Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Advice from George R.R. Martin

This is topic Advice from George R.R. Martin in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by psnede on :

First of all, I credit JeanneT for turning me on to George R.R. Martin. I am almost done with the 2nd Ice and Fire novel and they are fantastic.

Okay, I just heard the GRRM podcast where he gives advice to aspiring writers. His three points of advice are as follows:

1. Write short stories: (Paraphrase) If you write a bad short story, you've only wasted a month or two. If you write a bad novel, you may have wasted a year or two. Plus, if you have some writing credentials, it may be a lot easier to sell that first novel. He recommended 5-6 years of publishing short stories before a novel.

2. Follow Heinlein's rules

3. Don't quit your day job: He apologized for having to add this one, but writing is a tough gig. Even many professional writers have a tough time making ends meet.

[This message has been edited by psnede (edited August 24, 2008).]

Posted by philocinemas (Member # 8108) on :

Thanks for posting this. I had never read Heinlein's rules, and the advice to write short stories is very pertinent to me. I already knew not to quit my day-job, but sound advice all the same.

Posted by Palaytiasdreams (Member # 8154) on :

Thank you so much for posting that link. I read it and had to think of where I want to be in a year.

Do I want to still be talking about writing my novel or do I want to have written and sent off my novel. Either way a year will have gone by and it's up to me to figure out how to use that time.

Thank you again.

Pal...pushing forward...

Posted by Rhaythe (Member # 7857) on :

Cool list.

Posted by MartinV (Member # 5512) on :

Ah, Song of Ice and Fire series. I thought I was the last person to have read it.

One writer that has interesting hints for writers is Steven Pressfield. He wrote a whole book on this:

http://www.stevenpressfield.com/books/war_art.asp#excerpt

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

I haven't read it yet, much as I've liked and been influenced by George Railroad's earlier work. I was waiting for it to be complete.

On "Don't quit your day job"---sound advice, but I gotta say, my prolific period ended when I went out into the working world. I wrote better, but less often---and the novels I finished writing usually took years of work...

Posted by arriki (Member # 3079) on :

Heinlein was giving his advice in a different time.

I don't think too many writers today could just keep writing and writing and submitting as soon as they ripped the story out of the typewriter.

More competition and fewer markets.

[This message has been edited by arriki (edited August 25, 2008).]

Posted by TaleSpinner (Member # 5638) on :

My strategy for becoming a published writer has been to practise and hopefully establish a name with short stories first, then progress to novels.

With the short stories I've often elected to explore a particular aspect of story telling with each piece. One focused on character development, a couple on developing romantic relationships, a couple on presenting both sides of a moral argument authentically, others on plot, action, milieu and so forth.

One lesson I've learned in reviewing my WIPS in preparation for the Ready for Market challenge is that as a result of this strategy, I now have several stories in progress, each with some strengths and many weaknesses--because in each I focused on just one or a few aspects.

I don't regret that strategy, I think I've learned much. But now I'm facing up to either polishing each story into something marketable, or combining some of them into bigger, stronger stories.

I think one or two will get polished up to stand alone, while others will be combined together because they (can be made to) address common themes and their milieus can be fused together ... I'm pleased to find that I think this will actually be fun, not a drudge, because they'll be major rewrites with broader canvas, and thus should generate some fresh energy ...

Cheers,
Pat