good morning believe nation today we’re
going to talk about the top 10 writing
tips and advice from famous authors the
great thing about our profession is
there are no rules think for a minute
what it’s like if you want to be a
classic ballet dancer or if you want to
be a great violinist or if you want to
be a symphony conductor or if you want
to be a painter you want to be a movie
maker all those fields involve communal
apprenticeship personal instruction time
practicing many many rules many many
ways to do it but a lot of rules and
rules involved involved with the people
our profession the profession of being a
writer doesn’t involve any of that all
you need is a computer and a word
processing program or a typewriter in
sandpaper and you can create your whole
novel you can create a war and peace or
you can create the old man in the sea
you know a short lyrical novel or a
great big cider you can do it all right
there at the keyboard you make it happen
and it’s it’s the most wonderful
profession because you can begin it at
any time you can do that writing
anywhere you can do it in a cafe with
your laptop you can do it at a kitchen
table you can do it in a garage office
and every year somebody makes it to the
bestseller list who started out that way
in their bedroom writing late at night
or at the kitchen table it’s always been
a profession where Outsiders can easily
break in because it doesn’t require
equipment it doesn’t require tutelage
doesn’t require advancement amongst a
group of people you do it all yourself
how do you start writing a book
well the starting point is you look
within yourself and you ask what message
do you have that could really benefit or
help or change other people what message
do you have that you would want your
children to know to be able to live a
better life what message do you have
inside that burns inside of you you you
like to talk about it and and explain it
then when you when you see articles in
the newspaper about your message you’ve
got an opinion you you didn’t want to
say or something comment something this
is where you start it’s got to come out
of you and then what you have to do is
remember that the great
rule of life is prioritizing if you have
so many ideas but you’ve got to select
one and then what you do is you write at
the top of a page piece of paper what
are all the things I would want to talk
about or include in this book if I was
going to write it and then you just
simply write your answer to this
question well I want to mention this and
I want to mention that and what I
mentioned this statistic and this quote
and this story and you just cursed or
start writing when I start to write a
book this is my technique and I’ll end
up sometimes with three long pages
points Oh point point point point this
is the starting point it’s almost like
starting off down a hill when you’re
skiing your stems start to move faster
and faster I was just wondering what
advice you give young people were
considering careers as writers
aha I think you are right along those
are really the two major things you
can’t put it off you have to you have to
really do the work you have to be you
have to be well read I don’t have any
patience with people who say oh man I
want to be right about I don’t have time
to read but if you don’t have time to
read you can’t be a writer
you’ve got read just about everything so
I think that’s the most important thing
and then you have to you have to read
and I mean you have to write in order to
develop in style the creative style of
your own and when it comes to the
reading part of it there’s a magic
moment a really magic moment if you read
it up it will always come to you if you
want to be a writer where you put down
some book and say this really sucks I
can do better
a book if it’s going to succeed at all
if it’s going to have any chance of
succeeding
it’s got to be vibrant and alive and
it’s got to have a beating heart
it’s got to be organic and and then it
stands a chance if it’s not any of those
things and it’s got no chance I’m not
saying it’s guaranteed success because
that’s in the lap of the gods but to get
to the starting line you got to have a
vitality to the book and the only way
you can get that vitality is to have one
mind working on it which is yours if you
sit down to write a book and you say
this is what I really want to do but
this author says do it this way and that
author says no do it this way and the
third author says well what about this
if you start doing it by committee
you lost there has no vitality it just
comes out like like a cardboard thing
and so the best advice for a budding
writer is ignore all advice I have some
basic advice about how to approach
writing but you must remember what I
said there are no rules so if what I say
isn’t useful to you forget it
but what has always helped me was
something a friend of mine Floyd Salas a
novelist told me in Berkley years ago he
said go where the pain is when you write
