We received a nice email from Corinne Reidy yesterday letting us now about a list of resources for the aspiring novelists out there. 25 Blogs Every Aspiring Novelist Should Read is the name and I’ll be giving it a good look through later today.
If you want to write, you have to read. Period. But while many fledgling novelists think that means digging into the classics, it also means paying attention to what other modern writers are doing online. We’re living in a golden age of information dissemination, when creative types of people in all fields can easily share their knowledge and successes with each other. Some of the best resources for aspiring novelists are found in blogs by writers, editors, agents, grammarians, and others just like them who are working hard to tell a story of their own making.
How may people have you spoken to who have said those magic words – ‘I’d love to write a book but I can’t write!’ They’ve got the ambition but, in their own eyes at least, they lack the ability to complete a story, no matter how good their ideas may be.
Some people seem, to those who ‘can’t write’, to have all the luck. Words flow from their pen (or more likely their word processor) onto the page in an uninterrupted stream, ending in a crafted and polished story that leaves all who read it gasping with envy.
Believe me, those people are very, very rare!
What people don’t see – and don’t appreciate – are the hours of preparation that goes into a good story or book. And while the likes of Jack Kerouac may well have written books in three days, there aren’t many like him around. So we’ll take a look at the craft of writing – from idea through to finished piece – with the aim of demystifying what is a truly rewarding process. Just say the words – ‘I want to write!’ – and we’ll show you how.
I finally sat down and just wrote a book about writing myself… actually I edited an anthology of sorts about a fictional Writer Secret Society called The Handbook of the Writer Secret Society…
Why is because I wanted to write…me, but it’s true that I needed connections and knowledge of the current industry in order to succeed. Writers have to view our work as a product or find someone who will and getting the foot in the door is difficult, more so than the writing is, at least for me; speaking or typing I’m harder to shut off than a car alarm…
However, I wish everybody would pick it up at least as a hobby. Books are so incredible. Such an insightful medium.