Link to a Writers Digest interview with Sue Grafton on writing, what she has learned, and advice for writers.
quote:My big gripe about newer writers is they’re not willing to put the time in. Somebody’ll write one book and they’re asking me who my agent and my editor are, and I’m thinking, Don’t you worry, sweetheart, you’re not any good yet. Give yourself time to get better.
Posted by Teraen (Member # 8612) on :
Indeed. Now that alot of people I am familiar with know that I am writing, they have shared some of their projects with me. In most cases, they really aren't any good... and this is by MY standards, which I know aren't very perfect, partly evidenced by the fact that I am not yet published. I really am surprised at how many people think they can merely sit down and type out a story to become the next Stephanie Meyer without any effort whatsoever to improve the craft of writing or storytelling. When I sat down to write my magnum primus, I have been constantly beset by how hard it is to do effectively... and I am still only doing side work on it because I know I need to learn more to write at the caliber I want.
To me, it has become my unofficial hobby (read: obsession) to keep working on my projects because I know I'm not yet very good, and I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person who can write adequately (definitely better than the average person, if the shared manuscripts are any indication) - and yet there is only one thing that I've written that I ever felt was good enough for submission, and I've since given up on that when I realized it wasn't written as well as I want it to be.
It really makes me wonder how I'll look at the stuff I am writing NOW, fifteen years in the future.
[This message has been edited by Teraen (edited April 07, 2010).]