go where the pain is and I think what
Floyd meant was right about what hurts
go back to the memory that causes you
conflict and pain and almost makes you
you know makes you not able to breathe
and and write about it explore it in the
privacy of your room with that keyboard
go where that pain is don’t be afraid of
that well I would add another rule to
Floyd go where the pleasure is go where
you really want to be in writing write
the exciting thing that you want to
write write the book that’s interesting
to you if you find that you’re bored
with the book don’t give it up and put
it aside think okay what do I have to do
to this book to make it interesting to
me should I maybe change point of view
should my character have a revelation
should he just jump up and do something
completely different I mean what do I
have to do to make it exciting to me and
and if you keep doing that with the book
if you keep making exciting
citing to you if you keep doing what’s
interesting to you pretty soon you’ll be
getting I’ve been in the morning and
thinking I’ve got to get to work because
I want to find out what happens I mean
that certainly is what happens to me
when I’m writing I’m writing away you
know and I get up and I think oh my god
I have to know what Ruben is going to do
up at night at point I I left all the
characters you know doing this and that
I have to know what’s going to what’s
going to happen look what we’re going to
find out and what we find out has to be
exciting to me and if you follow that
rule at least if I follow it a book
results and that book is exciting to me
and it’s exciting to other people not
all of them for every every book I’ve
written has gotten reviews on Amazon
that say this is the worst book ever
published this woman does not know how
to write so you know you can’t bat a
thousand you can’t win them all but if
you follow that advice I think you will
turn out the book that you yourself are
proud of the book that you love and the
book that you want to take out into the
world I often get asked by younger
readers what I would advise if you want
to be a writer this is the way I did it
so that’s the only advice I can give
you’ve got to read as much as you
possibly can because that’s the best way
to recognize good writing and to learn
what makes bad writing and those are
very good things you’ll probably go
through a phase where you imitate your
favorite writers that’s perfectly okay
that’s another learning process you
resign yourself to writing lots and lots
of rubbish you just got to write that
out of your system and sooner or later
you’ll hit what you know you really
should be doing and what is your genre
and perseverance you’ve got to persevere
because it is a it’s a career with a lot
of knock backs but the rewards are huge
I don’t mean in the sense that if that’s
what you really want to do to be able to
do it lifelong is the best thing in the
world very rewarding but it’s not a
career for people who are easily
discouraged that’s for sure and to their
parents don’t tell them it’s unrealistic
never to never say that because even if
they’re not published writing well
writing is the passion of my life so
it’s an important thing to do the key
like to meet
your writing is – this is it which is if
you guys want to write on once to write
is my first thing is I assume no one
cares whatever I’m writing Madison no
one cares about what I’m writing about
nobody cares about me nobody cares about
what I have to say no one cares about
the things I care about and if you just
go from the premise that nobody cares
and how can I make them care from the
first sentence from the first paragraph
you know at the end of that chapter how
I’m going to make them turn the next
chapter to me my main goal is to keep it
interesting for the people and assume no
one’s interested what is inspiration
inspiration is breathing right so you
put what is outside inside of you and
then you expire so inspiration something
that everybody has not only writers
everybody has while you or she write do
things is love it is connected to this
energy that we don’t understand we can
explain explain explain but it is
connected with the energy of love if you
enjoy what you are doing you are going
to be inspired to share with other
people
however inspiration you cannot guide
inspiration inspiration is a boat and
you are in this boat in a sea so that is
gigantic sea and your boat is taking you
in spirits guiding you in spirits as
this wind that is guiding you towards
your destiny if you try to guide
inspiration you’re lost you can do it of
course but then go and write a technical
book what you need to do what at least I
need to do when I sit down to write is
to have another idea as I mentioned
my previous podcast but that is allow
myself to be guided by just overall
overall idea I go into this boat of
inspiration sit here every morning when
I’m writing a new book
when I was writing a laugh normally I
started at 11 o’clock in the morning and
