Draw your inspiration from everywhere: museums, movies, books…wherever it can be found.
Refrain from ‘lifeless language’ as it thwarts the intellect, stalls conscience and suppresses human potential.
Apply concrete imagery, tangible qualities or characteristics, things we know through our senses.
Maria Rilke wrote: “Depict your sorrows and desires, your passing thoughts and beliefs in some kind of beauty—depict all that with heartfelt, quiet, humble sincerity; and use to express yourself the things that surround you, the images of your dreams and the objects of your memory. If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself, tell yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for to the creator there is no poverty and no poor or unimportant place.”
Writing Hygiene:
- Take it slowly – start with short stories
- Do not try to imitate the ‘greats’. Sing your own song. You may love ’em, but you cannot be ’em.
- Examine “quality” writing.
- Read anything and everything. Open your mind to how other authors write.
- Slide away from friends who don’t believe in you. They probably do not understand your writer’ ambitions.
- Write regularly and inspiration will come.
- Write with joy and excitement. Writing is not a serious business – only writing well should be done seriously. When it starts to feel like work, scrap it and start one that doesn’t.
- Don’t plan on making money. If it comes – great!
- Write about things you love – or things that matter to you.
- Prevent creative blockages by writing anything and everything that comes to you.
- Write well and people will say, “I love what you write.”
- Your success is your own. Pat yourself on the back for your accomplishments.
- Good, brave living means good, brave writing.
Never stop writing. Write every day.
And read, read a lot.
“Linda has published sixteen books. She blogs about the publishing world, posts useful tips on the challenges a writer faces, including marketing and promoting your work, how to build your online platform, how to get reviews and how to self-publish.”