- Quit smoking in the hope of growing old. It takes a long time to write. People go to books for wisdom and older authors tend to have more of it.
- Notice. If you're writing, you're a writer. If you're talking about it or thinking about it, I'm not so sure. Writing is ninety-eight percent work and two percent magic.
- Plot comes first. The plot is the architecture of your novel. You wouldn’t build a house without a plan. If I wrote without a plot, it would just be a pile of bricks. Characters are your servants. They must serve your plot.
- Pay attention to your passions. They are the key to starting and finishing the book you are meant to write. I don’t believe in talent. I believe in passion.
- Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer.
- You can do hard things. When I wrote The Poisonwood Bible, I would practice writing one scene from the viewpoint of each of the four daughters – until their voices started to sound authentic.
- I research a novel six ways to Sunday. I don’t want to lie to the reader; I want you to trust me.
Makes totally sense to me. How about you? Let me know in the comments, please.
2 comments:
What an interesting list! The only thing I might change at all is the part about plot and characters. To me, they are both equally important, but if I had to pick one to be more important it would be characters. People will tend to keep reading a book with a a so-so plot about fascinating characters before they'll keep reading a fabulous plot about dull characters. But I think the best is to work equally hard to make your characters vibrant and your plot interesting because then you'll have the best of both worlds.
Thanks, Kim, for sharing you opinion and experience!
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