then of course I had the ideas of the
previous night where I was upstairs in
my bed thinking tomorrow I need to write
about this Jesus isn’t this and I took a
lot of floats then I sit here I read
this note and I said oh let’s let’s try
to do this but I know it’s not going to
work and then you start using our notes
to write the next page the next chapter
but the notes are not connected with
your conspiracy or my expedition so
after half an hour trying to do this or
that
I finally get into this boat because you
need to discipline also to go into this
boat and I allow myself to be guided but
first even though I’m not a fiction
writer at this point who knows maybe
I’ll try that and make a mess of things
but bird by bird first for all the
psychological trials and tribulations
word my bird is the book that I read
when I feel like I’m going into the
abyss or having a complete meltdown it’s
a wonderful book for getting out of that
but I also would say like when you’re
stuck when you’re not sure what to write
tell a story so you like show and don’t
describe it show it so if you’re like oh
how should I describe this point do this
do that like bullet point this bullet
point that give an example give a story
and just so what’s an example of how you
did that in the 4-hour workweek uh it
well any time I hit a sticking point
which was very very very often I would
there were a couple things that I would
I would ask myself who whose story can I
tell like who embody is this point or
this principle I mean Jack
obviously is a mastiff of this style of
storytelling and secondly po bronson is
a great writer and has written many many
good books at one point I heard him on a
panel and somebody in the crowd a stone
about writer’s block and and he said
well when I get writer’s block I think
about what makes me really really angry
and I read about that and it’s actually
fantastic advice if you write about what
most frustrates you why it frustrates
you and then like what you did about it
uh you usually come up with something
good and I would also emphasize so I
have a lot of thoughts on this but like
the book is the most important thing you
need to bake the product the market
getting into a good book like that’s
that for me that is almost all of it and
then the rest a lot of it takes care of
itself
but what I would say is make your quota
really small so two crappy pages a day
that’s your quota for me that’s the only
way I can slog through a book like not
happy pages a day this idea of two is is
I think we’re hitting the number two
yeah all right yeah I cannot think of a
book or I’ll just want to like cry into
my pillow and go to sleep I can’t do it
the biggest advice I can give you is
finish one book
when you finish even even if it’s the
worst book ever written and history
something changes in your mind and you
think wow I finished a book I can write
a book and it becomes much easier and
then it’s like piano or singing anything
practice makes you better surrender and
keep writing and you’ll get better and
you’ll get published and you’ll come
visit us in America Wall Street I think
the best thing to do is to remember that
you have to send it out lots of people
think that they have a best-selling book
but it’s downstairs in the third drawer
of their of their desk now you have to
send it out the publishers cannot be
inspired they cannot come to your house
with a demolition gang saying we
understand there’s a manuscript here you
have to send it them and then by doing
that you have to have to risk rejection
if you don’t go to a dance when we were
young if we didn’t go to a dance you
didn’t have the humiliation of people
passing you by and not dancing with you
but you also had no fun and it don’t
send it to other writers if somebody
send me a manuscript I say my secretary
and I would have a note ready say I’m
returning your manuscript to you unread
you and I are in competition with each
other I’m the wrong person to write to
and that’s actually the truth because I
might accidentally steal an idea from
something all right deliberately if I
was that kind steal an idea from
somebody so it has to be a publisher or
an agent and it is absolutely wearying
getting all those rejections that I
could have papered the house with
rejection slips and even my first novel
I got five rejection slips and I sent me
without the sixth time I really was very
very depressed about and the sixth
person rang up and said it’s wonderful
it’s going to be a best-seller so you
know as the as we often laughing since
pressed the first five must be bit sour
now and so that’s what you always think
about you have to be fully confidence
and send it out there and risk the
rejection because you’re never going to
get anywhere until you put your first
foot on that ladder
thank you so much for watching I made
this video because monshell Mitchell
asked me to so there’s a topic you’d
like me to cover in the next edition of
believe life let me know leave me a
