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| Zadie Smith. Photo credit: Francesco Guidicini |
1. When
still a child, make sure you read a lot of books. Spend more time doing this than anything else.
2. When
an adult, try to read your own work as a stranger would read it, or even
better, as an enemy would.
3. Don’t
romanticise your ‘vocation.’ You
can either write good sentences or you can’t. There is no ‘writer’s lifestyle.’
All that matters is what you leave on the page.
4. Avoid
your weaknesses. But
do this without telling yourself that the things you can’t do arent’ worth
doing. Don’t mask self-doubt with contempt.
5. Leave
a decent space of time between writing something and editing it.
6. Avoid
cliques, gangs, groups. The
presence of a crowd won’t make your writing any better than it is.
7. Work
on a computer that is disconnected from the internet.
8. Protect
the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are
most important to you.
9. Don’t
confuse honours with achievement.
10.Tell
the truth through whichever veil comes to hand—but tell it. Resign yourself to the lifelong
sadness that comes from never being satisfied.
*****
Click to order I say Who, What, and Where!
an inspirational novel about the courage to be oneself freely.
Copyright © 2012 by THE PYTHAGOREAN STORYTELLER. All
rights reserved.
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