Stephen King has written a lot of books that were very successful. He writes. He gets paid. He lives off his writing. He is successful. He was asked, in an interview, to tell writers what they need to know in order to be successful. This is a short version of what he said. I am not going to quote his exactly. I am giving him credit for what he said and then I am adding my two-cents-worth.
1. Be talented: He stated that if you write something and it gets published and then you get a check for it, then, you are talented. He actually goes on to say that he is not really trying to anser the talented thing. HE is just saying that if you have talent go for it. He does say that we should skip as much of the "self-illusion" as possible.
ME: If you have that writing thing in you, write. You have to do it or die. Then, write. Hang in there with the rejection letters. A lot of very good authors got rejected many times. You will know, if there comes a time to turn to something else. If you can do nothing but write, WRITE!
2. Be neat: Type. Double-space. Do it just the way the publisher wants it. Use good paper. Stay away from cheap paper. Do not send in a messy manuscript.
ME: If you want to be treated like a professional, make it look professional. If you get a rejection, make it the best manuscript that has ever been rejected. If, by chance, you get any comment on your work, GLOW! That is a good thing. If a publisher makes a favorable comment, they saw something good.
3. Be self-critical: You should have marks all over your manuscript as you go back and make changes. No one writes a perfect story the first time. "Only God gets things right the first time."
ME: You have to walk away from it. I put it down for a couple of days and work on something else, then I go back to it. I laugh when I think that I have five children's stories that are in various levels of development. On top of that, I am writing a teen-vampire short story. As a painter, it helps to turn the painting upside-down and see it from a new view. Try it.
4. Remove every extraneous word: If you want to preach, go out to the woods, stand on a crate and preach. Get to the point. Remove the parts that do not help the story move along.
ME: If you keep circling the airport, looking for a place to land. Ditch the plane and start over. Parachute out of that one and start over. This is so hard to do, when you are attached to your story.
5. Never look at a reference book while doing a first draft: You want to write? Write! Stay away from the dictionaries, the encyclopedias, the thesaurus, and other books. Write.Stay away from spell-checker. Write. You can go back later and make corrections. Do not stop your train of thought. Stay on track.
ME: I agree. If I stop, it takes me a while to get back into what I am doing. I do better work if I stay with it. I don't even like to stop and go to the bathroom. Sometimes, I must. Sometimes, when I stop, I totally lose where I am before I stopped.
6. Know the markets: Do enough research to know what markets are interested in what you do.If you write something good, why not send it to someone that wants to see that kind of material? You have to research the market.
ME: True! You really need to read what they publish. You need to know what their slant is in the publishing world. Look for trends. Try tot find THAT SPOT. There has to be an opening that no one else has stepped through. Do it.
7. Write to entertain: People read books for a reason. They want to get enjoyment out of the reading. Write for others to enjoy your writing.
ME: Keep telling yourself that "someone" is going to read your writing. You write for people. You want them to say "Wow!" You want them to go and tell their friends to purchase your book. You want to make money. It is true. It is not all about having fun. Money is a nice side-line.
8. Ask yourself frequently, "Am I having fun?": If you never say "YES," do something else.
ME: I write for me, but I also write for others. It is a blast. I am doing what is in my heart. I have to write. I must write. I love it. I am not saying that I am the best. I am not saying that I know it all, but I know me.
9. How to evaluate criticism: Listen to what others say. Nod. Then, think about it carefully. If your critics are ALL telling you the same thing, maybe they are right. If THEY say something is wrong, something is wrong.
ME: If something is not working, get rid of it. If you love it, keep it for you. If the critics do not like it, and they keep pointing out the same thing, let it go. Put it in your private stuff. Just maybe some day someone will find it and be amazed at something that never got published. It happens.
10. Observe all rules for proper submission: Do it exactly as stated in the submission guidlines.
ME: Some things get rejected, if they miss just one little point of the guidelines. It helps with rejections. Some get tossed in the slush pile from the start because of one little thing.
11. An agent? Forget it, for now: Agents make money off you. Beginners do not need an agent. Do all the work yourself at this point. Agents come later.
ME: Stephen King says that you do not need an agent until you are making enough money to matter. Actually, he said it stronger than that, but I chose not to repeat it. I am trying to be nice. He says it like it is.
12. If it is bad, kill it: "When it comes to people, mercy killing is against the law. When it comes to fiction, it is the law."-Stephen King
ME: I quoted him on that last one. The truth hurts. It rubs like sandpaper or worse. I have a few things that have been buried among papers. I did not totally kill them, but maybe they will arise some day.
Take care! Keep writing! Do what you have in your heart!
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