comment below and I’ll see what I can do
I’d also love to know which of the clips
resonated with you and why what the
advice meant the most to you as
someone’s just finished writing his
first book I wish I had some of this
knowledge sooner but I’ll definitely
apply it to future books that I write so
let me know what you think what did you
really enjoy about it
what future topics as well do you want
me to cover in believe light for this
series leave it down in the comments
thank you guys so much for watching have
an amazing day continue to believe and
I’ll see you soon
the best writing advice I ever got and I
got this early on and I’m glad I did was
to write a certain number of words on a
regular basis a quota of words because
then you look up three months four
months maybe it takes a year but you
look up at some point and then you’ve
got a completed novel and you learn so
much by completing a novel and that’s
why I have people like ed McBaine
also known as Evan hunter looking over
my shoulder saying write you fool right
I mean he was incredibly prolific under
two or three pseudonyms over there is
John D MacDonald the guy with the red
hot typewriter they said he was
incredibly prolific because he did it as
a regular as a job he treated it as a
job now I used to do a daily quota but
that proved to be very onerous I felt
like I was a slave to it and you know if
I messed up if I missed the day I would
really beat myself up so I do a weekly
quota now and I divided into days and if
I miss a day then I know that I can make
it up on another day plus I take one day
off a week to recharge my batteries now
you do that day after day after week
after month after year you become what’s
called a prolific writer I do not ask my
readers what they want and then write
that book but I was picking out
cherry-pick little bits and pieces but I
think ultimately Steve Jobs said this
Henry Ford said it like people don’t
really know what they want right you
know I mean yep it’s like what do you
want I want a faster horse not a mighty
yeah a lot of people will do that
they’ll survey their audience and ask
what they want or think of what will be
big or what’ll be popular the thing is I
talk with rock bands a lot about this a
lot because I interview a lot of rock
bands I said all your audience knows is
what you’ve done before yeah they don’t
know what you’re gonna do next
so all they want is what you’ve done
before and you keep doing what you’ve
done before they’re gonna get bored and
you’re gonna get bored too internet
bored too and so to me it’s like I how I
choose what I’m gonna write about as I
stay one I really always try to stay one
step ahead it’s not even trying that I
write about what I care about the most
in that particular moment of my life and
because it’s going to have that passion
I mean
talk to some people I was talking about
writer today and and he has over a
million Twitter followers at a very big
platform and he wrote a book that did
not do very well yeah because I think he
wrote what was a clever book everyone
would like versus writing something he
really really cared about that was
important to him and literally I think
you can make anything interesting if you
really care about enough if you care
about that pillow in the story that
pillow and where it was made and how was
made who made it what their story is
when you can dive into anything if you
care about it and make it interesting
once you do finish that book once you’ve
got it don’t take no for an answer from
anybody no matter how many rejections
you get keep going keep going don’t
listen to anybody who rejects the book
and never revise that book because
you’ve got a rejection from an editor
with a bunch of you know negative advice
never do that any editor who rejects
your book doesn’t get it don’t revise
for that person wait till you get a
letter from an editor that says we
really love your book we’d like to
publish it do you think you could see
your way clear to maybe shortening it a
bit or changing this or that that’s when
you listen that’s when you decide now
say you’ve written your book you’ve sent
it to every New York publisher you know
of and they’ve all rejected it what do
you do then do you give up no you do not
give up self-publish it’s never been
easier there are all kinds of ways to do
it
and there are stories every few weeks
about self-published authors who are
suddenly being picked up by New York
publishers it mean discovered or they’ve
made hundreds of thousands of dollars on
their own I mean we hear about it all
the time so if you’re out there if
you’re writing you need stubbornness you
need courage you need faith in yourself
that’s as strong as any talent you may
possess and you need to write that book
the way you want to write it and keep
trying to get it published and if that
doesn’t work self publish it that’s the
best advice I can give you or any other
writer and again if this advice doesn’t
work for you throw it out the window
