humor and a book about the history of West Africa. If I'm writing horror, guess how much horror I'm reading or watching? None. You don't want to be influenced, even subliminally, by the tropes of the genre you're writing in. You want the work to be yours and yours alone, as much as possible. Plus you'll want to steal techniques from outside your genre to experiment with inside your genre. The best books are uncategorizable, in my limited opinion.
7. Again, don't take my advice. I hate writing advice.
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