{"id":176,"date":"2012-08-15T07:00:06","date_gmt":"2012-08-15T12:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rssharkey.com\/blog\/?p=176"},"modified":"2012-08-15T23:38:34","modified_gmt":"2012-08-16T04:38:34","slug":"25-things-writers-need-to-stop-doing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rssharkey.com\/blog\/?p=176","title":{"rendered":"25 Things Writers Need to STOP Doing"},"content":{"rendered":"

About a month ago I found this list<\/a>. If you’ve already clicked the link and scrolled into the article, you may have noticed the author’s freedom in using profanity (that is, if you didn’t notice his warning at the top of the post). I’m no fan of swearing, but I found his list had a great many good points I wanted to share. Thus the idea to create a more “family-friendly” version of his list was born. I took his 25 main points, with a few short lines that supported them well, and created 25 letter-sized “posters” of his\u00c2\u00a025 Things Writers Need STOP Doing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Some of you may simply be pleased that I’m finally sharing some of my artwork, but I really encourage you to read them all. Almost all of the points can be applied to more than just writing…<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop running from your story\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u00c2\u00a0If you want it,<\/p>\n

you have to pursue it,<\/p>\n

it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work the other way around.<\/p>\n

Pick a story and work towards finishing that story.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop stopping<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Momentum is everything.<\/p>\n

Cut the brake lines.<\/p>\n

Careen wildly and unsteadily toward your goal.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop writing in someone<\/strong><\/h3>\n

else’s voice\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

You have a voice.<\/p>\n

Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t try to write in somebody else\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voice.<\/p>\n

Yes,<\/p>\n

okay,<\/p>\n

maybe you do this in the beginning.<\/p>\n

But strive past it. Stretch your muscles. Find your voice.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop worrying\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It does nothing.<\/p>\n

You recognize a roadblock and arrange a path around it<\/p>\n

you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t chew your fingernails bloody worrying about it.<\/p>\n

Shut up.<\/p>\n

Calm down.<\/p>\n

Keep going.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop rushing it\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The rise of self-publishing has seen<\/p>\n

a comparative surge forward in\u00c2\u00a0quantity<\/em><\/p>\n

but not quality<\/em>. ‘<\/p>\n

Give your stories and your career<\/p>\n

the time and patience it needs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop waiting around\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Life rewards action,<\/p>\n

not inertia.<\/p>\n

To reap the rewards of the future,<\/p>\n

you must take action in the present.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop thinking it should<\/strong><\/h3>\n

be easier<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not going to get any easier,<\/p>\n

and why should it?<\/p>\n

Anything\u00c2\u00a0truly<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0worth doing requires hard work.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop deprioritizing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

your writing\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t put it at the bottom of your to-do list.<\/p>\n

You know you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a writer because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just what you do,<\/p>\n

but rather, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s who you are.<\/p>\n

So why deprioritize that thing which forms<\/p>\n

part of your very identity?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0stop treating your body<\/strong><\/h3>\n

like a dumpster<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u00c2\u00a0The mind is the writer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best weapon.<\/p>\n

It is equal parts bullwhip, sniper rifle, and stiletto.<\/p>\n

Stop bloating your body with awfulness.<\/p>\n

Eat well.<\/p>\n

Exercise.<\/p>\n

Elsewise you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll find your bullwhip\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tied in knots,<\/p>\n

your stiletto\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so dull it couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t cut<\/p>\n

through a glob of canned pumpkin,<\/p>\n

and someone left peanut-butter-and-jelly<\/p>\n

in the barrel of your sniper rifle.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop moping and whining<\/h3>\n

Complaining<\/p>\n

like worry, like regret,<\/p>\n

like that little knob on the toaster that tells you<\/p>\n

it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll make the toast darker<\/p>\n

does nothing.<\/p>\n

Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like something? Fix it or forgive it.<\/p>\n

And move on to the next thing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop blaming everyone else<\/strong><\/h3>\n

You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to own your successes,<\/p>\n

and that means you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re also going to need to own your errors.<\/p>\n

Yes,<\/p>\n

sometimes external factors will step in your way,<\/p>\n

but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s up to\u00c2\u00a0you<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0how to react.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop being ashamed<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Writers are often ashamed at who they are and what they do.<\/p>\n

