How to become a great writer in ten minutes
There’s a lot of people out there who wants to write fiction, either as full-fledged novels or short stories, for a living. Or maybe just on their free time, but they want to get it read, get it published. Some are satisfied with putting their work on the Internet, which is fine of course, but most want their magical words put on a page, in a book, that you buy in a bookstore.
When I think about it, the same goes for most journalists. The web’s fine for starters, but most of them dream about a staff position at a print magazine… But I digress.
Do you know who Stephen King is? You know, the horror writer (well, not only horror but he’s probably most known for his nightly work) that delivers a new brick-sized bestselling monster rather frequently? I’m not a big Stephen King fan, although there’s no denying his talent. His best work is, in my opinion, his short stories but that’s another matter.
I got linked up to an article Stephen King published 1988 in a magazine called The Writer’s Handbook. Or maybe it’s a book, I don’t know for sure and actually don’t really care. Something that comes out more than ones at least, I figured as much from the article.
Anyway, the article is titled Everything you need to know about writing successfully – in ten minutes, which is a rather cocky title. The good blogger Mike Shea has published it on his site and you really should check it out if you’re an aspiring novelist, journalist or just a happy interested amateur. He has his points, good old Mr. King, and the article just takes fifteen minutes or so to read in full.
The article starts out with an anecdote which you may or may not be interested in, but glance it for the big picture’s sake. The real content, the part which tells you how to become a great writer in ten minutes (and that’s ten minutes to read, a lifetime to master, mind you) is composed of twelve good pieces of advice. It’s quite clear the advice comes from a professional, which just gives it all the more effect doesn’t it?
It feels absolutely right to post this link now, since I intend to reveal my own plans and projects over the next couple of weeks.