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I'd like to offer some suggestions for newbie writers who are essentially just picking up the quill...

I recommend that you approach your writing from a professional standpoint and perspective.

What do I mean? I mean that you should write as if your new story or book or essay were going to be published and will become a NYT bestseller, with lots of great publicity and a generous contract.

Now, of course, if all you're writing is a blog or a "dear diary" then you can forget this. If your writing is meant only for yourself and a few close friends, then okay, don't concern yourself about spelling or grammar or good composition. Just write the info and email it to those half dozen pals or save it in a desk drawer or copied to a thumbdrive. Because it doesn't really matter if the writing is rough and there are errors.

But if you're instead writing for publication, even if it's self publication, you should, I believe, approach your writing as if you're a famous novelist with a large base of fans who are eagerly awaiting your next story. And of course your publisher has just sent you an advance check for $50,000.

Why? Because even if you self publish or your story or novel is picked up by a small conventional publisher for a very teeny advance and modest royalties, if you write as if you're a top rated novelist, you will be persuaded to work hard to ensure that your writing is the best possible, that it's free from any mechanical errors, that every word and phrase and sentence is carefully crafted, and that every page glistens with superb writing.

It's the attitude toward professionalism that matters, I think. And if you maintain that objective and vision, your writing will improve vastly.

Your thoughts on this?

I agree with what you have said, moderntimes. When I first "wrote" my book a few years back, I wasn't really thinking big time publishing and maybe not even publishing at all. Now all I can think about is the opposite. Thinking this way helps me to reflect on the books that have made the New York Times Bestsellers list, and what made these books good enough? Then, I go back to a page or so of my own piece, and I rethink about what I previously wrote.

I am in the second editing phase and find myself really trying to see how can I make my book good enough that people would want to read it. How can I appeal to a publishing company that will read past the first chapter or so?

I feel I have improved thus far, but still have more room to grow. However, I feel every little improvement helps to reach my goal .

Good topic!

Agreed. The point I want to make is that writers don't have to actually try to sell their material professionally. It's only that writing with that direction in mind helps create a better "product".

This is only common sense. I also read lots of major line mysteries (I review them for a website plus I'm a big mystery fan). And I try to learn from the best, about how to structure a story line, how to manage pace and rhythm, how to better make the dialogue interesting, all sorts of small tweaks which are helpful.

We don't want to copy famous writers, but we can certainly learn from them.

Very insightful! I agree we don't want to copy from famous authors, but learn from them.

Thank you for your thoughts​. It definitely helps to have somewhere to go and talk about writing sometimes to keep the goal in mind .

Always glad to share my thoughts or writing and literature in general.

moderntimes wrote:Always glad to share my thoughts or writing and literature in general.