The Daily Journal, Monday, March 18

In today’s Journal

▪ If you’re reading this
▪ Topic: The Most Important Advice I Can Give You
▪ Daily diary
▪ Of Interest

If you’re reading this, I’m still messing around down on the Gila. I’ll be back “live” tomorrow. The topic below is a repeat from the big blog over on HarveyStanbrough.com and it might have appeared here in the Journal earlier too. But it bears repeating.

Topic: The Most Important Advice I Can Give You About Writing, Editing and Publishing (Seriously)

This post might have as easily been titled “What I Wish I’d Known When I Started Writing.”

Yesterday (as I write this) I published my 35th novel and the fourth in a series. I also have 2 books in another series (SF), 10 books in another (Wes Crowley Western), and 9 in another (Pulp). And then there are all the stand-alones and novellas.

I also am closing in on 200 short stories, many of which are included in 31 collections. So below is what I can share with you about writing.

First, a disclaimer: Many folks write only to cross an item off their bucket list or to leave a family record or simply as a hobby. All of that’s fine. But the advice that follows is not for you.

If you think of yourself as an aspiring professional writer (or as a professional writer), please read on. I’ll present my advice in a moment.

But first, one more disclaimer: Whether or not you call yourself a professional writer, if writing isn’t absolutely the most fun you can have with your clothes on, don’t do it. Seriously. Life is short. If writing is tedious for you, go find something fun to do. Again, what follows is not for you.

Okay, if you’re still reading, here’s the rest:

1. Follow Heinlein’s Rules 1 – 4 and then write the next story. (To see my personal experience with Heinlein’s Rules, download them here.)

2. Learn the basics of grammar, sentence structure and punctuation. The best and easiest way I know is my own Punctuation for Writers, 2nd Edition, available at Smashwords and Amazon. Heinlein’s Rules presume a basic knowledge of the language.

3. Don’t hover over one work (rewrite). If you do, at some point you will experience a sinking feeling in your gut. That’s because you’re stripping your original voice and anything else that’s good off of it.

4. Instead of hovering, practice. Practice will never make “perfect” (nor will rewriting) but it will make you a better storyteller. Rewriting won’t. Writers write.

5. Never stop learning from people who’ve been there. (Don’t listen to advice from people who aren’t farther along the road than you are.) What your conscious mind takes in will seep into your subconscious and come out through your fingers as you write.

6. Don’t be a control freak. You are not the General Manager of the Universe. Let the characters tell the story. They’re living it, after all. Instead of directing them from your Authorial Ivory Tower, roll off into the story and run through it with them. I promise, you’ll enjoy the trip.

7. Find a good READER to be your first reader, preferably one who is interested in your work. His/her only job will be to note (and report to you) typos, misspellings that your spell check misses, and inconsistencies. At no time should your first reader tell you how you “should” have written something.

8. If you don’t know punctuation and pacing (especially these two), get thee to a good, conscientious copyeditor. His/her job will be to extend the reach of (or replace) your first reader. If the copyeditor you find does not provide a free sample edit, or if s/he charges more than two cents per word, email me.

9. Create and maintain a professional website. Most often, the “free” ones look shabby, and they’ll nickel and dime you to death with “extras.” A professional website is an investment, and a good one.

10. Create (or commission) a good, attention-grabbing cover that’s appropriate for the genre. You CAN judge a book by its cover, and readers do so every minute of every day.

11. Force yourself to take the time to follow Heinlein’s Rule 4: Submit or publish your work. This is the one I most often fall off of, and I always regret it. Readers can’t buy it if it isn’t available.

12. When it’s time to publish, go traditional if you must (be wary of the contract), or go indie. But stay the hell away from subsidy publishers. Every one of them is a scam. They exist only to separate you from your money. (If your first thought begins with “But,” read this one again.)

13. Publish wide. Avoid exclusivity. Most of my sales come from Amazon. But I also receive a nice check every month from Biblioteca (libraries), Kobo and Barnes & Noble. The others will come, but they can’t if the books aren’t available to wide segments of readers.

Okay, that’s all I can think of for now. Enjoy!
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No daily diary entry today, of course. I’ll be back tomorrow with numbers.

Of Interest

Be sure to check Dean’s website (https://deanwesleysmith.com) and the Kill Zone blog at https://killzoneblog.com/.