I came across this handy laundry list of things to knock into your noggin should you be taking it upon yourself to hang up a shingle upon which is painted a parchment, quill, and a security blanket.
Eight things new writers need to know as listed by Hugo and Nebula award-winning writer and Writers of the Future judge, Robert J. Sawyer.
No good advice ever grows old, as I’ve found, and it’s always good to get a refresher on some of the basics. In studying my martial arts, it seems the simplest things often slip up the most advanced practitioners, whether it’s keeping the proper stance, remembering to block, or tracking where your opponent is at all times. Forgetting any of these, and you leave yourself open to a flawed sparring match. That’s why the old master is there at all times with his bamboo cane, whacking away at shins and prodding buttocks to correct the slightest misstep. It’s not that he’s cruel or wants to demoralize his students…it’s more that he doesn’t want to invest so much time in training a student, only to have them wiped out in the first street gang knife and chain fight because they tripped over their own feet (sorry, channeling Bruce Lee movies here…not anything from my actual studio…at least, that I’m going to admit to, because otherwise I’d have to revise what I told the police for their report).
Anyways, this is a great list of points that one should bring to the forefront every so often to double check whether you have Lost Your Way. My personal favorite is the fact that: Your Job is to Tell Your Stories.
Right now, I’m about three chapters into my newest story, and I’m loving it. I took a break from the novel form over December and started up again this week once I’d developed the story enough. I’m now at that blissful stage where I am exploring all the potential this story has, and I don’t have to worry about revising, critiques, outlining, etc. I can just hunch over the keyboard, tell my story, and love it.
I see that smile.