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Advice to Writers Who Are in It

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Painted Cave on Santa Cruz Island by Mike Baird

I’ve shared tons of writing advice over the years, both in craft and lifestyle, and it’s always been a pleasure to pass along the things I’ve learned from others (or figured out the hard way). But I’ve done only one list of cohesive advice before, called “My Advice to My Newbie Writer Self: 20 Things I Wish I’d Known 7 Years Ago,” and now somehow that post itself is five years old? (Shh.)

I guess that’s why I feel the call to share again a list of things I’ve learned along the way—five years is a lot of experience to mine. So what do I mean by writers who are “in it,” and what do I mean by “advice”?

By “in it,” I mean deeply submerged in the journey of publication—not just starting out. (There is, of course, nothing wrong with being new to the game; that’s just not who I’m really talking to this time.) For you, that might look like ten years querying and still not finding an agent. It might mean you’re on your fifth book deal. Or it might mean you’ve chosen to self-publish, get into academia, or what have you. I’m really just referring to a level of commitment and longevity that means you’re no spring chicken when it comes to this crazy field we work in.

And by “advice,” I mean advice to myself, reminders to others, suggestions for anyone who ends up finding them helpful. I truly believe that no advice is universal, and I certainly don’t have any claim on being right or having figured everything out. These are just the realizations and philosophies that I’ve found most useful over the years. Please take them as you will. ♥ Let’s go!

Work Harder

No, not more. Not longer. Not faster. Harder. No one is tallying your total hours spent (probably), nor do you get any points for being a fast typist or a workaholic. What matters is that you do your best work as often as you can without burning out. When you’re mid-project, you need to be deep, deep in your high-effort zone every work day for a good chunk of time. It’s not about what other people are doing or can do; it’s about what you can do. Work hard, and you’ll feel good about it.

Submit More

Yes, more. You should be embarrassed by how many rejections you get. They should outnumber your acceptances at least 10 to 1. Even if you’re deep in the game and have a name for yourself and get solicited to send in work. There are always more markets, and you can break them. (Or you can try, because how will you know if they’ll say yes if you don’t send something in?) So submit more, and don’t quit until everything you’re proud of has been placed somewhere. And then write more stuff.

Exploit Your Strengths

You’re probably really good at certain things, right? You might even be “known for” something—even if it’s just among your writing partners and peers. I can’t tell you how many writers I’ve heard express a fear that they’re overusing that very strength they’re best at. Nope, not a problem. If you have a thing, run with it. Embrace it. Make it your trademark. It doesn’t mean you can’t branch out and try other things; I’m just saying there’s nothing to gain from avoiding the things you’re already great at.

Stop Avoiding Your Weaknesses

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When Risks Go Wrong

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I talk about fear and bravery a lot because they’re big parts of my writing life—and not just because I write horror. I encourage writers (including myself) to be brave and take risks. Ideally the groundwork of education, hard work, and patience is already laid so they’re smart risks. But once it is, we can’t get anywhere truly special without facing down fear and going for it. I believe that down to my bones. And yet, sometimes risks don’t pay off. Sometimes we face fear only to fail. … [Read more...]

The Forest for the Trees

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One of the hardest lessons I’ve had to learn—and am still constantly learning—as a writer has been patience. Not just moment-to-moment, don’t-re-check-your-inbox patience, but long term, forest-for-the-trees patience. I have had to learn my craft, learn the industry, and then learn to readjust my expectations accordingly. I have had to learn as much as I can about all the things I can (_o/) so I have the confidence to admit that the rest is out of my hands. I have had to learn to show myself … [Read more...]

How to Process and Filter Feedback

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In my last post I talked about “which types of readers to use for feedback,” covering the pros and cons of a weekly critique group, beta readers, specialty readers, and agents and editors. Knowing where to get feedback on our work is great, but what the heck do you do with it once you have it? It might sound like a straightforward question, but any writer gathering significant feedback knows how daunting it can be to face sorting through and implementing that critique. The good news is that … [Read more...]

Which Types of Readers to Use for Feedback

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Every writer needs feedback before publication—every writer and every book. It’s a critical part of the process. In fact, it’s several critical parts of the process, because a savvy writer will come to learn that it’s usually most effective to get different types of feedback at different stages. The types of problems a weekly critique group will catch are not the same types of issues a trusted beta reader will point out. Finding these different types of readers to give you feedback can be a … [Read more...]

