Moving Down the Path

Sue wrote to me and asked, "What is the one thing I can do that would most help me grow as a writer?"

May I offer more than ONE thing, Sue?

1. Write a lot. Most writers are really wannabes -- they talk about writing a lot more than they actually write. But if you wanted to be a better pianist, would you TALK about playing the piano, or would you sit and PRACTICE? The same goes for dance, or painting, or singing, or baseball. Or writing. The best thing you can do to improve is to write more. (You want real-world advice? Set a goal of 1000 words a day, 5000 words a week, and get busy.)

2. Find experienced writers. For some, that means joining a writing group, in which you all write something and share it with each other every month. The critiques of others will hurt, but they will often help you improve. For others, that means finding a mentor -- someone who may not have hit the bestseller lists yet, but he or she is a bit further down the path than you are. A mentor can offer advice, perspective, and wisdom to help you grow. For still others, it means simply making friends with a writer who is more or less on your own level and asking him or her to be your accountability partner, reader, and sometime counselor/shrink/psychic/motivational speaker.

3. Hang out with writers. We all get better by spending time with a diverse group of people who share our interests. Here's a suggestion: If you're a novelist, consider signing up for the ACFW conference in Dallas this September.  ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) offers some of the best training in craft outside of personal coaching or college classrooms, and spending a week with them is a great investment. If you're a nonfiction writer, consider going to one of the big summer conferences like Write to Publish at Wheaton College next week. You'll find good instruction, lots of friends who share your passion for writing, and one of the few remaining chances to be face-to-face with editors and agents. (And while I'll be teaching briefly at both of those conferences, they're not paying me anything to plug them.)

4. Read widely. Don't settle for the same stuff all the time. Introduce yourself to new, young writers. Check out a bestseller. Pick up classic books. Try your hand at Twain or Dickens or Austen. If you're a fiction writer, read a great nonfiction book (try Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm or John Krakauer's Into Thin Air). If you're a nonfiction writer, buy yourself a great novel and dig into another genre (have you read Lisa Samson's Quaker Summer yet?).  Stretch your reading boundaries this summer.

5. Do one thing to improve your craft. Buy a book on writing and try the exercises. Take an online class, or sign up for a writing workshop at your local community college. Check out one of the software programs designed to help you get going on your novel. Enter a contest. Give yourself an assignment to write an article for your local paper. (If you need suggestions for books on craft, I recommend Carolyn See's Making a Literary Life, Patricia O'Connor's Words Fail Me, and Les Edgerton's Finding Your Voice.)  And yes...I've recommended all of these books in the past. I'll start recommending new things tomorrow!

I hope that helps, Sue. I've got a backlog of questions people have sent in -- I'll try and get to several of them over the next few days.

Comments

[Stevie Rey]

Chip,
Thanks for the great advice, bro. Some of this I have done, some not yet. I do write everyday, but 1000 words is hard when you have that pesky day job thing going on.

I've read a couple of books on writing that were great, Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, and Stephen King's On Writing.

I love the "read widely" advice. Stephen King said the same thing. They're doing awesome things with history right now. I loved "Over The Edge of The World" by Bergreen about Magellan's voyage "Devil in the White City" by Larson about the Chicago worlds fair is an absolute can't miss!

Keep the advice coming!

SR

[Robin Caroll]

Great advice, Chip! And folks, the registration for the ACFW conference is open NOW! You can check it out, read all the great tracks available, and register at www.acfw.com We're anticipating this year's conference to be the best ever! Hope to see many of you there!

Robin Miller
ACFW President

[Rachel Hauck]

Sounds advice! I agree. Aren't you glad. ;)

Rachel

[Rhonda]

Great advice Chip!
Rhonda

[Ron Estrada]

And when you enter a contest and everyone says to work on "Show vs. Tell," do it! Chances are 4 out of 4 judges aren't wrong. Some of us more stubborn types learn that one the hard way.

[Pam Halter]

Ron, that's funny! I can laugh, because I'm there, too.

So, let's all listen to Chip and write, read make writing friends, do something to improve our writing and I'll add one: dream big. Why not? We all need a goal to reach for.

The Greater Phila. Christian Writer's conference is now open for registrations, as well. Check it out: www.writehisanswer.com

[Ane Mulligan]

I agree, Chip, and I've done all of those and more. I read 3-4 books a week, both novels and writing craft books. I hang out at every conference I can afford to go to. I got mentors and I mentor others. I immersed myself in the writing world as fully as possible. And it works!

But if I had to single out 1 thing that helped me the most, it was joining ACFW. There, I have access to writers who have more experience than I do. And we get access to peopel like you, who teach us. Thanks, Chip!

Now if I can manage to contain my excitment until September, I'll see you there.

[Kristen]

Thanks for the good advice!