> Don’t force it. I’ve gone weeks without writing anything. It happens.
I'm a reasonably prolific author (six books, two of them have fourth editions coming out in the coming year, all published by O'Reilly). Aspiring writers ask me for advice pretty regularly. (I'm happy to share, if anyone's interested and has questions.) One thing I always tell people is to read Stephen King's "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft" -- people dismiss his work because he's a horror writer, but in my opinion he's one of the best writers of the past century. This book is full of excellent advice to writers, especially aspiring book writers. I found it valuable to my own work, even as an author of technical books.
Most of Batnick's advice in his post is excellent, but I strongly agree with the advice not to force it. This excerpt from "On Writing" sums it up better than I can:
> Once I start work on a project, I don’t stop and I don’t slow down unless I absolutely have to. If I don’t write every day, the characters begin to stale off in my mind—they begin to seem like characters instead of real people. The tale’s narrative cutting edge starts to rust and I begin to lose my hold on the story’s plot and pace. Worst of all, the excitement of spinning something new begins to fade. The work starts to feel like work, and for most writers that is the smooch of death. Writing is at its best—always, always, always—when it is a kind of inspired play for the writer. I can write in cold blood if I have to, but I like it best when it’s fresh and almost too hot to handle.
(King, Stephen. On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft (p. 153). Scribner. Kindle Edition.)
I recognize that feeling from my own work -- again, as a writer of non-fiction, technical books. I think it's an excellent model for anyone looking to write.
I generally have tried to follow the feedback of writing consistently, even if you don't feel like it. Stephen King mentions how he would allow him to just sit at his desk without writing if he wanted, but that he always would set aside the time and not do anything else.
I am currently reading Bird by Bird and it is mind blowing. I have also read On writing by Stephen King but I found that Bird by Bird has more content than on writing or perhaps that has something to do with the fact that On writing is his biography + stuff about writing.
- Try to think about what your reader is thinking. It's not enough just to technically have stated something. Make sure you say it in a way that's easy to digest.
- Video games need playtesting. In the same vein, books need reader testing, especially when you're first starting out. Get other people to read your work.
- Work with what you have, but work hard at it. Writing is a skill. I'm a pretty good musician, a pretty good writer, and a pretty good programmer. I happen to have talent for all of those things. But I also did a LOT of playing music, a LOT of writing, and a LOT of coding -- starting when I was very young (well before my teenage years) -- to turn those talents into skills. Every good writer has done the same.
- If you want to be published, get a feel for how the actual publishing industry works; editors are people, they have jobs, make their jobs easier.
- Write, write, write. Then write some more.
And I think Jeremy Gibson Bond had some very useful advice about writing video games for either fortune or fame in his excellent book, "Introduction to Game Design, Prototyping, and Development":
> Designer-Centric Goals
>
> As a game designer and developer, there are some goals for your life that you hope the games you make might help you achieve.
>
> Fortune
> My friend John “Chow” Chowanec has been in the game industry for years. The first time I met him, he gave me some advice about making money in the game industry. He said “You can literally make hundreds of...dollars in the game industry.”
...
> Fame
> I’ll be honest: Very, very few people become famous for game design. Becoming a game designer because you want to be famous is a little like becoming a special effects artist in film because you want to be famous. Usually with games, even if millions of people see your work, very few will know who you are.
(Gibson Bond, Jeremy. Introduction to Game Design, Prototyping, and Development: From Concept to Playable Game with Unity and C# (p. 107). Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.)
If you want to get rich and/or famous, don't go into writing. Make sure you know your own personal goals. If you want to shoot for the stars, that's great -- just make sure you know what you want.
> Don’t force it. I’ve gone weeks without writing anything. It happens.
I'm a reasonably prolific author (six books, two of them have fourth editions coming out in the coming year, all published by O'Reilly). Aspiring writers ask me for advice pretty regularly. (I'm happy to share, if anyone's interested and has questions.) One thing I always tell people is to read Stephen King's "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft" -- people dismiss his work because he's a horror writer, but in my opinion he's one of the best writers of the past century. This book is full of excellent advice to writers, especially aspiring book writers. I found it valuable to my own work, even as an author of technical books.
Most of Batnick's advice in his post is excellent, but I strongly agree with the advice not to force it. This excerpt from "On Writing" sums it up better than I can:
> Once I start work on a project, I don’t stop and I don’t slow down unless I absolutely have to. If I don’t write every day, the characters begin to stale off in my mind—they begin to seem like characters instead of real people. The tale’s narrative cutting edge starts to rust and I begin to lose my hold on the story’s plot and pace. Worst of all, the excitement of spinning something new begins to fade. The work starts to feel like work, and for most writers that is the smooch of death. Writing is at its best—always, always, always—when it is a kind of inspired play for the writer. I can write in cold blood if I have to, but I like it best when it’s fresh and almost too hot to handle.
(King, Stephen. On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft (p. 153). Scribner. Kindle Edition.)
I recognize that feeling from my own work -- again, as a writer of non-fiction, technical books. I think it's an excellent model for anyone looking to write.