Advice to Would-Be-Writers, from 30 Years of Experience

I have been obsessive in my pursuit of literature, to the point of selling all else cheap, since my mid teens (thirty years ago)! I consider myself very lucky to have published 7 books, with 2 more in the pipeline. I assure you, however, it did not happen overnight or appear out of thin air; I’ve been carrying these books, in embryonic form, inside me, for decades.

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So, I suppose this would be my advice for young writers: Don’t glamorize the art of writing, do the work, write. Try, at every turn, to test your responsiveness to the world, as well as the elasticity of the language, early on; treat life's experiences (good and bad) as writing prompts. Prior to writing, and alongside it, read, deeply and widely. Feed your imagination a varied diet: philosophy, psychology, ancient cultures, science, the natural world, mythology, world religions, pop culture, art in all its manifestations.

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Read the Masters, see what can be achieved (we’re as good as our teachers) and cast an eye at what your contemporaries are doing – even if you don’t agree with it, you need to be aware of it. Also, don’t decide early on what type of writer you are. Push against the parameters of your creativity, and try your hand at as many genres, and genre-bending, as you can. Meantime, of course, continue to live, attentively, so that you are one of those people upon whom little is wasted.

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Everything that happens to you when you’re awake, even your dreams, is material for your writing. This includes all the places you visit (real or imagined) everyone you love, everything you are and become . . .

Once you find your Voice as a writer, you must commit. None of this nonsense about not having time to write, or energy. It’s a matter of priorities. If you have time to breathe and eat, you have time to write. Write as if your life depended upon it because, in a sense, it does. Past word games, readers expect writers to lay their hearts bare, to say what most other people cannot or will not say. So, you need to practice the courage of vulnerability, and the state of emotional and spiritual nakedness in public; it’s expected of you.

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Also, share your work with writers you respect, if they are willing to take a look at it. Lastly, don’t assume that the world is waiting for your work and will embrace it once you decide to release it from your clutches. If you feel you have good work, then it should be able to withstand criticism.

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Stop fantasizing about your unwritten books-to-be and start doing the hard work of trying to getting your work out there, in print and online journals or magazines. Now, brace yourself for rejection, years of it, or sublime disinterest. If you discourage easily, either develop a thicker skin or, if you can, choose a safer, saner existence.