going to talk about the top 10 writing
tips and advice from famous authors the
great thing about our profession is
there are no rules think for a minute
what it’s like if you want to be a
classic ballet dancer or if you want to
be a great violinist or if you want to
be a symphony conductor or if you want
to be a painter you want to be a movie
maker all those fields involve communal
apprenticeship personal instruction time
practicing many many rules many many
ways to do it but a lot of rules and
rules involved involved with the people
our profession the profession of being a
writer doesn’t involve any of that all
you need is a computer and a word
processing program or a typewriter in
sandpaper and you can create your whole
novel you can create a war and peace or
you can create the old man in the sea
you know a short lyrical novel or a
great big cider you can do it all right
there at the keyboard you make it happen
and it’s it’s the most wonderful
profession because you can begin it at
any time you can do that writing
anywhere you can do it in a cafe with
your laptop you can do it at a kitchen
table you can do it in a garage office
and every year somebody makes it to the
bestseller list who started out that way
in their bedroom writing late at night
or at the kitchen table it’s always been
a profession where Outsiders can easily
break in because it doesn’t require
equipment it doesn’t require tutelage
doesn’t require advancement amongst a
group of people you do it all yourself
how do you start writing a book
well the starting point is you look
within yourself and you ask what message
do you have that could really benefit or
help or change other people what message
do you have that you would want your
children to know to be able to live a
better life what message do you have
inside that burns inside of you you you
like to talk about it and and explain it
then when you when you see articles in
the newspaper about your message you’ve
got an opinion you you didn’t want to
say or something comment something this
is where you start it’s got to come out
of you and then what you have to do is
remember that the great
rule of life is prioritizing if you have
so many ideas but you’ve got to select
one and then what you do is you write at
the top of a page piece of paper what
are all the things I would want to talk
about or include in this book if I was
going to write it and then you just
simply write your answer to this
question well I want to mention this and
I want to mention that and what I
mentioned this statistic and this quote
and this story and you just cursed or
start writing when I start to write a
book this is my technique and I’ll end
up sometimes with three long pages
points Oh point point point point this
is the starting point it’s almost like
starting off down a hill when you’re
skiing your stems start to move faster
and faster I was just wondering what
advice you give young people were
considering careers as writers
aha I think you are right along those
are really the two major things you
can’t put it off you have to you have to
really do the work you have to be you
have to be well read I don’t have any
patience with people who say oh man I
want to be right about I don’t have time
to read but if you don’t have time to
read you can’t be a writer
you’ve got read just about everything so
I think that’s the most important thing
and then you have to you have to read
and I mean you have to write in order to
develop in style the creative style of
your own and when it comes to the
reading part of it there’s a magic
moment a really magic moment if you read
it up it will always come to you if you
want to be a writer where you put down
some book and say this really sucks I
can do better
a book if it’s going to succeed at all
if it’s going to have any chance of
succeeding
it’s got to be vibrant and alive and
it’s got to have a beating heart
it’s got to be organic and and then it
stands a chance if it’s not any of those
things and it’s got no chance I’m not
saying it’s guaranteed success because
that’s in the lap of the gods but to get
to the starting line you got to have a
vitality to the book and the only way
you can get that vitality is to have one
mind working on it which is yours if you
sit down to write a book and you say
this is what I really want to do but
this author says do it this way and that
author says no do it this way and the
third author says well what about this
if you start doing it by committee
you lost there has no vitality it just
comes out like like a cardboard thing
and so the best advice for a budding
writer is ignore all advice I have some
basic advice about how to approach
writing but you must remember what I
said there are no rules so if what I say
isn’t useful to you forget it
but what has always helped me was
something a friend of mine Floyd Salas a
novelist told me in Berkley years ago he
said go where the pain is when you write
go where the pain is and I think what
