Like that of Jonathan Franzen, who recently revealed his ten golden writing rules for budding authors on the Lithub website. Tips that you can take to heart, Write my essay such as: "Interesting verbs are seldom interesting". Other rules, such as that no one will write well at a workstation with access to the Internet, can only come from someone who owns desks in Santa Cruz and New York. Franzen could have copied the advice “a reader is neither an opponent nor a spectator, but a friend” from an aphorism book. And as if he had wanted to work towards the climax in real writer fashion, to top it off: You have to love before you can be merciless. Huh?
For a man who
has nothing to do with social media, his tips caused indignation on Twitter, of all places. Above all, they were criticized by other authors. Like the writer Jodi Picoult, who is "glad to have broken every single one of his rules".
Others responded with their own - if not serious advice - like comedian Patton Oswalt, whose tips for good writing are: Build a Frankenstein into the story, never talk about writing, never write about writing ... and provide one Plant on the desk.
The fact that Franzen caused such a storm with his advice says something about the author: Since he alienated America's talk show goddess Oprah Winfrey a few years ago, he has been alienated by quite a few colleagues.
Tips reveal a lot about authors themselves
Most of all, it says something about how obsessed we are with the advice of best-selling authors. Advice from a professor or editor is one thing,Do my essay but getting advice from someone who - according to the author Emily Rempl - actually went down into the mine and reappeared with gold is something else: speak from someone who does not only teach writing, but practices it daily.
In addition, every piece of advice reveals something about the authors themselves: Esther Freud confessed to the newspaper "The Guardian" that she would write three hours first every morning. Not because she had the discipline of a monk, but because she was so afraid of writing at first that she was forced to start writing after she got up. Information that teaches a would-be writer like me less than reassures them, because it proves that writers are only human.
"In this video, I show you five writing tips from Stephen King's toolbox ..."
The fact that such tips are so popular in the first place - and if you don't believe it, you just need to google the ten rules of writing by Stephen King - can be interpreted as a sign of our times: Quite a few believe that just as everyone has become a photographer with their smartphone writing a novel is a hobby that you can easily master if you know the right skills. Instead of a job that requires a large portion of talent in addition to the craft.
The reader as a friend
Perhaps the most valuable tip is to write about something really important to you. Because that is exactly what is often difficult as an author: If the agents claim that only women read books. Or when writers like Jonathan Franzen claim that the reader has to be a friend, placing himself in the ranks of those who want to satisfy the reader rather than surprise, challenge or provoke them: Then you hear your voice for sheer advice no longer.
In this respect, one could advise: Keep writing your novel for men, Buy essay online
using too many adverbs, and at a desk with network access. And only read the advice of best-selling authors to enjoy the storm of indignation about it.
Comments