I follow a lot of book lovers on Twitter. That’s a given. I love books. A lot of those book lovers are writers. Like me, a selection of those are as yet, unpublished. And within those, another selection blog themselves and/or read writing related blogs to inform themselves of the current state of the industry and to just generally see what they can do to help themselves keep moving forward writing that novel.
Yesterday I was on Twitter briefly and I saw a slew of posts on Writing. I read one. A blog post saying I “Must Have” these 10 things to help me write my novel. Writing apps. Books. Books on writing and books that editors referred to.
And while I read writing related blogs – I do. I know there is nothing that I “Must Have” to help me get that novel past anyone.
So, Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to quit, yes quit reading the ‘must have’ posts.
Why?
Because they are a Big. Fat. Time. Suck.
1. Tomorrow, set a stop watch when you start reading every ‘how to’ post.
2. At the end of the day check how long you have spent reading ‘how to’ write.
3. Tomorrow, set a stop watch when you start and when you stop writing.
4. At the end of the day, check how long you spent writing.
5. Consider, do you want to write or think about writing?
And even if you read blog posts on your phone as I do. Why can’t you write a few notes down in a note pad you should be carrying?
This post is part of theΒ A to Z challenge
yasminselena says
Hahaha!! I agree with you to some degree! Those posts are handy for peeps who are want to write and are shit scared of writing or getting their head around a process, who seek grounding to enable themselves to start. Or those lacking the confidence to feel they’re ‘doing it right’. If they’re savvy they will of course twig that there is no definitive ‘how to’! Writing, getting published, it’s subjective viz what can be regarded as ‘right.’ I would have said for myself excellent grammar and punctuation is a ‘must’ – but Anthony Burgess invented his own language for Clockwork Orange so that blows that out of the water! A wavery soul could get confused by the clamour of clashing opinions though and be even more disheartened before they have even begun. X
Rebecca Bradley says
Exactly. The clashing opinions is a nightmare. The best thing I’d imagine then would be to find a blogger or two whose voice and guidance you valued and stick with them. Then there’s not so much noise. Then save the most helpful articles to something like Evernote and away you go with more writing time π
Joanna (Lazuli Portals Trilogy) says
I do know where you’re coming from with this, Rebecca! I have over a hundred unread emails about writing and publishing in my Research email folder. Those blog posts and newsletters can inspire and motivate. And/or they can educate (Grammar, Yasmin! And I do agree it’s highly important!)
But when time (and/or energy) is limited – and it is for everyone, to some degree – then I do think the best use of that time and energy is to simply write, to be a creator, to find and explore our own voice and imagination.
Perhaps a good solution would be to do both, but to check and adjust the ratios, so that (for example) 90% of the time is for writing, and only 10% for learning about it. Otherwise we creatives run the risk of being consumers above creators.
Rebecca Bradley says
I think that’s a perfect solution about adjusting ratios. We can just become bogged down in this stuff and forget that the reason we were reading all this is because we wanted to write. And also consider, how many of those are genuinely helpful. How many are rehashing the same topics? We become addicted. We can save the good ones in something like Evernote for reference but then keep writing π
Joanna (Lazuli Portals Trilogy) says
I’m feeling better about all those unread emails already π π
Rebecca Bradley says
Glad to hear it. Ask yourself a serious question – do you really need them? Really? If not, start afresh and delete the lot. Clean slate. Come up with a strategy that suits you and go with that. One that you can manage. One that gives you time to write. Because you’ve read a version of these posts.
Joanna (Lazuli Portals Trilogy) says
I’m keeping them until after I’ve published the next novel – then I’ll review them all and see which ones I’ll unsubscribe from, and which ones I’ll keep going with. I’ve learned now what a time-suck they can be! Writing will always be my priority, now. π π π
Joanna (Lazuli Portals Trilogy) says
It’s been an interesting post and discussion, Rebecca – thank you!
Rebecca Bradley says
You’re welcome π
sharonsant says
Brilliantly observed and to the point! There is nothing wrong with soaking up a little knowledge but sometimes it’s an avoidance tactic – plain and simple. x
Rebecca Bradley says
It is. I think as a new writer they can be quite informative – sometimes confusing if reading multitudes – but them they get addictive and used as avoidance as well. We want to write. We should write π
Margot Kinberg says
Rebecca – You have such a wise and well-taken point here! The point of writing is to…write. And that means writing. Not reading ‘how to’ posts. Besides, each of us has her or his own way to go about the process. And that’s the voice we really need to listen to.
