couldn’t wait for Wednesday!
There’s a good possibility I may never actually post on Wednesday. But here’s the first one! Kicking things off with the first–and possibly best–advice I ever got about writing, courtesy of my dad.
Here we go! And feel free to leave questions!
[BlueTube]eTtR9FcpDrA[/BlueTube]
But I worked so hard to get all those words down on paper! Now you want me to take them away? 😉
Excellent advice, and yes, in my own writing, I know exactly what you mean — paring things down to essentials does help.
As for questions: I’d be interested in hearing about your own writing process. You told me a bit about this once, and it was really valuable — the routine of how you draft, how you edit, how you set time aside to write, that sort of thing.
Wonderful new series — thanks so much for doing this. For very new writers like me, I think this is going to be like taking a free writing class. I can’t wait for more!
K.
I love the idea of getting down to the “essential.”
Thanks so much for doing this, Katherine! I am so inspired by you and look forward to being motivated to follow my dream.
you know I love you. Please talk about being a mom and a writer. I thought leaving my career to write would be a fairy tale….not so much. I have no time. I had much more time when others mothered for me. help! I am in love with this series already my dear. xo
Brava! What a great idea, and a wonderful gift! xo
That is excellent advice!! Streamlining, keeping only what is necessary, what makes something powerful…it’s a lot like life in that regard. Thanks for the tip!
Like it! Great advice. It’s a scary thing to do though, huh?
Tell us what Get Lucky is about! Can’t believe you’ve got another one FINISHED! I have got to get my butt in fiction-writing gear!
Here’s a question for a future WW — cuz I know you have two small children (and I have three more than smaller children) — what’s your writing schedule, and do you have help with the kids when you are writing?
Thanks!
Love this advice. Thank you. Passing the link on to my fourteen year old so he can glean from this wisdom.
I have a new question for you. When writing a novel, do you work from an outline or just go for it? How do you get started from that angle. You have the idea…..then what? Do you outline it….if so, how detailed is the outline?
Hey Katherine! Love the advice coming so far. It’s always important to make sure the important words shine through and to cut out all the unnecessary filler.
I have a question for you, and I think it’d make an interesting entry. It’s about Book Tours….what exactly do you do in a Book Tour, and how is it put together? What’s it like?
anyway, thanks for putting in the time and effort to give advice and whatnot, its greatly appreciated!
-Jason H.
This is great advice. As a poet, I often find that revision is all about what to remove from that first draft.
I would also like to hear about your writing process.
Thanks!
Cutting the words keeps the piece from getting “bogged down.” Readers don’t want to get stuck in that bog, that quagmire.
I’m afraid my editor wasn’t firm enough with me–we shall see. My possibly wordy book comes out in August.
I put “bogged down” in quotes because you said it in your video, and I liked that (not because I though I was adding a new thought).
Great idea, great video, a perfectly fine number of words.
Also, I wonder about your comments streaming down from this particular post. Are people afraid to write too much?
And I’ve just gone and done it … I’ve written too much.
Anyway, my question is, “Because you are always aware of the need to cut, do you feel that your work gets too spare?”
I LOVE THIS!! You are so good. xo
Yeah! I love how we’re all doing video now! So you do a Writing Wednesday to line up with a Lunch Chat and we’re ALL SET!
http://www.greeblemonkey.com/lunchchat.html
And just saw Karen’s photos of you and Jenny – AMAZING.
Thank you for this! Now where can I have that tattooed? Can’t be my forehead – I won’t see that while I’m writing…hmmmm
Hard (but wise) advice for a yakker like myself.
A long time ago I heard a twist on this – my dtr told me what her art teacher/mentor told a class – something like: Don’t put in (a painting) everything you know.
Great advice – now if only I could do it without it feeling like surgery (sans anesthesia)…sigh!
Nice suggestion. From someone who really loves her adjectives and parentheses to make a sentence REALLY long (see what I mean?), I will keep that in mind.
🙂
Loved hearing about this Katherine!
Katherine,
Thanks for this idea. I worry about being too long winded when I write (even just emails!) and this is an excellent tool/idea.
Veronique