Happy National Novel Writing Month! Or as Twitter likes to call it, #NaNoWriMo. The project began in 1991 to get aspiring novelists to write 50,000 words in 30 days, and we’re still doing it in 2019. That’s kind of amazing, because no matter what stage you’re at as a writer, 50,000 words in 30 days is a daunting task. And if you’re a novice? It’s even more difficult, because you’re still figuring out who you are as a writer and what you want to say. To help the novices among us, I asked Twitter for advice:
If you could give a novice writer (any genre) just one, short piece of advice, what would it be? Real, kind, and compassionate answers only. Snarky answers will earn you a mute–maybe a block if I'm feeling it.
— Dr. Amy Brady (@ingredient_x) November 12, 2019
Some of my favorite Twitter folks responded with advice for writers at all levels. Here are the highlights:
From T Kira Madden, author of Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls:
From Brian Kahn, managing editor of Earther.com:
From Chip Blake, Editor-in-Chief of Orion Magazine:
My comment as an editor: Experienced writers have learned to think about the reader and to be generous to the reader; most less experienced writers have not learned that yet.
— Chip Blake (@chipblake) November 13, 2019
From Mathangi Subramanian, author of A People’s History of Heaven:
From Chris Packham, writer and editor:
Writers block is the default state. Once you start moving your hands on the page, after five or ten minutes, your brain will realize what you’re doing and switch to “write” mode
— Chris Packham 🔰 (@chrispackhamGO) November 12, 2019
From Lara Zarum, culture critic and writer:
From Mickie Meinhardt, Events Director of Guernica Magazine:
From Drew Philp, author of A $500 House in Detroit: Rebuilding an Abandoned Home and an American City:
Writing is like going to the gym, there’s really only one secret: just keep coming back.
— Drewphilp (@drewphilp) November 13, 2019
From Aaron Gilbreath, author of Everything We Don’t Know:
Write frequently to build your muscles, and let yourself make messes, bc messes let you explore, make discoveries, connections, see what you think. Revision is for beauty and structure and clarity. Drafting is for discovery.
— Aaron Gilbreath (@AaronGilbreath) November 13, 2019
From Ayşe Papatya Bucak, author of The Trojan War Museum: And Other Stories:
slow and steady is often the best
— Ayşe Papatya Bucak (@TheFreeMFA) November 12, 2019
From Kyle Williams, CHIRB Director of Communications:
From Michael Metivier, Senior Editor at Chelsea Green Publishing:
From Alan Levinovitz, Associate Professor of Religion at James Madison University:
Research you don’t write up isn’t wasted time.
— Alan Levinovitz (@AlanLevinovitz) November 13, 2019
From Dean Jobb, author of Empire of Deception:
Read the work of great writers.
— Dean Jobb | True Crime Writer (@DeanJobb) November 12, 2019
From James Tate Hill, Fiction Editor at Monkey Bicycle and author of Academy Gothic:
Write the story only you can write.
— James Tate Hill (@JamesTateHill) November 12, 2019
From Sarah M. Gilman, poet and illustrator:
Be prepared to break your own heart with all the listening you must do.
— Sarah M. Gilman (@Sarah_Gilman) November 13, 2019
From Erica Wright, Poetry Editor at Guernica Magazine and author of Famous in Cedarville:
Celebrate others’ successes as much as you celebrate your own. If nothing else, you’ll get more cake!
— Erica Wright (@eawright) November 12, 2019
From Laurel Standley, author and scientist:
From Christine Flanagan, author of The Letters of Flannery O’Connor and Caroline Gordon:
Everybody writes just one sentence at a time. Each sentence is another brick. Just keep stacking them up.
— Christine Flanagan (@wayneroad) November 12, 2019
From Bethanne Patrick, writer and Contributing Editor at Literary Hub:
Write every day starting the minute you feel the urge. Yes, most of what you write will be useless. But you're developing your voice.
— Bethanne Patrick (@TheBookMaven) November 12, 2019
From Elizabeth Rosner, author of Survivor Cafe: The Legacy of Trauma and the Labyrinth of Memory:
Persevere. (I kind of cheated here, because embedded in that one verb are complicated yet necessary practices of: trusting in uncertainty; following your questions; and believing that process is as valuable as outcome. In other words, hang in there, no matter what.)
— Elizabeth Rosner 🌊 (@elizabethrosner) November 12, 2019
Amy Brady is the Editor-in-Chief of the Chicago Review of Books and Deputy Publisher of Guernica Magazine. Her writing has appeared in Oprah, The Village Voice, Pacific Standard, The New Republic, McSweeney's, and elsewhere. Follow her on Twitter at @ingredient_x.