Rebecca Bradley says
Such a good point Margot, that we all do things differently, as we see in my First Draft series. Writing is individual and listening to our own voice is our best how to. At the start, a little help is useful but I think we can find ourselves addicted to these posts and unable to leave the safety net of them. Writing is what we want to do and it should be what we do.
MarinaSofia says
Hear, hear! And guilty as charged… Now I try to limit myself to a few short blog/Twitter sessions per day (lunchtime, for example) and save the best of my brain for writing.
Rebecca Bradley says
Also guilty. But also now getting tired of them. And both those sentences prompted the blog post. Limiting your time is perfect. And if you find good posts you like and find useful then they can be saved for future reference by favouriting on Twitter or putting in Evernote.
But yes, we say we want to write…
Alex J. Cavanaugh says
Powerful! Yeah, for those of us who’ve been around a while, we’ve read every how to out there already.
This post doesn’t count, does it?
Rebecca Bradley says
Of course it doesn’t count π
Jacqui Murray says
Well done, and true. How about ‘endless editing’–the type where every time you reread a scene you find something wrong. I mean every time. So you never think it’s ready? Slap myself–stop it!
Rebecca Bradley says
Oh yes. You’d never let your work go if you didn’t stop would you? We’re just gluttons for punishment!
Kirsten says
I knew I was going to agree with you from the title of the post, and after reading it I agree even more. It often seems that writing advice gets in the way of the writing itself!
I set the timer for my reading ahead of time, and am careful about which advice I take. Some is just wrong for me! And, in the end, the best writing advice I’ve gotten is in craft books anyway. π
Rebecca Bradley says
I love that you have a timer already working, knowing that your time is precious to you. After so long you’ve read all the good advice you need and as you say, you have some great craft books anyway. As writers we need to be writing π
chrisb-jwordsandimages says
You are so right and I’ve been there myself. We all know the only way to write is to put pen to paper, or fingers on keyboard. It can be edited later, but if you have no words down there’s nothing to edit.
Rebecca Bradley says
I’ve also been there. We can get a little addicted with the how to and forget to DO. π
Patricia Lynne (@plynne_writes) says
I have to agree with you, but only to an extent. As a new writer, those posts can be encouraging and helpful. But after a while, they stop being so helpful. Lately, when I check out any posts like those I shake my head because the advice seems so broad and vague. Also, some of it seems common sense.
~Patricia Lynne~
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, YA Author
Rebecca Bradley says
And that’s where I agree. I suppose because I’ve been blogging for a while I’ve been reading them for that long and once you’ve read the helpful ones, you’ve read them. You can even save them to somewhere like Evernote. But I find that writers can be somewhat addicted to these kinds of things and forget that writing is the important thing.
datmama4 says
Oh, excellent. Just excellent. I’ve found that the more of those I actually get around to reading, the more I realize they’re rehashings of the same ol’ stuff. I have enough things sucking my time away.
Rebecca Bradley says
Exactly. Our worlds are so busy we barely get time to think anymore! And as you say, once you’ve read several of these, you don’t need to read any more. Just save the good ones to refer back to. They can be saved in something like Evernote.
diannegray says
I love this Rebecca! These really are time thieves. My only ‘must have’ for my writing is my imagination – nothing else matters π
Rebecca Bradley says
What a wonderful response Dianne! Our imaginations can take us anywhere π
danpentagram says
Great read π
I always have a smaller notepad with me besides my larger writing pad. I learnt long ago that buying all these ‘self help’ books was a great expense and I hardly used them.
As a young, naive writer though, I didn’t understand some of the more important ways to write, and I only learned of my mistakes by working with an editor.
nancyrae4 says
Wonderful post, Rebecca. Now, I use the books I read for pleasure as how-to-write-books. In the last seven years I’ve ready only five actual how-to books. I always make time for favorite blogs (like yours), but I still spend too much time tinkering with email, Twitter and Facebook!
Madeline Mora-Summonte says
Sometimes the amount of information out there – the shoulds, the have tos, the must haves, etc – can be so overwhelming as to freeze us and our creativity in place. We have to find the balance between being informed and improving our craft and actual writing and creating. Sometimes easier said than done. π
Madeline @ The Shellshank Redemption
Minion, Capt. Alex’s Ninja Minion Army
The 2014 Blogging from A-Z Challenge
kateposeyphd says
I appreciate this post! I’m in the process of revising a children’s novel, and twitter can really be a time waster for me and suck me into things I really don’t need to get sucked into! Your discussion reminded me that it’s a good idea to stay focused and on track. Looking forward to your future blog posts.
nicolamon says
Reblogged this on nicola monaghan and commented:
Yes, this.