best selling authors

Writer’s Wisdom 84

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The Magic of Best-selling Authors

What is the key to enchanting writing?  What is the secret of best-selling authors?  I am sure that most of us, at one point, have been captivated  with a book from a favorite author – being that person a best-selling author or not.  How do best-selling authors get to captivate so many readers?  It seems natural to think that they plan their writing and target a certain section of the population to obtain readership.  Right?

This could not be further from the truth.  While being interviewed many best-selling authors have said that they write for themselves – as in the case of Stephenie Meyer or Lee Child.  They say that they are honest to the story when writing, and they keep honest to the reader.  They seem to be of the opinion that if you evoke feelings in yourself when writing the story, you will evoke feelings on the reader as well.  Another trend is that they also mention how blessed they feel to be doing what they love – to write.

So there is no big secret of best-selling authors.  It seems that they write with passion for themselves – and they love it.

Writer’s Wisdom 82

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Every writer is a writer.

At first glance this may seem as a sentence without much meaning or even much sense.  However, what prompted me to write it was that it occurred to me that sometimes we are quick to criticize other’s work without going deeper.  Some might stop reading at the first grammatical error they encounter, others at the first cliché.  I have read about a best-selling author giving an opinion on another writer (now a best-selling author) and saying that the author did not know how to write.  The author became a sensation overnight.  I guess my point is that we should not judge or ill criticize the writing of others just because it does not follow our style and common rules.  There are no Gods in the world of writing just writers.

One thing is to present a piece to the world that is poorly written and obviously, without much care – that shows in writing.  Another, is to write different from the masses.  We should work on improving our writing everyday.

Writer’s Wisdom 81

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What happens when writing does not meet your expectations?

There are many ways we can approach the answer to that question.  It is a matter of individual experience, and whatever your expectations are as a writer.  At one point or another we will ask that question to ourselves, to the writer inside, and we may or may not like the answer.  Or maybe, we might not have an answer at all – at least yet. 

Sometimes, you will work hard, and harder, but the results and rewards just don’t show up in a pretty package.  What then?  Do you beat yourself up?  Do you get discouraged and stop writing?  Do you take a break to clear your mind and find a new path?  Do you just ignore your feelings and keep writing anyway?  Maybe, you will think of another approach to your writing.

Whatever your answer, it is one that you must deal with to be able to find your way as a writer – I am still figuring that one.  If writing is your passion, keep at it.  If you have to try different approaches, then try them.  If you need to take a break and clear your mind, then do so.   Do what you have to do, and what you need to do to find your writing path.  For some it will take longer than others.  Look at the different life stories of best-selling authors.  For some it happened fast, while others took years figuring out that they belonged writing.

I guess my point is, a true writer finds a path.

Writer’s Wisdom 78

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Writing for Pleasure

You have deadlines to meet, and many writing projects awaiting you, but there are times when you just need to write for pure pleasure – just for you.  It is important to nurture this part of writing and give it a place in your hectic schedule.  If you only write because you want to get paid, you will be missing on this important aspect.

When you write for pleasure, you enter a realm of enjoyment, and you are opening the gates of inspiration.  When this happens, ideas can come from anywhere, and you will experience the power of the written word.  Many of us are so worried about making the deadlines and earning a living (out of necessity,of course) that we forget to take a bit of time to just relax and write for ourselves – just for the pure enjoyment of it.

From time to time, relive the early days of your writing career, and take a few minutes to write for the simple pleasure of it; recapture the magic.

Writer’s Wisdom 72

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 What stops you from writing?

Since I can remember I’ve had a love affair with the written word.  I’ve been an avid reader my entire life.  My desire to write was in the back of my mind for many years.  Deep down, I knew that I was meant to write, but I could not start.  It was always something I would do one day, when I had more time, and life wasn’t so busy.   Many years passed, and life got busier and busier, and I completely forgot about it – or at least did not think about it that much.  It wasn’t until a series of unfortunate events, that I was forced to slow down and look into my soul.  There it was, my desire for writing.  Since I had nothing to lose, I gave it a try.  It felt like a good pair of well-fitting jeans – comfortable and fitted.  That day, I decided that no matter what happened I was going to continue writing – and I have.

There are many things on my plate now, but I won’t stop writing.  Take a look into your soul – what is stopping you?  For me it was the illusion of more time and the fear of not knowing what to write.  At one point I was petrified, to glance at the piece of paper in front of me.  It took something bigger than my doubt to put things in motion.

If you have thought about writing, but it seems very far in the future, get that image out of your mind.  Pick up that pen or PC and start writing whatever comes to mind.  It is just that first step away.