Other people are out there<\/p>\n

fighting wars\u00c2\u00a0and fixing cars<\/p>\n

while we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re, sitting around in our footy-pajamas,<\/p>\n

writing about vampires and unicorns,<\/p>\n

about broken hearts and shattered jaws.<\/p>\n

Craft counts.<\/p>\n

Art matters.<\/p>\n

Stories are important.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop lamenting your mistakes<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t dwell.<\/p>\n

Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sing lamentations to your errors.<\/p>\n

Repeat after me:<\/p>\n

learn and move on.<\/p>\n

Very few mistakes will haunt you till your end of days<\/p>\n

unless you\u00c2\u00a0let it\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>haunt you.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop playing it safe<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time to start taking some risks<\/p>\n

both in your career and in your storytelling.<\/p>\n

Throw open the doors.<\/p>\n

Kick down the walls of your uncomfortable box.<\/p>\n

Carpet-bomb the Comfort Zone<\/p>\n

so that none other may dwell there.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop trying to control what<\/strong><\/h3>\n

you know you can’t<\/strong><\/h3>\n

All that out there?<\/p>\n

All the industry and the reviews<\/p>\n

and the Amazonian business practices?<\/p>\n

The economy?<\/p>\n

The readers?<\/p>\n

You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t control any of that.<\/p>\n

Control what you can,<\/p>\n

which is<\/p>\n

your writing and the management of your career.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop doing just one thing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Diversity of form,\u00c2\u00a0format and genre<\/p>\n

will help ensure you stay alive in the coming<\/p>\n

entirely-made-up Pubpocalypse.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop writing for The Market<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Market is an unknowable entity<\/p>\n

based on sales trends and educated guess-work<\/p>\n

and some kind of publishing haruspicy.<\/p>\n

Writing a novel takes long enough that<\/p>\n

writing for the market<\/p>\n

is a doomed mission.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop chasing trends<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Set the trends.<\/p>\n

Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t chase them like a dog chasing a Buick.<\/p>\n

Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be a knock-off purse,<\/p>\n

a serial killer copycat,<\/p>\n

or just another fantasy echo of Tolkien.<\/p>\n

Do your own thing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop caring about what<\/strong><\/h3>\n

other authors are doing<\/strong><\/h3>\n

They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to do what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to do.<\/p>\n

You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not them.<\/p>\n

You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to be them and they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to be you.<\/p>\n

Why do what everyone else is doing?<\/p>\n

Let me reiterate:<\/p>\n

do your own thing<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop caring so much about<\/strong><\/h3>\n

the publishing industry<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Know the industry,<\/p>\n

but don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be overwhelmed by it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop listening to what<\/strong><\/h3>\n

others say won’t sell<\/strong><\/h3>\n

You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll always find someone<\/p>\n

to tell you what you\u00c2\u00a0can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0do.<\/p>\n

What you\u00c2\u00a0shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>do.<\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s your job as a writer to prove them wrong.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop overpromising<\/strong><\/h3>\n

and overshooting<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t overreach.<\/p>\n

Concentrate on what you can complete.<\/p>\n

Temper risk with reality.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop leaving yourself<\/strong><\/h3>\n

out of the story<\/strong><\/h3>\n

You are your stories and your stories are you.<\/p>\n

Who you are matters.<\/p>\n

Your experiences and feelings and opinions count.<\/p>\n

Put yourself on every page:<\/p>\n

a smear of heartsblood.<\/p>\n

If we cannot connect with our own stories,<\/p>\n

how can we expect anybody else to find that connection?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop dreaming<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Start doing.<\/p>\n

Dreams are intangible and uncertain looks into the future.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time to wake up.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

stop being afraid<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Fear will kill you dead.<\/p>\n

You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve nothing to be afraid of<\/p>\n

that a little preparation and pragmatism cannot kill.<\/p>\n

Everybody who wanted to be a writer<\/p>\n

and didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t become one<\/p>\n

failed based on one of two critical reasons:<\/p>\n

one,<\/p>\n

they were lazy,<\/p>\n

or two,<\/p>\n

they were afraid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About a month ago I found this list. If you’ve already clicked the link and scrolled into the article, you may have noticed the author’s freedom in using profanity (that is, if you didn’t notice his warning at the top of the post). I’m no fan of swearing, but I found his list had a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,5],"tags":[111,41,64,16,82,15],"class_list":["post-176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-writing-in-general","tag-111","tag-art-2","tag-book","tag-lists","tag-tips","tag-writing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rssharkey.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rssharkey.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rssharkey.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rssharkey.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rssharkey.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rssharkey.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rssharkey.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rssharkey.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rssharkey.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}