Which Voice Should A Writer Listen To?

All writers receive advice – whether or not it’s solicited – from all kinds of people – teachers, critics, editors, friends, readers, family, writers – and it’s up to each writer to consider if the advice, feedback, or criticism rings true.  We only grow by experimenting – and getting reactions from others.

I came across one book that has pretty good advice for writers, A Year of Writing Dangerously: 365 Days of Inspiration & Encouragement by Barbara Abercrombie.  Another one, Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies For Every Writer, by Roy Peter Clark, is also very good.

Abercrombie’s book touches upon things all writers feel, think or experience while practicing their craft.  She has a page on each of these topics:

·         Writer’s remorse

·         The pitfalls of grammar

·         Eight ways to sabotage yourself

·         The blank page

·         Write what you need

·         Why writers get scared

·         Writer’s remorse

·         Hitting the wall

Clark’s book has some real specific advice that all of us should heed, including:

*    Read dictionaries for fun and leaning.  
*    Consult a thesaurus to remind yourself of words you already know.

*         Learn from your critics.

*        Draft a mission statement to your work.

*         Begin sentences with subjects and verbs.

*         Establish a pattern, then give it a twist.

*         Vary sentence length to influence the reader’s speed.

*         Build your work around a key question.

Another book the nicely packaged The Writer’s Devotional: 365 Inspirational Exercises, Ideas, Tips & Motivations on Writing by Amy Peters, adds to the growing list of books that support writers and help them to improve their work.  One of the things contained are some 50 biographies of great writers, including Herman Melville, Tom Wolfe, and Amy Tan.  It also lists dozens of books to read.  Additionally, it offers motivational guidance to the struggling writer.

There will always be books like these as long as people choose to write books.  Every generation will have the same challenges and needs when it comes to writing – overcoming fear, finding time, looking to write better and faster, seeking fame and fortune, hoping to influence others and waiting to write something new and unique.

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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2015