All writers know that writing is fraught with\u00a0questions. For example, my\u00a0question of the moment\u00a0is; what will I write next?!<\/p>\n
I’m sure most writers can identify with this at some point. Particularly if you have just finished one book or project and you’re not sure what you would like to move onto next.<\/p>\n
I’ve just finished my third children’s book. But I’ve no idea what to do next. Do I write another children’s book for a similar age group? Or maybe, I would like to write for older children? Or, should I take a mini-break from writing for children and write for adults or even have a stab at a screenplay?<\/p>\n
Oh, so many questions.<\/p>\n
For me, beginning a project is one of the most difficult aspects to writing. Ernest Hemmingway once replied when asked what was the most frightening thing he had ever encountered,\u00a0he said, \u201cA blank sheet of paper.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Others can sit down and write away and\u00a0instead fear the\u00a0re-writes. It’s different for everyone, but I thought today I would share some writing tips from some great writers, which\u00a0would apply to all writers, no matter the question or obstacle standing in their way.<\/p>\n
1. Ernest Hemingway advised that each day\u2019s work should only be interrupted when\u00a0you know where to begin again the next day. This helps any writer avoid the\u00a0terror of facing\u00a0a blank page.<\/p>\n
2. Kurt Vonnegut\u00a0said, \u201cFind a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, and not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.\u201d<\/p>\n
3. Anne Lamott in her fabulous book “Bird by Bird,”\u00a0explains that the secret of writing is to get started, and in order to get started you need to break the overwhelming task of writing into small manageable tasks. Then\u00a0get going with the first task.<\/p>\n
4. William Stafford said: \u201cEvery day I get up and look out the window, and something occurs to me. Something always occurs to me. And if it doesn\u2019t, I just lower my standards.\u201d<\/p>\n
5. \u201cThe art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair,\u201d Mary Heaton Vorse said. Good point:)<\/p>\n
What do you find most difficult about writing? Or do you have any tips you would like to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" All writers know that writing is fraught with\u00a0questions. For example, my\u00a0question of the moment\u00a0is; what will I write next?! I’m sure most writers can identify with this at some point. Particularly if you have just finished one book or project and you’re not sure what you would like to move onto next. I’ve just finished […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/oliveobrien.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/oliveobrien.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/oliveobrien.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/oliveobrien.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/oliveobrien.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/oliveobrien.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/oliveobrien.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/oliveobrien.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/oliveobrien.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}