I recently asked on my Facebook page what advice my fellow writers have for beginners. I got some great responses! Paraphrased by me, with credit given to the author who contributed the idea, here is what people offered.

I will put author names in quotes as their official Facebook page is named, so that you can do a quick an easy search to follow them, should you so desire.

“Author Thomas Emry” says the most important thing is to just keep writing, keep getting your ideas on the page. They don’t have to be perfect at first.

“Cathy Walker- Author” wishes she’d pinned down the genre she wanted to write, rather than having too many genres, and she wishes she’d started with a trilogy or a series. They are easier to market than a stand alone book. (I’ll concur that genre matters! One HUGE issue with my first unpublished novel is that is has no nameable genre. It’s almost historical fiction, but set in a made up world. But it’s not fantasy because there is no magic and no magical creatures at all. It has no home).

“Ria Mathews” wishes she had kept writing after high school–so keep at it, make a habit of it. Write regularly.

“WordCrafts Press” says the best advice they’ve come across is “writing your novel is like driving on ice. There are only two rules: get started, don’t stop. Everything else is guidelines.”

“Dave Bruns/author” warns that the beach house in Malibu is going to come from some other source. Writing isn’t likely to bring in any large income. (So write for other reasons.)

“Author Elizabeth Busch” shared that consistency of effort is key. Don’t get hung up on the concept of your muse or writing only when inspiration strikes. Writing is a craft, which means it is WORK. Be consistent!

“Mr. Macabre – Horror and Suspense” says “rewrite. Yes, the whole thing, mister.” And I agree that this can be an effective tool to getting a workable manuscript after a first draft!

“Dawn Weast Author” says that early drafts don’t have to be works of perfect genius. Editing is a normal thing people do.

“Murray’s Bookshelf” says “show don’t tell” can only take you so far (as we happened to have discussed in my last post on rules.)

“Desi Stowe, Author” says character development is more important than plot. One she had well developed characters, the plot came easily. The characters drove it because she knew what they would do next. (And I TOTALLY agree that character is king. This describes my own writing process pretty well.)

“Horror Mama” says she used to write with passion and think that it was finished. But now she knows that editing is important. That returning to a work to polish it is important. Always be willing to learn.

“Lindsay Trapp” says that get ideas down first and evaluate/edit later. There is a time in the process for everything.

“J P Andrew” says don’t worry about style. Just tell a story in the simplest, clearest language possible. (Indeed, no one likes pretentious, pedantic prose!)

“Cory Laniewski – Author” advises patience, especially during the editing process. There’s a lot of back and forth.

So, there you go! I hope this is helpful!