Linda Joy Myers
- Write frequent vignettes—small do-able pieces.
- Use the timeline to organize your memories and stories.
- Find the dark and light in each story as well as identify stories that are primarily dark or light.
- For healing: Write the truth without editing
- Don’t listen to the critic
- Work with the critic: write down what it says and answer back
- Keep writing private from family, even some friends.
- Use your writing group to help support your creative vision.
- “Pre-writing”, journaling, free-writing even for 10 minutes a day or twice a week keeps the writing process alive.
- Write a first draft all the way through without much tinkering.
- Get inspiration from photos.
- Gather genealogical information. Research the accurate details of place to gain verisimilitude.
- Use scenes to show action, put the reader in place and time; dialogue shows charter and place. After your second draft have a professional read your book
- Hire a copy editor to smooth out your text before sending it out.
- Learn the pros and cons of self-publishing, small presses, and the larger publishing world.
- Write a synopsis—a one-page summary of your whole book. Write several.
- Write query letters—learn what the pros want.
- Read everything—fiction, poetry, non-fiction, memoir. Learn about structure, style, voice and how others do what you are doing.
- Attend author readings and events at bookstores once a month.
- Go to conferences. Learn about the professional issues in publishing—agents, editors, query letters etc.
- Consult Writer’s Market Online, Guide to Literary Agents, Writer’s Digest.
- Surf the web for writer’s sites.
- Love words, images, stories. Keep writing!