Writer’s Wisdom 69

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“Write what you know.”

I have heard many authors say this, when watching their interviews.  This is a very good point and excellent advice for us aspiring writers.  Even when writing fiction and creating our own universes, those universes have to be filled with something – and that is when “what you know” comes handy.   At the beginning, it is easier to write from knowledge than going through lots of research and deep waters.  It is good practice and it comes from you.  If you have a background in law, you will probably apply your knowledge in that mystery or crime novel, and so on …

That doesn’t mean that we will be writing what we know forever; at one point or another, we will embark towards unknown seas and shake our confidence a bit.  It just means that it is easier to write about something that will flow naturally to us and keep us going.  Eventually, we all know when it is time to cross that bridge.

Writer’s Wisdom 67

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Between the lines … a Writer’s Heartbeat

While reading a fellow writer’s article on how much of a writer’s life and beliefs are reflected on a piece of writing (see link below) it dawn on me that the adage “we are open books” is not so far from a writer’s truth.  I agreed with the premise and my comment to her was the following:  “There is always some truth about the writer hidden in a piece. Even when the piece is written on a subject totally alien to the writer. I find poetry a good example of this. You can express anything on a poem, even something that does not agree with your values (such as a poem about betrayal) – but somehow a writer’s truth will emerge between the lines. Other times, the writer let’s it all out.”

Soon a question emerged – how much of yourself do you let others see in between the lines?  And when is much too much?  The answer is as unique as an individual’s privacy and disclosure preferences.  And as a reader, how much do I want to know about that writer?  And again, the answer is as unique as that particular reader. 

There is also one thing to consider – with every heart beat amongst the lines, there is an image of a writer being born to the reader – growing, and developing.  Mind those beats.

Here is her article.  

http://writinghood.com/writing/how-life-reflects-in-your-writing/

Writer’s Wisdom 64

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From Movie to Book

We have read the book, we loved it, and pray for it to become a movie.  It seems that more and more books, especially for young adults, are making it to the big screen.  I prefer to read a book first, then watch the movie.  Some people become inspired by a movie to read the book.  However it goes, one seems to complement the other – although some book lovers may disagree and say that a book stands for itself – and that is true.  Let’s say that they enhance each other and this relationship between book and movie makes good commercialism.

I have heard best-selling authors being interviewed about their involvement in the process of their book being made into a movie and their opinion is very similar.  Most love it, consider it an honor, and view it as a complete different process.  Some don’t want to be involved much in it, but enjoy having a little bit of input.  But most, if not all, agree that they want the integrity of the characters to remain true to the story – and I think that is what makes one to enhance the other in the relationship of book and movie.

We all enjoy to read a good story – in our heads we visualize it – but when the story becomes alive in the screen and special effects are added, our senses become alive – the icing on the cake.

Writer’s Wisdom 63

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The story that I love …

Who do you write for?  Although books are categorized or targeted for sale to particular groups of readers, such as young adults … I keep hearing best-selling authors saying during interviews that they sat down to write a story that they would love.  Some of them say that they wrote the story for themselves.  This is a very important point since it determines how you approach the writing of a piece. 

If you sit down to write the story that you love, you will be connected with that piece much more that if you think that you are writing for such and such group of readers – a bit of pressure there.  Of course some authors will take advantage of a trend, such as the trend of vampires.  It seems that since Stephenie Meyer wrote Twilight and the sequels and it was a hit with young readers as well as adults, everyone is writing about vampires and werewolves now.  The vampire has been awakened again.  And that is fine.

So next time you sit down to write, ask yourself this question:  “Am I writing the story that I love?”

Writer’s Wisdom 62

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Writers are entrepreneurs

 According to a simple definition of the word, an entrepreneur is a person who is willing to take upon herself or himself a new venture or enterprise and accepts full responsibility for the outcome and is looking to make a profit (from Wikipedia).  Although most of the time we define it in the traditional business sense, this definition can be applied to writers.  Aside from their love of writing, writers take chances, are willing to put the long hours that it takes, and go from rejection to rejection learning and adjusting their venture, until they make it.  Writers also want to make money in the end.  They look for their own clients, present their own projects and work, and even do the legwork in promoting their work.  Most dream of the day that they publish “the book,” and will endure anything for the love of the craft.

When we think of an entrepreneur we hardly think of writers.  The image that comes to mind is of the traditional business man or woman starting  a venture.  But if you are a serious writer you well know that you have the entrepreneurial spirit deep in you.