Read, Write, Cut -- and Keep Going

Read, Write, Cut -- and Keep Going: a new essay in the series on books, writing, and publishing over at my Phoenicia Publishing site.

My Saturday morning began with a quick read of a two-part article in the Guardian, "Ten Rules for Writing Fiction," in which a number of contemporary authors were asked to give their advice. As both a writer and an editor, I found a lot that was worthwhile, though some took the question more seriously than others, and the article was very long -- probably the editors didn't want to offend anyone by leaving them out. The best standalone lists, I thought, were those by Geoff Dyer and Al Kennedy.

So let's look at what the responses had in common, and what stood out...

Comments

[Jan]

I love this, Beth. This comes right when I'm back to being frustrated with my writing.I have one manuscript in being edited and should be starting a followup manuscript and here I can't even think of decent blog articles.

Words always seem to flow from you with such elegance. My writing feels more like dragging feet through thick mud. I plod toward an endpoint, stopping often to wonder if it is worth the effort. ords

Advice like this, from you and from other authors, put things back in perspective. Writing is definitively something that improves with time and experience, even for those of us not naturally gifted.

[Dave]

Oh, good -- off to read both!