Seems every writing blogger has come up with a few of these and apologies but I’m still working through mine — been stuck with writer’s block at number six.
So here is a link to an amusing, if forthright, list from a blog by American writer Chuck Wendig and tweeted by Claire King.
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2011/04/26/25-things-every-writer-should-know/
There’s a simile in number 14 which I thought I’d never see used in a writing context!
I hope number 15 Â (‘Act like an asshole, get treated like an asshole’ ) applies to the world of writing because, in my experience, it doesn’t always tend to happen in real life although it could be the logline of many a successful novel.
I do like number 20 a lot, ‘Writing is about words, storytelling is about life’, as it gives a satisfying feeling of validation to my visceral dislike of the sort of Sunday supplement article you get at the year end: ’20 Important New Writers Under 21 You Must Read’. I do think the most interesting writers are those who’ve actually had life experiences and have got out and done things rather than just start writing about themselves and their clique of friends at university. As the blog says: ‘Experience things. Otherwise, what the fuck are you going to talk about?’
And as a footnote this article from The Guardian is a worth a scan: http://www.guardian.co.uk/edinburgh/2011/apr/21/writing-literary-commercial-sara-sheridan
What’s most interesting is Sarah Sheridan’s point near the start that the publishing industry has only recently discovered how unprofitable ‘literary fiction’ actually is — with an audience not much bigger than the people writing and reviewing it and teaching and studying courses in it (which seems to be the situation poetry is in).