Guest Post: Writing Advice

[sfwa_admin]

by Helena Bell.


Dear Potential Writer,

My [neighbor, parent, co-worker, grocery store check-out person] told me that you are working on a novel and could use some advice. Because I am a [very famous, little famous, not at all famous, my own mother can’t remember my name] writer, they asked me.

Maybe your novel is finished, and you want someone to read it and tell you whether it’s any good. Maybe you’re almost done, but not sure whether it’s worth the effort. Or maybe you just have an idea and want me to write the novel for you for a ½ share of the profits. Whatever the case, there’s a limit as to what I can do for you. It’s not because I don’t like you, your novel, or your idea. It’s not because I am too busy signing autographs. And it’s not because I am jealous of your talent and want to eliminate my potential competition. It’s because it’s for your own good.

A lot of other writers, better writers than I am, have answered this question before: glibly, honestly, intelligently. They use comparisons to plumbers, lawyers, and other professions for whom you would never think of asking for free advice. I’ve read these responses and passed them on to my writer friends because when we read them we sigh and say, ‘Yes, that is it exactly.’ But that’s not what you want or need to hear right now. You want the sufficient and necessary conditions to publication. You want to make sure you don’t make a fool out of yourself through ignorance of the rules of etiquette. You don’t want to spend ten years doing X, when it turns out you should have been doing Y.

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