What advice do you wish you had received when you first started your literary career?
And book genres most in demand
What advice would have benefited you? For me, I wish I’d pushed myself much harder. Unfortunately, the first creative writing class I took, while very high quality, was part of the notorious Endless Rewrite Contingent and it took a while to break out of that self-absorbed habit. Instead of being so inward looking, it pays to keep your eye on writing stuff that will be truly useful/enjoyable to others, and getting major works out the door (published) asap, not just articles. We don’t have forever here!
Best advice: write a book as soon as possible. This is the best way to boost your literary career.
How? #1 best-selling author Margarete Buber-Neumann, wife of the head of the Communist Party of Germany on the eve of WWII, gives the best advice I’ve ever heard on how to write a book. It’s advice given to her by best friend in Ravensbruk Concentration Camp while they were political prisoners there.
Milena Jesenká, former Czech newspaper columnist and Kafka’s muse, told Ms. Buber-Neumann that she must write a book after the war. But with absolutely no literary experience, even though she was well educated and fluent in several languages, she was at a total loss for how to write a book. Ms. Jesenká replied, and I’m going from memory here: it’s easy, just jot down notes when you think of something you want to include in the book and collect all the pieces of paper in a shoe box. Then when you have enough ideas, open the shoe box and start writing about each idea, one after another. She did exactly that and the result was two best-selling books including Milena: The Tragic Story of Kafka's Great Love.
Here is what others have said:
”When I decided to make writing, specifically poetry, my life's work, Chicanas weren't published. It was critical personally and politically to create that path. I'd advise anyone taking an untracked but necessary path, always love yourself, work on that first. That will lead you and carry you through to meet your goals.” -Ana Castillo, author of Dona Cleanwell Leaves Home
I got support both personally via therapy and body healing modalities and also from other writers. I joined writer’s groups, went to conferences, read books, and attended an MFA program as well. But the most important thing is to find and nurture your community. Find your way into belonging, into feeling loved and supported, and knowing your sacredness.
These days, my advice goes even further. The most important thing for me now is to protect my joy. I focus on this every day. I still track what the world is doing and add my voice to fighting for human rights, but I also make my daily joy a priority. “Protect your joy,” is my best advice. And keep writing. Some projects, like mine, take decades to come to completion. Writing takes the time it takes. -Leslie Absher, author of Spy Daughter, Queer Girl
“The first 20K was a drudge because I needed it to be good the first time through, but after I let go it was so much easier to edit. Not easy, but easier. Once you have a bird's-eye view you can see what needs to be adjusted.” -FuriousNik
“Just keep going, son, you can do it!”
Genres Most In Demand Thus Far, 2024
Which genres are most in demand this year by agents and publishers? Drum roll, please…
Thanks for sharing your valuable experience. I should clarify that a book, even if self-published, can boost the careers of journalists, editors, artists, professional people, and writers of all stripes.
In general, screenplays are usually the hardest to sell by far. Fiction is a bit easier but still very hard to sell with some exceptions (romance, fan fiction). Non-fiction is generally easier, and how-to books (including cookbooks, fitness, dieting, hobbies, education, parenting) tend to be the easiest to sell.
I've been writing books and screenplays for over fifty years and have managed to sell one - ONE - project (a screenplay to an Oscar-winning director).
The advice I wish I'd gotten was this: finishing a writing project is not the end of the project. SELLING it is the next huge (almost insurmountable) hurdle.
I don't mean this as pessimistic or defeatist message, but rather as realistic advice based on my own experiences. Most of my writing projects involved a year or two or research and writing and rewriting, and I am quite proud of much of my output. But it was all for nothing if I can't get a publisher or director to read it. I'm not satisfied with just saying, well, I wrote a great book and good for me - I want it out there, on shelves, I want people to read it and be affected by it.
So now, even at this late date (I'm 76) I give a lot more thought into the selling of the book - will there be a market for it?
I know that many will say just write your own story, forget about trying to meet others' expectations. Sure, good writing advice, but if you want others to read it, then you have to think about pitching and selling your work.
This is probably an unexpected or even unwelcome comment, but I want to get my books out into the world, and typing The End of my book doesn't get it out into the world.
I've got shelves full of How-to-Write-a-Screenplay books, but among them there are only 1 or 2 called How-to-Sell-a-Screenplay. And that's how I got to sell my screenplay.
So what I'm saying is, before I start a project I give a whole lot of thought to how it will (or won't) be received, is there a contemporary market for this project, which publishers will be interested, etc etc
I wish someone had told me from the start that writing a book isn't enough in and of itself; you have to pitch and sell it, and that's an art in itself.