Here’s some good writing advice from Meg
You can read the whole post (which is worth it not only for the part I’m about to excerpt, but for the video at the end of it), but here’s some advice from Meg Cabot that I thought my fellow writers would appreciate:
“Q: Look, i want to be a writer, but i feel i dont have the talent that is required for the job. I write all the time, i must have 30 notebooks full of stories, but none of them blow me away like yours do. Should i pursue my dream or get out now while i can? Please respond!
“A: Sheesh, of COURSE you should pursue your dream. Do you think I sit around reading my own writing going, “Oh my God, this is so BRILLIANT?†I HATE my own writing.
“But I like the physical act of typing (I know, I’m a nerd) and I love making up stuff. What I started doing was, I took some creative workshops and let other people read stuff I wrote, and saw what THEY thought, since I realized I wasn’t the best judge of my own work (and guess what? Your friends, family, and random people on the Internet aren’t necessarily the best judges either).
“That said, not everyone in my creative writing workshops liked my stuff, either. In fact, a lot of them hated my stuff. But I took that feedback and started sending stuff out to agents, and took THAT feedback, until finally I managed to craft a story that sold.
“And guess what? I don’t like my stories that have been bestsellers any better than I like my stories that never sold. YOU ARE NOT THE BEST JUDGE OF YOUR OWN WRITING (and neither is your mom, your best friend, and probably 99% of the world). If it gives you pleasure, keep doing it. If it doesn’t, quit and do something that does. Who cares what anybody else thinks?”
There you go. Just something to chew on for the weekend.
Technorati Tags: Writing, Publishing, Meg Cabot, Advice for Writers, Writing Advice, Publishing Advice
I’d like to commend you on your vacation from the blog. It was almost a full 24 hours, minus comments of course.
Good advice! I can’t believe she doesn’t like her own work! :O lol
I like this advice, especially the “you are not the best judge of your own writing,” but honestly, if I HATED what I wrote, I couldn’t keep doing it.
Patrick, I said after Thanksgiving, smarty.
Dylan, I can’t believe it, either! She’s so funny, you assume she’s laughing at her own work as she writes it.
Sara, I agree. If I thought everything I wrote sucked, I’d hang it up. Because I wouldn’t be having fun with it–it would hurt too much. If you’re not having fun, what’s the point? But I assume Meg has fun. Her books certainly convey that.
Definitely fodder for my Word document full of quotes to remember. Thanks for sharing!
Ohhhhhh… I was supposed to read the whole post. I got to the “I’m stopping” and went into full denial.
Yes exacally! I think she’s great though! I LOVED Avolon High!
Loved that video about her neck — and her belief that nothing is unsalvageable. (Excuse the lack of spell check if that’s wrong!)