What are specific things (choices, techniques, etc) successful published novel writers do and don't do?
I'm looking for a list of the basics that successful published novel writers actually do. This list would also include specific things which they do not do.
For example, I don't believe any successful published author actually asks her relatives (or other amateurs) for advice on her writing.
Why Wouldn't Successful Published Authors Ask For Advice?
Actually, the reason that successful published authors do not ask for advice about how good or bad their writing might be is because the people around them are probably not great writers themselves and would not have much to add.
Is This Difficult to Accept?
If this is difficult to accept then consider Hemingway asking his relatives if they believed his draft of The Old Man and the Sea was any good. Ridiculous.
Okay, so how about modern successful published authors? How about Ken Follet (Pillars of the Earth series - A Column of Fire) asking his wife, "Honey, do you think this draft is any good? Should I be a writer?" It probably never happened.
How about Sue Grafton ( mystery writer of Kinsey Millhone fame Y Is For Yesterday)? Can you imagine her changing her words because her nephew said he thought the writing didn't do a good job of characterizing her villain. No.
So, in this case, we can probably take away some knowledge that successful published authors do not ask amateurs if their writing is good.
The Inverse of Asking If Their Writing Is Good
Actually, this probably indicates another thing about successful published authors. They can tell when their writing is good on their own.
So let's start the list with those two.
- Successful published authors do not ask amateurs for advice about how good their writing is.
- Successful published authors can tell their writing is good on their own.
Can you offer other specific items like these?
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1 answer
You are simply wrong about that, and trying to answer your own question!
Stephen King has written, in his book On Writing, that his wife reads every finished page he gives her and critiques it, and if she doesn't like it he rewrites it.
if your relatives and friends are readers of the type of stuff you write, they are your audience. If you have a relationship with them in which they will tell you the truth of their reaction, and take your writing career seriously and want you to succeed more than they want to not offend you, then they can be useful to you.
The second item on your list must be wrong, too: Stephen King wouldn't give his wife something he thinks needs work. Yet he will change it if she things it is bad. So even he cannot be certain if what he wrote is "good."
That means both of the "first two" things on your list are incorrect.
I'd offer Stephen King's advice, which you can buy for yourself. Write every day whether you feel like it or not. Read other writers and find the passages you love, and figure out why you love them and how they managed to have an impact. Because if you can see that, you might be able to do it, too.
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