John's Writing Advice
Lately I've been asked a lot if I have any writing advice, particularly for young aspiring writers. The video below contains about the only writing advice I feel that I can provide with any kind of confidence:
My publishing advice to teens is: Generally, don't. What is the point of trying to publish now? There is so much to be gained from waiting and so little to be gained from not waiting. I think that not worrying about publishing a novel by the age of 16 will free young writers from the constraints of the literary marketplace. And if you write a novel that's really wonderful, then you can always revise it and publish it later. (See, for instance, M. T. Anderson's Whales on Stilts.)
Okay, back to Paper Towns.
posted by John Green @ Tuesday, November 27, 2007
13 Comments
13 Comments:
"More elf!" is excellent writing advice. I am now revising my Jane Austen biographical poems to include elves that pop out of buttons. Or not.
Thanks for the advice, John! Hey, what do you think of the Christian boycotting of The Golden Compass movie?
Ha ha ha ha ha!!! I couldn't stop laughing!! I thought it was hilarious when you suggested that perhaps people didn't like you because you didn't like foxes...ha ha ha, excellent video!! You are quite the comedian!
Thanks for the writing advice, as well.
I think your teacher was errant in her duties when she neglected to warn you that hating foxes would lead to loneliness.
I think it was actually Game of Sunken Places that he wrote as a teenager?
Well, that was cute. The only writing advice I've ever gotten was to read a thesaurus in my free time.. ( how boring?). More elf could definitely spice up some writing.
I couldn't stop laughing when I watched that the second time-IT ROCKED! It's wonderful writting advice, all of it.
Especially since I'm working on a book myself at the rate it's going I should have it done around the time I'm 17. I want to publish it but I'm not sure what to do when I'm done with it and stuff....am I supposed to edit it first or what? Ya know. Oh well. Guess that's future stuff ;)right now staying on the plot line is my biggest worry!
My only writing advice I ever got was to edit as I write and use large words........I haven't really listened to that. I think this will much more easy to listen to :)
Thanks John!!!
The great mini book thats wonderful amazing is funny. I have a joke from my not so long ago childhood called "Why Ray is Awesome" and it lists the reasons why my seven year old self was, well, awesome. I can definately see it being published, cant you?
Brilliant. I've read those "Tips to Writers" sections on every author's website, and it was great to hear something different. Which is, of course, why it actually works as advice on writing - you're giving us something we haven't heard a thousand times before.
Anyway, this is really for a.a.l.c. - whoever gave you those tips, hit them with a thesaurus. If you edit as you write, you freeze up and judge every word. You gotta jam it out and then go back and fix all the bad notes. It's the whole left brain / right brain deal. Ray Bradbury has "Don't Think!" over his writing desk. Ann Lamott recommends "shitty first drafts." They both have great books on writing you'd benefit from. Gary Provost's "Make Your Words Work" is also great, as is King's "On Writing."
The same goes for the second bit, about using big words. As Twain said in his rules of writing, "Eschew obfuscation." Also check out Hemingway's and Elmore Leonard's rules of writing. If someone needs a dictionary to read your writing, you're not reaching your audience. 'Cause instead of reaching for that dictionary, they'll reach for another book.
Good luck with it, and enjoy it as you go.
John, I am taking an online technical writing class, and Lecture One has this statement supporting your advice:
"Writing well is a skill that results from reading well. People who read a lot have a much broader spectrum from which to draw as they put their ideas and knowledge into a written form. Avid readers are also more likely to be exposed to good writing. Writing is a skill that, like many skills, is improved through modeling of quality examples."
Oh, and I wrote a book in 4th or 5th grade called "The Psychadelic Snowflake." What can I say? It was the 60's.
I can't tell you how many uniform shirts I went through in my elementary to high school years due to elves popping through my buttons.
In any case, I am done with uniforms now that I am in (and graduating from) college, so I no longer have a need to lament lost uniform buttons.
Also, I also have a bunch of books like those in your box of "childhood stuff." One of my favorites is "Dinosaurs and Apple," written somewhere around age five. About six pages have to do with dinosaurs, with stamps of different species, and the final, climatic page features a drawing of an apple. Wow, what a conclusion!
Hi Dale Cooper, I like your blog.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home