10 Writing Tips from Writers You May or May Not Have Heard Of

Here is a list of ten tips for writing fiction by a bunch of pretty good authors you’ve heard of (list includes Margaret Atwood and Neil Gaiman) and many you probably haven’t. 

I know I stole this from someone somewhere, and I would love to give them credit but I have forgotten where I originally saw this link, so that pretty much sucks for them. Sorry. 

Here is my selection from the lists of 10 tips that spoke to me:

Elmore Leonard:

Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. If you have the knack of playing with exclaimers the way Tom Wolfe does, you can throw them in by the handful.

Part of my job at the newspaper is to proof the letters to the editor that the public sends in. I can’t believe how many people overuse exclamation points to show they feel extremely about the issue they are writing about. Of course these are not professional writers and therefore couldn’t possibly know any better (right), but it is incredibly annoying. 

Margaret Atwood:

Take a pencil to write with on aeroplanes. Pens leak. But if the pencil breaks, you can’t sharpen it on the plane, because you can’t take knives with you. Therefore: take two pencils.

I can attest to this. I have had many pens burst on airplanes which not only renders them useless, but ruins whatever they may have been riding in. 

Geoff Dyer:

Beware of clichés. Not just the clichés that Martin Amis is at war with. There are clichés of response as well as expression. There are clichés of observation and of thought – even of conception. Many novels, even quite a few adequately written ones, are clichés of form which conform to clichés of expectation.

I read a lot. What I hate to read a lot of are cliches. I understand that it’s difficult to describe certain things in a completely new way when so many have described it before you, but please try. I  want to hear about cherry lip gloss and shimmering oceans as much as I want to read that a character was dumb as a pile of bricks. 

Anne Enright:

Only bad writers think that their work is really good.

I have known quite a few writers in my time. One thing I noticed pretty frequently was how the ones that were certain they were geniuses (regardless of how many rejections they received) were usually not very good writers. Don’t be delusional. 

Neil Gaiman:

Finish what you’re writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.

At one time I thought myself a fiction writer. During this time I started many short stories and finished maybe two. Therefore in my collection of years of writing I have two stories. 

PD James:

Read widely and with discrimination. Bad writing is contagious.

I use to feel like I had to finish every book I started or else I was a quitter. Now I realize that is not so. There are too many great books in this world to waste any time on the crappy ones. If it hasn’t hooked you in the first twenty pages, it’s probably never going to. Put it down and start something better. 

Will Self:

Always carry a notebook. And I mean always. The short-term memory only retains information for three minutes; unless it is committed to paper you can lose an idea for ever.

I always carry a notebook with me for many reasons. I get ideas that I will forget if I don’t write them down. I need to write grocery lists. I need to write reminders. Whatever the reason, a notebook is a necessity. 

Zadie Smith:

Work on a computer that is disconnected from the internet.

No one gets anything done when connected to the internet. Unless what they are trying to get done is updating their blog.

Sarah Waters:

Writing fiction is not “self- expression” or “therapy”. Novels are for readers, and writing them means the crafty, patient, selfless construction of effects. I think of my novels as being something like fairground rides: my job is to strap the reader into their car at the start of chapter one, then trundle and whizz them through scenes and surprises, on a carefully planned route, and at a finely engineered pace.

Write a good book, please. I don’t care at all about your stupid issues. 

Rose Tremain:

Listen to the criticisms and preferences of your trusted “first readers”.

I’ve edited a lot of stories for my friends. A lot of the time they just argue with me, which isn’t very useful to them or to me. You don’t have to follow my advice, but remember that I am a reader and that you are writing for readers, not yourself. Unless you are writing just so you may read it over and over in which case go ahead and ignore the suggestions of your peers. I would like to add to this one: don’t get mad at your first readers if they don’t like what you have written, grow a spine.