I recently attended an author signing / meet and greet with George R.R. Martin, who is currently touring Australia. During the meet and greet interview, he imparted ticket-holders with several excellent pieces of writing advice. The first of these gems was to relay Robert A. Heinlein's rules of science fiction writing:
- You must write.
- Finish what you start.
- Refrain from rewriting.
He then went on to offer his own advice. I did not film or otherwise record the meet and greet (though I did get a few photographs of myself during the signing!), so I am recounting what he said from memory. I felt that this was possibly the most pertinent and -- surprisingly -- personally motivating piece of writing advice that I've received. (Much more stimulating than the typical
'Oh, Waflicka, you can't be that bad -- you just need confidence!') Here, heavily paraphrased due to the nature of human memory, is what he said:
Don't write to sell your work. Writing is a career for those who don't want stability; if you are a writer, you will sometimes be worried that you can't make your mortgage payments. [...] When you begin to write, first tell yourself that you will not be published. Nobody will ever want to read what you've written. You won't make any money. If you still need to write -- if the words still need to come out of you -- if you need to tell the story regardless, then you are a writer.
I found this incredibly inspiring, and thought it was brilliant writing advice. As somebody who is studying to teach English as a second language, I often pick up on my own grammatical or syntactical errors and then persuade myself that I couldn't possibly write well, editors be damned! Nonetheless, I still want to tell my stories, to get them out; by GRRM's definition, I am a writer. By my own definition? Not so much.
Therein resides a problem, though; the standard that I apply to myself does not equate with the standard I apply to others. In my heart, I view a writer as a person who puts pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, no matter what they produce; if they love writing, or even if they're paid to write but do so without love, I see that person as a writer. However, when I attempt to apply that standard to myself, I scoff -- there are exceptions to the rules, and I see myself as one such! This thread isn't about me, though -- I just don't want to ask questions of you without also providing my own opinions and ideas! Free exchange of thought and whatnot.
My first thread here will therefore successfully encompass, I hope, two aspects of discussion (of course, if this isn't something that's of interest to this community, then please let it sink quietly into oblivion!):
- What is the single best piece of writing advice that you've received? Did it push you to begin writing, or did you receive it while you were already writing? Did it come early in your passion, or later on? Who gave you this advice, under what circumstances, and how was it received (enthusiastically, dismissively, etc.)? Do you view it differently as time has gone on?
- How do you, fellow denizens of the Internet, define a 'writer'? Must they have been published, and if so, how? Traditionally, independently, in a university anthology, etc.? Is a writer somebody who simply has a passion for the art? Do you view fiction writers and, say, journalists or editors in the same light? Indeed, do you regard careers such as journalism and editing as writing careers? What about script-writers or comic book writers? Where do you define writing, and where does your personal grey area come into play?
