Nathan Bransford, TVWriter™’s favorite publishing know-it-all, responds to a question we’ve all been asked…almost as much as we ask it ourselves. (Bet you’ve already guessed what it is.)
Nearly every author I work with asks me a variation of the same question.
“Is this any good?”
Nathan Bransford, TVWriter™’s favorite publishing know-it-all, has important advice on something all er writers hate and fear yet find ourselves doing anyway: The Beelzebubian torture also known as query letter writing.
SUBJECT LINE: Query – [Something that makes sense like your book title]
“Just write as well as you can.” Did any writer ever utter better words of advice? And, yes, Hilary Mantel has a lot more to say.
Interviews seldom offer the chance to say anything worth hearing, no matter how well-prepared the interviewer. You are invited to rehash your material, saying it again in worse words. “What did you mean when you said….?” etc. Or “Why did you write this book?” It isn’t enough to say that you wrote it because it’s your job and you thought readers would like it.
I once heard Salman Rushdie in discussion on stage in St Louis, and he said that there’s only one question to ask an author. You point to a sentence, and say, “How did that get there?” Then a tale unfolds, the book’s hinterland. You get to see the shadows moving behind the substance.
Yesterday we brought you what we believe is a wonderful article on refreshing your creativity during the current stress common to us all. Today we’re presenting another helpful point of view on the same subject. Dig in!
When I first began writing I would sit in front of my computer and struggle to focus. I thought if I stared at that screen long enough that inspiration and creativity would eventually flow onto the page. Rarely did this happen. In fact, probably never. I could not focus for 2 minutes. Really, not even 10 seconds.
…And let’s face it. Being stuck home during a certain culture-defining pandemic certainly fits the definition of rut. Here are some tips that could change your life, both creative and otherwise.
A global pandemic likely qualifies as one of the worst possible settings for honing creativity. Contrary to what the boldest of us may have claimed in the early weeks of COVID-19, more time doesn’t equal more inspiration. We’re tired, overwhelmed, and unmotivated, all peppered with random shocks of anxiety. At least I am, and a good deal of my fellow creative friends find themselves in the same nerve-racking spot. The question is—how do you keep your creativity alive when you’re the actual representation of the “this is fine” meme?
