Friday, February 11, 2011

A Dozen Absolute Falsehoods About Writing

Discovered this gem in my file and thought I'd share. It's by Karl Fieldhouse.

"1. Good writers never have to work that hard. It just comes naturally to them.
2. Once you have one book or story written, the next twenty will be a snap.
3. Market demands aren't important. If your story's good, you'll sell it, no matter what the market thinks it wants.
4. You can do this alone. Anyone else's input will just interfere.
5. You can't do this alone. The more people who read your story and tell you what to change, the better your books will become.
6. A good writing style is more important than an engaging story.
7. Story is everything. It doesn't matter how well it's written or if technical problems exist as long as the plot's engaging.
8. You can't write about something you haven't experienced.
9. Publishing's all a matter of whom you know. Make the right connections and you'll get published.
10. The best way to get published is to find out what's hot and write one like that.
11. If you haven't published by the time you're thirty, it's too late. You may as well give up.
12. Writing is a quick and easy way to make a good living.
Writer beware! These statements are generalizations. And you know what they say about generalizations!"

I nearly fell off my chair laughing at some of these. We all know how ridiculous some of them really are, but it's amazing how many people would believe them without that obvious title.

So now back to the hard work of making sure the story line, the story details, the characters and everything else is all working properly so the reader can have an edifying experience and the editors will love it.

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