Tuesday, May 29, 2007

10.) If all young authors could know one thing, what would it be?

Write every day. Get a mentor. Tell the truth.

Write Every Day: Writing is like breathing. If you don't do it regularly, you die. Write poems. Write short stories. Write letters. Write love notes. Write nonsense. Just write, write, write.

Get a Mentor: A writer just starting out can save a lot of time and energy by listening to an experienced writer who has committed to the time wasters of the past. Things like sending inappropriate content out. I had lunch with a local radio celebrity last week. He is also a teacher. He said, "If someone knows how to write well, they will never be out of a job." Cool.

Tell the Truth: I don't mean that you have a corner on "the" truth in metaphysical terms. I do mean that you have to write what is in your mind. If your mind says the tree was a sort of lime-green, emerald-green, greenish sort of green and your fingers type, the tree was green. You're avoiding the truth. If in your mind your character is a dirty rotten SOB and you write, "He was a bad guy," you're not telling the truth. Sometimes this can get a person into conflict with mentors and teachers. For instance if a young man writes that he is going to disembowel the English teacher, he may end up in jail. This has happened around here recently. Remember this: Just because you write it, it doesn't necessarily need to be read. A good mentor will protect a novice from writing themselves into prison. A wise teacher will parse violent prose for signs of reality and act accordingly, hopefully with compassion. All this equivocating being said, still, write your truth, even if it is unpleasant or unpopular, because writing your truth is a way of getting to know your true self, and, if you get to know your true self, you will be more capable of creating content worth reading.

I recall a workshop where a participant asked the presenter, "How does a person get published?" The presenter answered, "Write something worth reading." Sounds simple enough doesn't it? Go ahead and try it. Good luck. You're in for an adventure.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Okay, so I gave three answers not one. I'm a writer. I get paid to fill the blank screen and you're a reader, you get three answers for the price of one.