Thoughts on Writing...

yeah. it's been a long time... >.> I've been hard at work on editing my first book, though, so blogging is incredibly low on the ol' priorities list. However, I sent out an email on the subject of writing and thought I'd post it here, since I have a couple/several "followers" here who write. Hope this is an encouragement to all of you... :)

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don't wanna lecture, but I was talking a fellow writer through a certain part in his story last night. At first glance, it looked like he needed to fix something. However, when he talked me THROUGH all the details of the situation, etc, I realized that it was pretty much fine.

BUT... that's not the first time it's happened. I know the flip situation has happened to me several times, and I've experienced it with several authors. And last night just made me think about this, so thought I'd remind everyone of probably THE most important rule of writing:

~Write for the Reader~

If you need to EXPLAIN something to a friend/editor when they point something out as wrong, it probably means you didn't explain it well enough in your book. Or your editor is just plain dumb... which, I know, is a common idea among we imperfect authors, but you have to realize that your editor is PROBABLY smarter/more story-savvy than most of your readers will be.

Always, always, ALWAYS keep the reader in mind when you write. What have you TOLD them? What HAVEN'T you told them? What can they be expected to have guessed from any hints? What will they NEED to know in order to follow you and enjoy your work?

When editing (my own work included), I find that this is probably THE no1 problem of budding writers. They- WE- get so caught up in our stories that we forget who we're writing it for!! We're not (or should I say, we SHOULDN'T be) writing for OURSELVES! Heck, the story's already in our HEADS. We write to be READ, to be ENJOYED and, hopefully, to ENCOURAGE (and/or convict, when necessary).

Always write for the Reader. I shall say it again. Pretend you are a slave and the Reader is your Master, if you must. But WRITE FOR THE READER. There, think I've stressed it enough?

Disclaimer: I'm not perfect. I'm not even published. *grin* Do as I say not as I do (though I try to follow the advice I hand out ;). To those of you who's stories I'm reading/editing, I shall do my best to point this out to you, but I think if we ALL just write with this principle in mind... if we can just get it hammered into our stubborn, hyper-creative little brains, I think we could ALL be capable of the Trophy of Publishment (wasn't a word before? too bad. it is now. *grin*) The trick is getting it hammered in there. And it's not always easy in practice, but it's doable. Definitely doable. =)

So. Charge out into your various worlds. Save the day. Write words. Be the Omniscient, Sovereign Presence over your Dominion. But write for the Reader. You may be the Master in your StoryWorld, but the Reader is YOUR Master in the PublishingWorld. *grin*

May your pages overflow with publishable material!
mE