Learn To Write Before You Publish
August 9, 2011 
10 Comments
This past weekend I bought a book by Micheal Hicks, another author who is making it big in the e-publishing world. It would appear, based on his sales, that he will soon hit the realm of John Locke and Amanda Hocking. I won’t get into all the details of the book, except to say that it gives an overview of what he did to build his sales. Although I felt the book was elementary in terms of advice, I thought Hicks made a few very interesting points that I’d like to comment on.
Do Self-Published Books Suck?
Suck. That’s the word Hicks uses. And his conclusion is that most self-published books do suck. I have to agree with him. I get asked to review books by self-published authors and the majority of them are not written very well. The books have typos, spelling errors, and grammar mistakes. Not only that, the writing has no life to it. The words are bland; so the story, no matter how great, is a bland read. In future posts, I am going to explore the issue of good writing in more detail. But back to Hicks…
Your Manuscript Is Complete – What Next?
This is where a huge number of indie authors make their first mistake. As Hicks says, and I would agree, you type the end and what do you do? Publish, of course! Which is exactly the wrong thing to do. You need to edit your manuscript. I personally recommend using someone who can edit for content, letting you know where your story lags, or doesn’t make
sense. But you also need an editor who looks at spelling, grammar and so on. In my case, I have two different people who perform these tasks for me. You, the author, do yourself and the rest of the indie community a disservice by not putting out the best possible product you can. And there’s one thing that prevents this. Your…
Ego
It hurts to have someone say your writing sucks. But unless you have taken the time to learn your craft, and hone it over months and years, your writing probably does suck. Maybe not as much as that other author, you’re saying, but it takes time to learn to write well. It takes time to learn how to make a story flow, and to grab a reader’s attention. The best thing you can do for yourself is to set your ego aside and listen to the criticism, and learn from it. If you do, your writing will improve. Find people who will give you an honest opinion and listen to them.
Learn Your Craft
Writing well is a process. The overnight success spent hours and days behind the scenes, honing their craft. if you don’t believe me, read what successful authors say. Most will talk about the long hours early in the morning, or late at night after the kids were in bed, writing and rewriting (Stephen King talks about this in his excellent book, On Writing). Some of the best advice I received early on was to study the books that you enjoyed reading. See how the author constructed sentences and scenes. Read books on the writing craft.
One Final Thought
As I read Hicks’ book, what struck me was that he would even have to point out these types of issues. This is where e-publishing is failing authors. In the days where the only way you would get a book published was to query agents or publishers, you had to write something well, or you would never get past the form rejection letter. Then, if you really wanted your dream of getting published to come true, you had to learn to write better. Now, there’s nothing forcing an author to hone their skills, or to edit their manuscripts. Maybe a few voices harping on the issue will turn the tide.
Your Turn.
What is your one, single most important tip you can give a writer wanting to publish.
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Twitter: reneepawlish
October 24, 2011 at 11:33 AM
Yes. It’s critical for authors and anyone in business for their essays, promo pieces, website and so on to look completely professional, so it’s worth hiring out if you can’t do it yourself. Thanks for the comment.
Twitter: reneepawlish
October 23, 2011 at 7:15 PM
Absolutely agree. I am still amazed what a good editor can do. I just got the manuscript for my next Reed Ferguson mystery from the editor and she catches little things that make the story pop. Thanks for commenting.
I’ll be the first to admit…sometimes my writing does suck.
It all depends on how much coffee I drink…LOL
But seriously, if you want to improve your writing skills, read old books.
Mark
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August 10, 2011 at 3:45 PM
Yes, you have to study how others are doing it. It’s also good to attend some conferences and sit with authors and learn from them that way.
Thanks for the comment!
Writing is not my most powerful side, most of the time I check with friends or just give an article to colleagues to check what they thing. May be a basic rule for me is to read what I have write on the next day and correct it.
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August 10, 2011 at 3:46 PM
Absolutely true. Stepping away from what you wrote and coming back with fresh eyes is always a good idea. Thanks for the comment!
Twitter: reneepawlish
August 9, 2011 at 12:16 PM
Great points! I actually do set my writing away and come back later, glad you pointed that out. And I hadn’t heard about that piece of piracy – wow, something to watch out for!
Maybe the reason most self-published books are boring is because their authors are just dull…
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August 9, 2011 at 12:18 PM
That’s funny…
I completely agree with you: step one is honing your writing! Just tweeted about it! Unfortunately, for most people, it’s not fun (I’m lucky: I’m one of the few who really enjoys editing – the writing part reduces me to a shivering mass of anxiety!)but it’s absolutely necessary.
Haven’t read Hicks but went through Stephen King’s On Writing: great book, that one!
The only tip I would add to what you said is this: after you’re done with your first draft, PUT IT AWAY for at least 2 weeks! Forget it! Because you need to come back to it with a fresh eye to actually start doing some effective editing.
The other aspect of e-publishing that is extremely worrisome is the ease with which pirates can steal books, re-mix them and post them on Amazon’s Kindle, inter alia, and make money at the expense of poor writers, unaware that they’ve been bilged!
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