The best writing advice I ever got was…
JUST DO IT.
Back in 2009, when I finally decided to try to write a book, fear paralyzed me.
I didn’t know how to write a first sentence. How to turn that into a paragraph, then a chapter, then an entire book. All the things I didn’t know overwhelmed me.
I had joined a writer’s group and went to my first meeting. I was new, but no one spoke to me or welcomed me until a lady came in and sat next to me. Turns out she was new to the group too. She asked me what I wrote. I stammered and stuttered and finally confessed that I had written nothing because I didn’t know how. I told her all about my fear.
She listened, then looked me dead in the eye and said, “You won’t know how to write a book until you do it. You’ll figure it out on the way. Just do it.” The simplicity and practicality of her answer resonated deep inside me. I knew she was right. I’d have to actually write in order to be a writer.
The next day I started the first version of Race the Darkness. It only took me two complete rewrites before I wrote a version good enough to sell!
The worst writing advice I’ve ever gotten was…
YOU’RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
You’re not good enough to…
Write about a deaf hero.
You’re not good enough to…
Have paranormal elements in your suspense novel.
You’re not good enough to…
Tell this complex of a story.
I heard “you’re not good enough” a lot when I was just starting out. Those words were a knife to my writer’s soul. They hurt. Bad. They derailed me for days, sometimes for weeks. But those words also motivated me to get better (so I’d never hear them again).
I wish the people who’d said, “You’re not good enough,” had been more mindful of their words. It took a while for me to realize that what they meant was that my story had a flaw. Maybe a character wasn’t fully developed, maybe my plot wasn’t tight, or maybe my writing wasn’t fresh. The problem was ultimately my writing. Not me. And I could fix my story! I can fix anything that’s on the page!
About the author:
Seven Things about Abbie Roads:
1. She loves Snicker Parfaits. Gotta start with what’s most important, right?
2. She writes dark emotional books featuring damaged characters, but always gives her hero and heroine a happy ending… after torturing them for three hundred pages.
3. By day she’s a mental health counselor known for her blunt, honest style of therapy. At night she burns up the keyboard. Well… Burn might be too strong a word. She at least sits with her hands poised over the keyboard, waiting for inspiration to strike. And when it does–the keyboard might get a little warm.
4. She can’t stand it when people drive slowly in the passing lane. Just saying. That’s major annoying. Right?
5. She loves taking pictures of things she thinks are pretty.
6. She lives in Marion, Ohio with her favorite fellow and two fur babies.
7. Being a published author is a dream come true for her.
Author links:
Capturing Fate
by Abbie Roads
(Fatal Truth #2)
Publication date: January 28th 2021
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Suspense, Thriller
Can love untangle a web of lies and expose the truth?
A loner with a mysterious childhood…
FBI agent Dolan Watts is no stranger to pain. From his childhood spent in foster care to his daily grind of hunting down hardened criminals, pain has been the one constant through the years. Confronted by a malicious new enemy who revels in mind games, Dolan begins to doubt his own perceptions.
A woman haunted by a secret…
Psychologist Daughter Dawson sabotages her own safety the moment she accepts Dolan as a client. Still, she feels compelled to help him. Dolan’s past mirrors many of the questions about her own. When she makes the mistake of confiding in him, both their lives are thrust into unimaginable danger.
Find out why people are up all night reading bestselling author Abbie Roads’ chilling, emotional novels. You might want to read with the lights on and box of tissues.
Only 99¢ for all of May!
GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Hosted by:
Thanks so much for sharing the best and worst advice I’d received! That was a stroll down memory lane!
Thanks for being on the tour! 🙂
Great advice! Thanks for sharing!
Regardless of what the person was really intending to say, the person was clearly a poor wordsmith to imply you were “not good enough”…words have power and your words are powerful!
Very true! I always agonized over how exactly to correct student writing without discouraging them from writing more when I taught jr high English.
Thanks so much for stopping by and for sharing! <3