Things You Must do as a Writer, a Post by R. Clint Peters

As part of my continuing efforts to become a better writer, I have discovered another set of suggestions for being a better writer.

Know the Fundamentals of Writing

Every writer must know the fundamentals of punctuation, grammar, and spelling.  This is not to prove you were listening in class, but to assist your reader.  If they are constantly looking for your mistakes (I’ve done that a few times in some of the novels I read), you lose your credibility as a writer, and you will lose your readers.

Build a Burning Desire to Write

A writer exists to write.  Even on my worst days, I am still thinking about one or two things I can change with the book I am presently editing.

I am editing (for the fifth time) my first professionally published book, The Alberta Connection, a Ryce Dalton novel.  It was published almost two years ago, and I have learned a lot in those years.  And, with over one hundred reviews, I have a good idea what my readers think of the book.  (No, I will not stop writing).

Be Happy as an Unknown

After I wrote my first book and offered it to a vanity publisher, I asked family and friends to read it.  One response seemed to sum up what I was doing:  I think I like it, but I didn’t understand much of the book.  It’s taken several years to understand why:  I wasn’t a very good writer three years ago.

Writing is not a social activity.  I had an idea early in the life of The Authors Club (when it was still called The Book Reviewer’s Club), to have the club write the book.  I posted a couple chapters, and asked club members to submit their ideas on where the story would go.  The book would be published on CreateSpace, with all authors receiving credit for their work, and obviously, a cut of the sales (based on how much they contributed.)  After I had written six chapters, without a single contribution from the club, I stopped writing the novel.  It is sitting on a dusty shelf in my word processor.

Find Your Own Niche

If I wanted to write like Steven King, I’d need to leave all the lights on in my house and fill hundreds of spiral notebooks with my ideas.  Actually, I don’t read Steven King, so copying him isn’t in the cards.  However, maybe I could be John D. MacDonald.  Nope, the Travis McGee series has already been written.  I know, I’ve read every one of them.

Join a Support Group

As a writer, you’re not punching a time clock.  Writing for five hours can rarely be equated with a ten dollar per hour job.  I have gone a complete day with only one or two paragraphs to show for my efforts…..but they were phenomenal paragraphs.

Writers are mostly blind to their efforts, which makes a support group a necessity.  Three people thinking of three ideas provides three times more development potential of a story line.

A new department in The Author’s Club is the Peer-to-Peer Review Group.  It has been formed to give authors the opportunity to interact with other authors, get ideas, and just have someone take an unbiased look at what is happening in a novel.  Several members of the Author’s Club have joined the Peer-to-Peer Review Group.  At this point, it is not yet opened for business. If you’d like to join, please click here:  http://theauthorsclub.weebly.com/peer-to-peer-review-group-membership-application.html

Find Your Reader

Obviously, not everyone will like what you write.  As I mentioned earlier, I’m not a fan of Steven King.  I am not writing for the followers of Steven King.  And, although I have watched all of the Hobbit movies, I sincerely doubt I could write even a single sentence the way J. R. R. Tolkien wrote about Bilbo Baggins.

I once studied Issac Asimov for the purpose of becoming science fiction writer, but soon discovered I didn’t have the thought processes to create a new and distant world.  Stranger in a Strange Land is my favorite Asimov novel,  but I will not be writing in the Asimov format any time soon.

Get Feedback

Until The Alberta Connection, a Ryce Dalton novel was critiqued for the first time, I had no idea I was as bad a writer as I discovered I was.  I still have that critique.  It took almost a week for me to read it the second time, and then I devoured the information contained in those pages.  I learned a lot about how I was writing, and how not to write.  Yes, my ego was severely deflated, but those pages made me a better writer.

Use Criticism to Become a Better Writer

It is human nature to want to feel good about yourself.  In most instances, writers are human.  I was in a funk for a week after my novel was critiqued, but when I finally opened the file up and actually looked at what had been written, I could see where I was making my mistakes.   The recent suggestions from my editor (use active verbs, create more detailed characters)  are ways that will help me as a writer.  Unlike the first critique, the latest suggestions are embraced.  As I have learned from my reviewers, readers don’t overlook our mistakes.

Grow a Thick Skin

Authors are easy targets.  With such a huge minefield to negotiate (creating believable characters, developing plots, or fact checking), authors are constantly stepping on explosive devices (reviewers).  When I checked my reviewers, I might have become offended with the results.  My average was 3.7 stars.  Yes, it’s better than 3 stars, but not as good as 5 stars.

A brief note about reviews.  A review is only helpful if it is honest.  If all of my reviews were 5 stars, I’d either be the best author in the universe, or the recipient of a fraudulent review service.  Not everyone can like what I write.  If every review is 4 or 5 stars, it’s time to question the reviewers providing those reviews.  Several review services refuse to publish reviews of less than 4 stars in the belief that it is their duty to prop up authors to help them sell more books.  Yes, a 5 star book sells more copies, but if there are several 3 star reviews, the reputation of the reviewers takes a hit.

Finally, Write For The Right Reason

If you’ve taken up writing because you saw the big payday possibilities of being a New York Times best selling author, you need to check the contents of your morning libation.  At last count, over a million books were being written each month, and less than 1/10th of 1% of those will sell more than 500 copies.

Most novels are considered vanity novels.  They are written because someone told someone in high school he or she was a great writer.  With the developments of Amazon’s CreateSpace, anyone can write, and be published, and feel good — thus, vanity publishing.

I was told by my English teacher in high school I was a good writer.  When I first started writing many years ago, it was because I had an idea I hadn’t seen in print.  That book became the fourth of the Pendergast series and was published on CreateSpace.

Until The Alberta Connection, a Ryce Dalton novel was published by a professional publisher, I was swimming in the vanity pool.  Why am I writing now?  Because someone told me I might have what it takes to create a good novel.  I’m just waving my peacock feathers for everyone to see.

#RClintPeters #TheAuthorsClub