Floyd meant was right about what hurts
go back to the memory that causes you
conflict and pain and almost makes you
you know makes you not able to breathe
and and write about it explore it in the
privacy of your room with that keyboard
go where that pain is don’t be afraid of
that well I would add another rule to
Floyd go where the pleasure is go where
you really want to be in writing write
the exciting thing that you want to
write write the book that’s interesting
to you if you find that you’re bored
with the book don’t give it up and put
it aside think okay what do I have to do
to this book to make it interesting to
me should I maybe change point of view
should my character have a revelation
should he just jump up and do something
completely different I mean what do I
have to do to make it exciting to me and
and if you keep doing that with the book
if you keep making exciting
citing to you if you keep doing what’s
interesting to you pretty soon you’ll be
getting I’ve been in the morning and
thinking I’ve got to get to work because
I want to find out what happens I mean
that certainly is what happens to me
when I’m writing I’m writing away you
know and I get up and I think oh my god
I have to know what Ruben is going to do
up at night at point I I left all the
characters you know doing this and that
I have to know what’s going to what’s
going to happen look what we’re going to
find out and what we find out has to be
exciting to me and if you follow that
rule at least if I follow it a book
results and that book is exciting to me
and it’s exciting to other people not
all of them for every every book I’ve
written has gotten reviews on Amazon
that say this is the worst book ever
published this woman does not know how
to write so you know you can’t bat a
thousand you can’t win them all but if
you follow that advice I think you will
turn out the book that you yourself are
proud of the book that you love and the
book that you want to take out into the
world I often get asked by younger
readers what I would advise if you want
to be a writer this is the way I did it
so that’s the only advice I can give
you’ve got to read as much as you
possibly can because that’s the best way
to recognize good writing and to learn
what makes bad writing and those are
very good things you’ll probably go
through a phase where you imitate your
favorite writers that’s perfectly okay
that’s another learning process you
resign yourself to writing lots and lots
of rubbish you just got to write that
out of your system and sooner or later
you’ll hit what you know you really
should be doing and what is your genre
and perseverance you’ve got to persevere
because it is a it’s a career with a lot
of knock backs but the rewards are huge
I don’t mean in the sense that if that’s
what you really want to do to be able to
do it lifelong is the best thing in the
world very rewarding but it’s not a
career for people who are easily
discouraged that’s for sure and to their
parents don’t tell them it’s unrealistic
never to never say that because even if
they’re not published writing well
writing is the passion of my life so
it’s an important thing to do the key
like to meet
your writing is – this is it which is if
you guys want to write on once to write
is my first thing is I assume no one
cares whatever I’m writing Madison no
one cares about what I’m writing about
nobody cares about me nobody cares about
what I have to say no one cares about
the things I care about and if you just
go from the premise that nobody cares
and how can I make them care from the
first sentence from the first paragraph
you know at the end of that chapter how
I’m going to make them turn the next
chapter to me my main goal is to keep it
interesting for the people and assume no
one’s interested what is inspiration
inspiration is breathing right so you
put what is outside inside of you and
then you expire so inspiration something
that everybody has not only writers
everybody has while you or she write do
things is love it is connected to this
energy that we don’t understand we can
explain explain explain but it is
connected with the energy of love if you
enjoy what you are doing you are going
to be inspired to share with other
people
however inspiration you cannot guide
inspiration inspiration is a boat and
you are in this boat in a sea so that is
gigantic sea and your boat is taking you
in spirits guiding you in spirits as
this wind that is guiding you towards
your destiny if you try to guide
inspiration you’re lost you can do it of
course but then go and write a technical
book what you need to do what at least I
need to do when I sit down to write is
to have another idea as I mentioned
my previous podcast but that is allow
myself to be guided by just overall
overall idea I go into this boat of
inspiration sit here every morning when
I’m writing a new book
when I was writing a laugh normally I
started at 11 o’clock in the morning and
then of course I had the ideas of the
