Writing Tip Of The Week
UPDATES:
At this stage, I’m going to assume most of you know Queensland is flooded. The area of flooding is larger than France and Germany combined-dozens are dead and the number of homes inundated with water is over 25, 000-last time I checked. There is more flooding in other states as well-and bushfires claiming homes on the other side of the country.
Where I am, in Cairns, we have no flooding. We are, however, completely cut off from the rest of the country. In fact, most coastal places north of Brisbane are not getting basic supplies and in Cairns there have been shortages of things like bread since Christmas. I am fine-we have supplies and we are in no danger of being flooded.
My 26th birthday was on the 12th. It was a lovely day, despite obsessive checking of the news and flood updates. I was secretly hoping I would get word from my agent, Sarah Twombly, on my birthday about publishers-but I still haven’t heard anything. The waiting causes physical pain, people.
WRITING TIP OF THE WEEK:
- Beware of what you put online.
Writers often want feedback on their writing and the internet is a fantastic resource for this. It’s also a place where people can share opinions, express themselves and explore new elements with relative safety. However once something is on the internet, it’s pretty much forever.
Some people, when seeking feedback, will post their entire novel online-on their journal or some other website, only to find copies of that early draft still cropping up years after they thought they deleted it. I have had writers tell me something became impossible to sell because it had already been seen online by every man and his dog, and there are often rumours of manuscripts being stolen and plagiarized after becoming available online.
These are not the only problems a writer can run into online. Having a webpage or blog that is dedicated to some alternative cultures may scare a publisher away. It’s not wise to advertise your swingers club if you want to write children’s books, for example. And just like recent problems with employees/employers and controversial facebook photos, drunken puke shots can hurt your reputation. As can rants, tirades and heat-of-the-moment retaliation to bad reviews or trolls.
How we chose to conduct ourselves online is personal and our own business-but much of the time it is still a public place and my personal guidelines are as follows:
1. If someone hurts my feelings or makes me mad, I wait at least two hours before responding. Preferably 24. Likewise, even minor updates are sat on for two hours, just so I can make sure those ‘hilarious’ jokes are still funny after the moment has passed.
2. I never post a full work online. Even when I am emailing people work for feedback-there is only one person in my life who gets full novels. My rule of thumb is no more than 10% in public and no more than 50% to friends or critiquers. This would probably be impossible with short stories, but I don’t write short stories.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
- What was the best book you read in 2010?
Tell me in the comments.
For more writing tips, please check my tutorial’s page.