Monday, April 25, 2011

Rules for Successful Writing -- Giveaway Results!

Last week I posted some of popular author Janet Evanovich's writing tips (as found in her craft book, HOW I WRITE), and asked for your additions. You guys didn't disappoint. You gave great suggestions!
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FringeGirl said: You can't please everyone, so don't worry if someone doesn't like what you wrote.
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Amy Sue Nathan said: #1 Put everything near you that you need while you're writing. For me, a morning writer, that means coffee, both pairs of glasses, my phone and my Flip Dictionary. Then I don't have to get up. Ever. #2 Give your readers credit, they're smart. Meaning, don't overwrite or over explain. Allow the reader to think and figure things out along the way. It engages them and makes them turn the page.
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Jessica Nelson said: Trust your voice.
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Liza said this worked for her: Recently when I was stuck, I wrote a conversation between two characters. I hadn't written to the point in the story when that conversation happened yet, though I knew it would. So I wrote it. It helped me move forward, in that made me consider how my characters would get to the place where that conversation happened. I'm about to write another conversation to help me along again.
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Lynn said: Don't stop writing. Write everyday, even if it just for 15 minutes. And those minutes have to be focused writing.
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Wendy Miller said: At the exact moment you feel like quitting... don't.

Lissa said: I prefer to write first and then check out the rules.

Savannah Rose said: Write "something" every single day even if it's not part of your WIP.
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Ginger said: It seems that any quiet meditation on any piece of writing I'm working on is the "miracle grow" to make it blossom.
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Patti's thoughts: I would add, quit second-guessing yourself.
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Deb Shucka said: I would add that a successful writer needs community - other writers to commiserate with and to provide fresh perspective.
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Mary Warner said: I guess it goes along with what was already said, but one of my own rules would be to remember that writers block only stops you if you want to be stopped. After all what stops you (or me at least) isn't that I have no ideas, but I have no "good" ideas.
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Laura said: #1 - Just write. (No matter what, write every day.) #2 - Be concise. Less is more.
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Jill Kemerer said: Persistence. We have to believe in our writing even when it's bad. Maybe it means tucking our WIP away after too many rejections and starting a new one, but we can't quit.
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Tana Adams shared this: A writer who writes is the best writer a writer can be. I think so often the actual writing is the last thing to happen.
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Helen Ginger said: Help other writers. Even when you think you're a newbie and don't know much, there's someone who has less experience than you who could use some advice. Join a group or attend writer meetings that fit your genre or ask another writer what they're working on.
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Karen Lange said: I think that perseverance and discipline are key factors in the writing equation too. These things help me press forward to do something I feel called to do.
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Melissa Marsh said: I always feel that you must ignore the trends and write the book YOU want to write.
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Analisa said: [Be] a reader. I don't think you can write well if you don't read well.
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Jeanette Levellie said: My best tip is to pray for yourself as you write, that God give you words to most help your readers and show them God as He truly is. And to love your readers. Okay, that's two. Here's a third: Never stop growing. Never say, "I know all there is to know about writing." The day you say that is the beginning of the end of your creativity.
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Thank you all! These were wonderful tips.
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To visit any of these writers, go to this post (its comments, to be specific) to follow their links.
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And now... Our giveaway winner... whose name was randomly pulled from a hat (my new, super-cute, hot-pinkish/purple ball cap...) is...
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Lynn, congratulations! Please e-mail me at jannawritesATyahooDOTcom. Include both your mailing address and the title of a book you've been wanting, which I'll order for you from Amazon. I'll order your choice and have it sent your way!
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Thanks for playing along.
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And thanks for being a part of my blog, by following, commenting, reading, all of it. I appreciate every one of you!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, Janna! Thank you very much! All the tips were excellent. Now I get to go to my Amazon wish list and pick a book to order. Woohoo!!

Diane said...

Great tips and congrats Lynn! :O)

Karen Lange said...

Great advice! Congrats to Lynn!
Blessings and hugs,
Karen

Midlife Roadtripper said...

I agree, excellent comments. I like Analisa's best - if you want to be a writer, you gotta be a reader.

Congrats to the winner

myletterstoemily said...

what a great idea and wonderful suggestions!
i learned from each one.

Patti said...

It's so great to see all the great advice. Now I just need to follow it. Congrats to Lynn.

Liza said...

You got some great tips! Congratulations Lynn!

Jessica Nelson said...

Congrats to Lynn!!! And how fun to see everyone's advice. What a great group of wise bloggers. :-)

Deb Shucka said...

What a wonderful list to read, Janna. Thank you for compiling it. I feel inspired and energized. Guess I'll go write. :-)

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

Such a great list of writerly advice! What a smart bunch.

Congrats to Lynn!