previous night where I was upstairs in
my bed thinking tomorrow I need to write
about this Jesus isn’t this and I took a
lot of floats then I sit here I read
this note and I said oh let’s let’s try
to do this but I know it’s not going to
work and then you start using our notes
to write the next page the next chapter
but the notes are not connected with
your conspiracy or my expedition so
after half an hour trying to do this or
that
I finally get into this boat because you
need to discipline also to go into this
boat and I allow myself to be guided but
first even though I’m not a fiction
writer at this point who knows maybe
I’ll try that and make a mess of things
but bird by bird first for all the
psychological trials and tribulations
word my bird is the book that I read
when I feel like I’m going into the
abyss or having a complete meltdown it’s
a wonderful book for getting out of that
but I also would say like when you’re
stuck when you’re not sure what to write
tell a story so you like show and don’t
describe it show it so if you’re like oh
how should I describe this point do this
do that like bullet point this bullet
point that give an example give a story
and just so what’s an example of how you
did that in the 4-hour workweek uh it
well any time I hit a sticking point
which was very very very often I would
there were a couple things that I would
I would ask myself who whose story can I
tell like who embody is this point or
this principle I mean Jack
obviously is a mastiff of this style of
storytelling and secondly po bronson is
a great writer and has written many many
good books at one point I heard him on a
panel and somebody in the crowd a stone
about writer’s block and and he said
well when I get writer’s block I think
about what makes me really really angry
and I read about that and it’s actually
fantastic advice if you write about what
most frustrates you why it frustrates
you and then like what you did about it
uh you usually come up with something
good and I would also emphasize so I
have a lot of thoughts on this but like
the book is the most important thing you
need to bake the product the market
getting into a good book like that’s
that for me that is almost all of it and
then the rest a lot of it takes care of
itself
but what I would say is make your quota
really small so two crappy pages a day
that’s your quota for me that’s the only
way I can slog through a book like not
happy pages a day this idea of two is is
I think we’re hitting the number two
yeah all right yeah I cannot think of a
book or I’ll just want to like cry into
my pillow and go to sleep I can’t do it
the biggest advice I can give you is
finish one book
when you finish even even if it’s the
worst book ever written and history
something changes in your mind and you
think wow I finished a book I can write
a book and it becomes much easier and
then it’s like piano or singing anything
practice makes you better surrender and
keep writing and you’ll get better and
you’ll get published and you’ll come
visit us in America Wall Street I think
the best thing to do is to remember that
you have to send it out lots of people
think that they have a best-selling book
but it’s downstairs in the third drawer
of their of their desk now you have to
send it out the publishers cannot be
inspired they cannot come to your house
with a demolition gang saying we
understand there’s a manuscript here you
have to send it them and then by doing
that you have to have to risk rejection
if you don’t go to a dance when we were
young if we didn’t go to a dance you
didn’t have the humiliation of people
passing you by and not dancing with you
but you also had no fun and it don’t
send it to other writers if somebody
send me a manuscript I say my secretary
and I would have a note ready say I’m
returning your manuscript to you unread
you and I are in competition with each
other I’m the wrong person to write to
and that’s actually the truth because I
might accidentally steal an idea from
something all right deliberately if I
was that kind steal an idea from
somebody so it has to be a publisher or
an agent and it is absolutely wearying
getting all those rejections that I
could have papered the house with
rejection slips and even my first novel
I got five rejection slips and I sent me
without the sixth time I really was very
very depressed about and the sixth
person rang up and said it’s wonderful
it’s going to be a best-seller so you
know as the as we often laughing since
pressed the first five must be bit sour
now and so that’s what you always think
about you have to be fully confidence
and send it out there and risk the
rejection because you’re never going to
get anywhere until you put your first
foot on that ladder
thank you so much for watching I made
this video because monshell Mitchell
asked me to so there’s a topic you’d
like me to cover in the next edition of
believe life let me know leave me a
comment below and I’ll see what I can do
