This week's email was about as straightforward as it gets.
Brian - I'm just starting out as a writer. I was wondering what your advice would be regarding stuff I write that I hate or that I think is crap. Is there a reason I should save it? -Allen
My advice is really simple: save it! When it comes to what is and is not crap out of what I write, I am the world's absolute worst judge. I'm overtly critical of anything I write, sometimes to the point that I'm tempted to pitch something that's probably worthwhile just because I'm frustrated with it, the story seems to be fighting me, or I'm just bitchy in general. There's no real way to explain it.
Over the years I have learned that the best thing to do with the stuff that you write is to just hoard all of it. Throughout the last year I've been stuck several times on a project and went back to the old idea file (aka the dump bin) and found some part or piece or whatever that I wrote a month, a year, or a decade ago and been able to use it to get over the hump.
The other thing I would strongly advise you to do Allen is to become part of a writer's group. Peer review is absolutely essential to what we do, even more so if you're a self published author. Truth be told, I would have totally ditched the short story I used as a starter for Bounce had it not been for the writer's group I was involved in at the time. They had the good sense to convince me that not only had I written something worth while but that the short had a lot of mileage in it that was worth expanding upon. If I hadn't had that resource available the story wouldn't have been written to start with and there wouldn't have been a premise for the novella.
Well, that's all for this week's mail call. Stay tuned over the next week for more Cynical Sarcastic and the Halloween short story!
Over the years I have learned that the best thing to do with the stuff that you write is to just hoard all of it. Throughout the last year I've been stuck several times on a project and went back to the old idea file (aka the dump bin) and found some part or piece or whatever that I wrote a month, a year, or a decade ago and been able to use it to get over the hump.
The other thing I would strongly advise you to do Allen is to become part of a writer's group. Peer review is absolutely essential to what we do, even more so if you're a self published author. Truth be told, I would have totally ditched the short story I used as a starter for Bounce had it not been for the writer's group I was involved in at the time. They had the good sense to convince me that not only had I written something worth while but that the short had a lot of mileage in it that was worth expanding upon. If I hadn't had that resource available the story wouldn't have been written to start with and there wouldn't have been a premise for the novella.
Well, that's all for this week's mail call. Stay tuned over the next week for more Cynical Sarcastic and the Halloween short story!
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