Thoughts on writing

You have to seperate writing (art) from the business of writing (marketing).

If you don’t know what’s going on around you, it’s hard to work out what’s going on inside you.

I dislike this term - I’m an author no matter how many books I sell. Bram Stoker died before Dracula sold hardly any copies.

Just write! Worry about editing later.

Never drink alone. Never drink and write.

Read and listen - you already know what you think.

Don’t become a prisoner of your own experience. Read, listen, research.

Don’t wait until you’re ready to start writing, start yesterday.

Don’t wait until you know enough to start writing. You’ll never get there: you’re already there.

If you read something that makes you jealous of the writer, steal the best bits and carry on writing.

Acceptance that rejection letters/emails are your own fault.

Shut all apps and turn off devices when you’re writing. They’re designed to distract, annoy and pester.

When you’re writing, motion is always progress

Write about what interests you, not what you hope is selling.

Respect other people’s skills. It’s unlikely you’re a writer, copy-editor, proof-reader, designer and marketer.

It’s possible to be too clever.

The capacity to accept that you’re more likely to be famous after your dead (see Bram Stoker).

The ability to genuinely smile when an email from a publisher arrives.

You have to enjoy writing, not only publishing. Most effort/time goes in to writing.

You can’t change the past: you can only influence the future.

Exist by making money. Most exist to make money.

If you listen to them, the world will never change.

You don’t need to know what an adverb is to use them.

Write them down. They’re like dreams, impossible to grasp later.

A writer who is not working on a story will soon be drinking

You determine whether you are a writer, not publishers or agents. Art can never be judged in $.

It’s not advisable to publish your first novel first. Give it time to breathe.

Writers like to write but most are forced to market as well

Stop when you are on a roll, not when you have writers block. It’s easier to restart and your mind churns away in excitement.