I’d also love to know which of the clips
resonated with you and why what the
advice meant the most to you as
someone’s just finished writing his
first book I wish I had some of this
knowledge sooner but I’ll definitely
apply it to future books that I write so
let me know what you think what did you
really enjoy about it
what future topics as well do you want
me to cover in believe light for this
series leave it down in the comments
thank you guys so much for watching have
an amazing day continue to believe and
I’ll see you soon
the best writing advice I ever got and I
got this early on and I’m glad I did was
to write a certain number of words on a
regular basis a quota of words because
then you look up three months four
months maybe it takes a year but you
look up at some point and then you’ve
got a completed novel and you learn so
much by completing a novel and that’s
why I have people like ed McBaine
also known as Evan hunter looking over
my shoulder saying write you fool right
I mean he was incredibly prolific under
two or three pseudonyms over there is
John D MacDonald the guy with the red
hot typewriter they said he was
incredibly prolific because he did it as
a regular as a job he treated it as a
job now I used to do a daily quota but
that proved to be very onerous I felt
like I was a slave to it and you know if
I messed up if I missed the day I would
really beat myself up so I do a weekly
quota now and I divided into days and if
I miss a day then I know that I can make
it up on another day plus I take one day
off a week to recharge my batteries now
you do that day after day after week
after month after year you become what’s
called a prolific writer I do not ask my
readers what they want and then write
that book but I was picking out
cherry-pick little bits and pieces but I
think ultimately Steve Jobs said this
Henry Ford said it like people don’t
really know what they want right you
know I mean yep it’s like what do you
want I want a faster horse not a mighty
yeah a lot of people will do that
they’ll survey their audience and ask
what they want or think of what will be
big or what’ll be popular the thing is I
talk with rock bands a lot about this a
lot because I interview a lot of rock
bands I said all your audience knows is
what you’ve done before yeah they don’t
know what you’re gonna do next
so all they want is what you’ve done
before and you keep doing what you’ve
done before they’re gonna get bored and
you’re gonna get bored too internet
bored too and so to me it’s like I how I
choose what I’m gonna write about as I
stay one I really always try to stay one
step ahead it’s not even trying that I
write about what I care about the most
in that particular moment of my life and
because it’s going to have that passion
I mean
talk to some people I was talking about
writer today and and he has over a
million Twitter followers at a very big
platform and he wrote a book that did
not do very well yeah because I think he
wrote what was a clever book everyone
would like versus writing something he
really really cared about that was
important to him and literally I think
you can make anything interesting if you
really care about enough if you care
about that pillow in the story that
pillow and where it was made and how was
made who made it what their story is
when you can dive into anything if you
care about it and make it interesting
once you do finish that book once you’ve
got it don’t take no for an answer from
anybody no matter how many rejections
you get keep going keep going don’t
listen to anybody who rejects the book
and never revise that book because
you’ve got a rejection from an editor
with a bunch of you know negative advice
never do that any editor who rejects
your book doesn’t get it don’t revise
for that person wait till you get a
letter from an editor that says we
really love your book we’d like to
publish it do you think you could see
your way clear to maybe shortening it a
bit or changing this or that that’s when
you listen that’s when you decide now
say you’ve written your book you’ve sent
it to every New York publisher you know
of and they’ve all rejected it what do
you do then do you give up no you do not
give up self-publish it’s never been
easier there are all kinds of ways to do
it
and there are stories every few weeks
about self-published authors who are
suddenly being picked up by New York
publishers it mean discovered or they’ve
made hundreds of thousands of dollars on
their own I mean we hear about it all
the time so if you’re out there if
you’re writing you need stubbornness you
need courage you need faith in yourself
that’s as strong as any talent you may
possess and you need to write that book
the way you want to write it and keep
trying to get it published and if that
doesn’t work self publish it that’s the
best advice I can give you or any other
writer and again if this advice doesn’t
work for you throw it out the window
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