Writing Advice, Test & Tell.

[Yvonne]

Breaker, I gave your advice a go the last time I wrote a post. I tried not to let it pressure me to write faster, like you said, but I definitely felt an urgency to avoid distractions. I often take a break from writing about two thirds of the way through my post - once I have it all figured out in my head - to make coffee and give myself that last push. My partner tried to persuade me to watch Netflix and I was all No, the timer is still ticking. I must away and write.

The great Stephen King spoke thusly:

"If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time - or the tools - to write. Simple as that."

Have you read any books that you can look back on now, and think; I learned a great deal from that book - I'm glad I took the time to read it? What books would you recommend for aspiring writers to add to their collection? Not for merely collecting dust on the shelf, for reading cover to cover!

[Breaker]

Breaker, I gave your advice a go the last time I wrote a post. I tried not to let it pressure me to write faster, like you said, but I definitely felt an urgency to avoid distractions. I often take a break from writing about two thirds of the way through my post - once I have it all figured out in my head - to make coffee and give myself that last push. My partner tried to persuade me to watch Netflix and I was all No, the timer is still ticking. I must away and write.

Awesome. Avoiding distractions was actually the main purpose of this exercise. Since using this method I've been able to almost double my writing speed when I successfully avoid things like opening new tabs. I actually wrote my second thousand words today ten minutes faster than my first, despite the fact that during the second set I got up to make a coffee. In general, I've noticed that the more times I do this in a day, the faster I get.

The great Stephen King spoke thusly:

"If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time - or the tools - to write. Simple as that."

Have you read any books that you can look back on now, and think; I learned a great deal from that book - I'm glad I took the time to read it? What books would you recommend for aspiring writers to add to their collection? Not for merely collecting dust on the shelf, for reading cover to cover!

I'd recommend the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, although it's probably not fair to recommend a thirteen book mega-epic series for something like this. I think Stephen King's "The Gunslinger" is a great one, and almost anything written by Lee Child as he does the best job of demonstrating the power of proper phrasing of anyone I've ever read, and is also one of the great thriller writers of our time.

And my stuff. Everyone should read my stuff :P