Friday, January 20, 2012

Guiding Principle the Fourth

DON SAY "NO" TOO QUICKLY.

You may have writing opportunities that don't interest you much, but maybe you should think twice before rejecting them--especially at the beginning of your career.

Okay, so I knew early on I wanted to write YA novels. Still, when an opportunity to be an in-house writer for a bunch of MLM companies all over the company presented itself, I took it, mostly because the money was good and my employer promised to upgrade my computer. Anyhoo. I acquired a fairly valuable skill set while I did this. I learned how to . . .

a. write for a closely defined audience
b. write on a tight deadline
c. write to a set word count

And guess what? I now do those things every time I write a column for the Trib. Thanks for that, MLM companies! And thanks, too, for providing me with material I used later on when I wrote AMAZING GRACIE.

No writing is wasted writing.

1 comment:

Louise Plummer said...

"No writing is wasted writing." Do I believe that? I'm not sure. I'm thinking of an essay I wrote on a train about a novel I knew nothing about. I think I might have skipped that one.