Best Writing Advice I Ever Received

I have read several articles and blog posts on writing but there was one single piece of advice that really lit a fire into me. With this advice, I was able to harness my imagination and translate it into actual pages in my Google Doc. I believe that this advice was one of the things that helped me write and finish In the Presence of the King.

What was this advice?

DON’T TALK ABOUT IT: If you have a great idea for a novel or are currently at work on one don’t tell anyone!

To quote Marisha Pessl, who I read originally took this from:

“Your burning need to wrench that story from your imagination into the real world needs to be as strong as possible, and I guarantee the more people you tell, the more the entire project will start to feel tawdry and down-at-heel”

Even taking this one step further, don’t even think about your story until you are writing it down.

The whole idea is to put all your energy, all your passion into actually writing your story down and not just dreaming about it.

I am a big dreamer. I love to activate my imagination and go to different worlds or alternate realities. But if I put all my imagination into dreaming the story just stays in my head. Or if I put all my energy into telling people about the story instead of writing it down then the story is already told.

Best to keep in under lock and key at least until the first draft is complete. Once that is complete you tell a select number of people. And as the story is edited and itching closer to publishing (or whatever the end game is for you) you start telling more and more people.

It is weird to make the transition from telling no one to being more open, but it is made easier when you actually have the story complete (at least in draft form).

You can take a look at Marisha Pessl’s Writing Boot Camp here and here

What is the best writing advice you ever received?

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