Good Writing

Once when I was having a stressful, hectic week, I grabbed one of the Harry Potter books on my way up to bed. My husband looked at me, "Harry Potter?"

 I said, "I have to go to Hogwarts for a while."

I read to be taken somewhere, to experience new things. A good writer can take story and writing and create something wonderful. A good story combined with good writing can transport the reader away from all immediate cares and deposit them in another world. And that is exactly what I need sometimes, to go someplace else for a while before coming back to deal with all of the day-to-day stuff again.

Writers have to keep this in mind. Work on the story, work on the writing, until it can take the reader away to someplace they want to be.

I think that with the new (relative) ease of self-publishing in the ebook format, some writers are a little too anxious to get their work out there. I've seen many 'indie' books that could have used a lot more work before the author hit the publish button. The story may have merit, but sometimes the writing brings it down. Usually it's the writing. I would caution all writers out there who are thinking of going the self-publish, or indie, route, to slow down. Hone your craft. Hone your work. Let it sit and come back to it, especially if it's your first piece.

Quality is worth the wait. Quality is worth the cutting and the rewriting. Did you know that Markus Zusak rewrote The Book Thief several times from different points of view until he hit upon writing it from Death's perspecive? Sometimes excellence takes lots of work. Don't be afraid of excellence.

And read, too, copius amounts. Then have the smarts to learn from what you read.