- If you maintain an online presence that’s all about your writing career—website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, blog page, Amazon author page—check your core material every now and then. Your bio. The kinds of books you write. Make sure all your info is accurate and up to date. Check that all your links work. Google yourself. Check and see how you look online to a newcomer. Say, a possible agent. Or editor.
- Write a little something every day.
- There are 62.3 kajillion books In print and another 5,000 books were added to the pile overnight. Yet there are only about eight basic storylines. What’s the magic thing that makes your story different, worth reading? It’s you. There is, believe me, only one of you. Dig deep. Bring it.
- That dream agent who represents your favorite Big Shot writer? The one you’d love to be with? He or she is just another person who likes stories and books and writers. That agent needs you as much as you need them. Hone your pitch. Be yourself.
- Know your genre. But read outside it, too. Way outside.
- Write reviews of stuff you read. A paragraph or two. You’ll be surprised how it sharpens your thought process about what you’re reading. Which helps your own writing.
- RMFW is only as good and as strong and as helpful as its membership. Ask not what RMFW can do for you, ask what you can do for RMFW. (And kudos to all of those who pulled off last weekend’s huge online Pitch Fest! That event involved a ton of volunteer work but undoubtedly helped dozens and dozens of writers during a tough year. Impressive.)
- Network is both a verb and a noun.
- Stuck on a scene? Change the time of day. Add a surprise character. Toss in humor. Stir it up. Or dump it. Sometimes, less is more. Trust the reader to keep up.
- That dream novel you’ve got in mind? Well, it ain’t gonna write itself.
Category: Blog
Great advice about writing reviews, Mark. I’ve just begun doing that on book sales sites, and you’re spot on about how it helps you suss out what works (or doesn’t work) in the books you’re reading. Which, as you say, can do nothing but help us, as writers, hone our own plots, settings and character development.
Thanks, Debra!