Comments on: Advice for first-time sff novelists ?

By: Robert Fotino

Robert Fotino — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:42:35 +0000

Thanks for writing this. I’m only thirteen years old and starting my first (and hopefully not last!) novel, and it is a lot harder than I thought. This post was just what I needed; it encouraged me to write to write, and not for the profit.

By: Brianna

Brianna — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:51:56 +0000

This is absolutely amazing. Thank you so much, just the kind of guide I was looking for.

By: Kate Elliott

Kate Elliott — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 02:52:28 +0000

Sara - I call that “letting the well refill.”

Thanks to everyone who posted.

By: Sara

Sara — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:34:49 +0000

Thank you! This is just what I needed to read right now.

I just finished my first draft of my first novel. It’s time to let it breathe for a bit. The synopsis is done in it’s first draft. I was wondering “what next?” Now I know.

Now it’s time to stew over finding the next idea. For me, that means input - reading, watching movies, wandering the internets, giving my various obsessions, and my daydreaming mind free rein. But I think it is key that I find a way to write something regularly, even if they are only observations or descriptive blurbs. Who knows? Maybe one of those will turn into something.

By: Celina Summers

Celina Summers — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:23:12 +0000

Honestly? One. The same book. Over and over again until I felt that it was ‘right.’ I hid this novel away for a long time, making notes in a journal, and only took it back out when I had a concrete direction for it. For the record, it took years and multiple versions before it actually worked. It’s different for different people. Compared to the voices on this blog, I am still the rankest amateur. When I read Ms. Elliott’s post though I had to give it an *amen!* She encapsulated everything I learned in my journey from hobbyist to published writer in one insightful post. Rejection is part of the journey, and every writer has to learn to deal with it. It’s part of the job. Good luck to you!

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 18:20:39 +0000

Hi,

Celina, how many books did you write before you got that one published? Perhaps you had some shorts published first, but how many of those did you write before the first was published.

I realize it’s different for most authors — but I have just sent two short stories and a poem off to different publishers. They will almost certainly be rejected — I think I just wanted to lose my virginity, so to speak.

We all talk of perseverance, but I would be interested to know exactly how much published authors had to go through to get their first credit.

By: Celina Summers

Celina Summers — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 16:16:28 +0000

A fabulous post. As a new sff author with one published book and more on the way, I couldn’t agree more. Discipline, in particular, is what young writers need to perfect. If you can’t plop your hind end into a chair for a specific amount of time every day, it’s going to be extremely difficult to create that necessary backlog. Great advice; Thanks!

By: Kaya

Kaya — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 18:00:04 +0000

Thanks so much for the wonderful advice. As a first time novelist-in-the-making it was exactly what I needed to hear. As an aside, I am a (mostly absent) member of Richard Parks writing group and I couldn’t agree more with your opinion of him. He is a total professional, truly dedicated to his craft and it has been a joy to be in the group with him.

By: Schuyler Thorpe

Schuyler Thorpe — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 08:40:31 +0000

Write what you love, give the money-grubbing industry the bird.

Writing well doesn’t mean you have to have a degree, or be willing to sacrifice your style and voice just to please your publisher.

It’s about writing what you know, what you would like to see, and what you can DO with your skills as a story-teller.

Everything else is just ink and paper.

By: Great Advice for New SFF Novelists « Writer’s Report

Great Advice for New SFF Novelists « Writer’s Report — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:16:48 +0000

[...] Advice for New SFF Novelists Posted on October 19, 2007 by Werner Cool Blog: DeepGenre.com has a great article for newbie SFF novelists on what it takes to make a career out of writing [...]