What Others are Saying about
Writer to Writer Reminders
Great writing tips from two very talented writers. Funny, smart, and incredibly useful, just the kind of help that keeps you writing even when it seems too damned hard. Buy it—you'll like it!"
—Shelley Singer, author of Blackjack and the Jake Samson and Barrett Lake mystery series, writing teacher and manuscript consultant.
Writer to Writer Reminders
Tickles, Tips and Tricks for Writers
By Jaqueline Girdner and Lynne Murray
Copyright 2004-07 Jaqueline Girdner and Lynne Murray
Smashwords Edition
Introduction
We are Jaqueline Girdner and Lynne Murray, two authors who met in a writer’s critique group, and have gone on to become friends. We have had a combined total of twenty-four novels published—seventeen for Jaki and seven for Lynne. Our writing methods are so different that it’s a constant reminder of how many ways there are to get words down on paper and tell a story.
We got the idea of calling ourselves the Tickle Sisters because one of us uses a tickle file, and both of us have discovered tips and tricks through the years to keep us writing. What is a tickle file? It’s simply a calendar with reminders on it to tickle the memory about appointments, plans and deadlines.
What is a tip, and what’s a trick? A tip is a bit of advice that we are sharing because it has proved useful. But a trick indicates hidden knowledge—a shortcut that may be invisible until it is pointed out.
So here are 52 plus one tickles, tips and tricks that we hope will be helpful to you in your writing journey!
Tip 1
Follow the rules of writing, but be prepared to break them.
(To break them correctly, you must understand the purpose of the rules.)
Ms. Amnesia: Omigod! There are rules?
Ms. Reminder: Oh, come on, you probably know the rules better than I do.
Ms. Amnesia: Um, could you mention one, just to remind me?
Ms. Reminder: Wait until the next Tip.
Ms. Amnesia: Uh-oh, it begins...
Tip 2
Put your writing high on your list of priorities.
Ms. Amnesia: List? Oh, never mind. I know I have one around here somewhere—some of us need to pin it to the wall so we can find it.
Ms. Reminder: Or write it on your hand. Ms. Amnesia: But what if I wash it off?
Ms. Reminder: Ha! Who has time to wash? We're too busy writing.
Tip 3
If you can't buy time, steal it.
Ms. Amnesia: Some years ago, I realized that I'd have to steal the time to write. Often, I really should be doing something else. But once I steal the time and write, I know I've used that time wisely.
Ms. Reminder: So that's a rule for you?
Ms. Amnesia: Rules don't work for me. Rebellion works for me.
Ms. Reminder: So rebellion rules?
Tip 4
If you write a page a day, at the end of a year you will have a book.
Ms. Amnesia: This was told to me by a fellow writer. I don't know where she heard it, but it has lingered in my mind. It doesn't work quite like that—at the end of a year of writing a page a day, you might have 365 pages of therapeutic complaining. But that is not a bad thing.
Ms. Reminder: So your rule is to write a page a day in a certain amount of time?
Ms. Amnesia: No, no, I'm Ms. Amnesia! I don't have rules. Some days it's a page, some days ten pages. But I try to write something. The point for me was that many small pieces can add up to a book.
Tip 5
Above everything else you should write the kind of novel that coincides with the kind of daydreams that are habitual with you. -
How to Write and Sell a Novel, by Jack Woodford
Ms. Amnesia: What are you daydreaming about?
Ms. Reminder: Killing someone, saving the world, finding true love.
Ms. Amnesia: You bloodthirsty little critter. What are you writing, anyway?
Ms. Reminder: It's a mystery to me.
Tip 6
Don't give up your day job. You're writing for love.
Ms. Amnesia: Ha, ha, ha! Give up my day job?
Ms. Reminder: Well, I've heard of people giving up day jobs. Maybe they were fired.
Ms. Amnesia: I resemble that remark.
Ms. Reminder: Hmm, there's a story there. (See next Tip, Prostitution.)
Tip 7
Writing is like prostitution: first you do it for fun, then for a few close friends, and finally for money.- Moliere
Ms. Amnesia: There it is again (not sex—money). Moliere had a very good point here, which is that writing starts with fun.
Ms. Reminder: If it doesn't continue to be fun for you, it won't be much fun for the client—um, reader—and it could be hazardous to your mental or physical health.
Ms. Amnesia: There are no condoms for the mind. Ms. Reminder: Hmm. I'm not so sure about that.
Ms. Amnesia: But it never hurts to sit down and ask what parts of writing are rewarding, and in what way—not to mention what effect your writing is having on your life.
Ms. Reminder: Hmm, condoms for the mind. Sounds like a science fiction story.
Ms. Amnesia: If you're off writing a science fiction story when you could be examining why you write, you've got a handle on the "being fun" part of it.
Tip 8
Don't let the prospect of marketing interfere with your creative urges.
Ms. Amnesia: Just the word "marketing" is paralyzing my ideas. Ms. Reminder: Once you've decided what you're going to write—write. Put the marketing guru back in the box.
Ms. Amnesia: But don't you have to at least look at what other people are writing?
Ms. Reminder: Let's talk about it in the next Tip.
Ms. Amnesia: Eeek! Suspense!
Tip 9
Reading the competition can be fun.
Ms. Amnesia: This is the part of writing that is more like a game or a competition. By the way, I hate games and competition.
Ms. Reminder: Would it help to think of it as a game of ideas or a dialog with other writers and readers?
Ms. Amnesia: You're right! That's what helps me when I look at the so-called competition.
Ms. Reminder: You have to stay in touch by reading or at least checking out what others are writing, or you may end up writing something that has already been done to death.
Ms. Amnesia: Sometimes that's what you NEED to write though.
Ms. Reminder: Then be sure to do it in a way that hasn't been done. You are an individual. You can write it in a different way. It could still work.
Tip 10
Publishing has its ups and downs. This doesn’t reflect on the worth of your writing. Don't let it discourage you.
Ms. Amnesia: I don't know who said, "writing is its own reward." But it is.
Ms. Reminder: If you actually enjoy writing for its own sake, nothing can take the enjoyment away from you.
Ms. Amnesia: How about copy editors?