Summit Fever and Knowing When to Say Whoa

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My husband who climbs mountains (I know) once told me about a phenomenon one of his peers had experienced, known in the field as “summit fever.” Poet me perked immediately, drawn to the ping of that phrase. Then he told me what it means, and writer me just about had to scoop my jaw off the table. When a climber or group of climbers plans an ascent, they also have to plan the descent, which includes a timeline for everything. They look at weather and conditions that might make the climb slower … [Read more...]

Getting Back to Grateful

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If there’s one universal truth about all types of writing and all types of writers, it’s probably that this is hard. Writing is difficult. If you pursue it with any persistence and passion, you’re certain to come up against obstacle after obstacle, even if they’re of your own making. And if you’re pursuing publication, many (too many) of them aren’t of your own making—and aren’t under your control. I’ll say it again: This is hard. It’s also wonderful. If we didn’t think so, we wouldn’t … [Read more...]

Learning to Wait Well: A Pragmatist’s Guide to Easing the Ugh

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I want to talk today about waiting, and not just because I’m yet again standing on the shore of A Long Wait. (Okay, partially because I’m standing on the shore of A Long Wait.) Over a decade plus, I’ve found that waiting is a staple of writing. It's inherent in almost every phase of the process, and it's unavoidable. The most prolific, confident writer in the world must still learn to wait. In fact, it might be harder for the busiest to accept that productivity doesn't necessarily affect … [Read more...]

Thought Triggers: The Chekhov’s Gun of Writing Tricks

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An experience most of us are familiar with: You’ve just bought something new, whether it be a car, a backpack, a sports jersey with a particular player’s number, or even a new brand of reading glasses, and though you found it independently and thought it was fairly unique at the time, now you’re seeing it everywhere. Has everyone else decided to buy this thing at the same time as you? Hive mind? Have you prompted a rash of popularity? No, of course not. It’s simply that now that you’ve taken … [Read more...]

You’re Amazing and You Can Do This

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I recently got back from a writers conference (the Dallas-Fort Worth Writers Conference, to be precise), and as is the norm for me after a full weekend of peopleing, I was in a happy haze of reflection and exhaustion. The conference was absolutely wonderful. I taught two classes, sat on a problem-solving workshop panel, and took several one-on-one consultation sessions for writers seeking feedback. It all went better than I could've hoped for. But more than how my own events went, I was left … [Read more...]

Learning From Reading: Change Up Your Patterns to Gain More

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I think by now most writers have received the message: you should be reading. Stephen King puts it plainly: “If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” Most writers come to the page because we’re already book lovers, so it’s hardly a burden to be told that doing more of what made us fall in love in the first place is part of our job. Sure, we get busy and impatient and caught up and occasionally have to remind ourselves to read, but … [Read more...]

A Challenge to Writers: The Balance Between Dreaming and Working

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How many times have you fantasized about what blurbs will someday grace your book covers? Embarrassed? Okay, I’ll go first: countless. From the day I decided I was going to write a book, I was dreaming about what already-published authors might say about it. Spoiler: they’re all rave-reviews, and they’re all from the best in the business. (Hey, it’s my fantasy, okay?) Early on in my writing life, I was isolated and novice enough to be totally uninhibited in this practice. I didn’t tell … [Read more...]

The Art of Falling, or How to Overcome Your Fear of Face-planting

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I’ve recently started taking aerial silks classes. For the unfamiliar, they’re long silken cloths – sometimes two loose pieces and sometimes one connected ‘hammock’ – that hang from the ceiling, which you use to perform acrobatic tricks on. You might have seen them in circus acts or in some of Pink’s music videos. I have a background in dance and a distaste for boring exercise, so it seemed right up my alley. I’ve been to a handful of classes so far (at the time of this writing, which is now … [Read more...]

Query Letters Part 2: The Extras

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Last time, after doing my best to convince you that it’s worth the work to master the query letter, I went through the most important part of said query letter: the pitch. If you’re already set up with an agent and editor and/or are publishing on your own, that’s pretty much all you need. But if you’re actually querying, what else should go in your query letter? Enter: the extras. I say ‘extras’ because, yes, at its heart the most important part of any query letter is the pitch. Without a … [Read more...]