{"id":3063,"date":"2019-11-01T08:30:44","date_gmt":"2019-11-01T15:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lisaalpine.com\/?p=3063"},"modified":"2019-10-23T14:46:40","modified_gmt":"2019-10-23T21:46:40","slug":"ten-tips-on-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lisaalpine.com\/ten-tips-on-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Tips on Writing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1538922149402_7560\"><span style=\"font-size: inherit;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-4112 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/lisaalpine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Unknown-7.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"368\" height=\"275\">Inspired by Elmore Leonard\u2019s classic <\/span><a style=\"font-size: inherit;\" href=\"https:\/\/brainpickings.us2.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=13eb080d8a315477042e0d5b1&amp;id=c1adbf6d64&amp;e=037fd4acaa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><em>10 Rules of Writing<\/em><\/a><span style=\"font-size: inherit;\"> published nearly a decade earlier, <\/span><em style=\"font-size: inherit;\">The Guardian<\/em><span style=\"font-size: inherit;\"> invited some of the world\u2019s most celebrated living authors to share their own dicta of the craft. <\/span><em id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1538922149402_6226\" style=\"font-size: inherit;\">\u201cResign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never being satisfied,\u201d<\/em><span style=\"font-size: inherit;\"> Zadie Smith counseled in the last of <\/span><a style=\"font-size: inherit;\" href=\"https:\/\/brainpickings.us2.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=13eb080d8a315477042e0d5b1&amp;id=5c4e4cb1e4&amp;e=037fd4acaa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">her ten<\/a><span style=\"font-size: inherit;\">. Midway through <\/span><a id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1538922149402_7494\" style=\"font-size: inherit;\" href=\"https:\/\/brainpickings.us2.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=13eb080d8a315477042e0d5b1&amp;id=58e9bef909&amp;e=037fd4acaa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">her list<\/a><span style=\"font-size: inherit;\">, Margaret Atwood grounded the psychological dimensions of the craft in the pragmatic and the physical: <\/span><em id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1538922149402_7498\" style=\"font-size: inherit;\">\u201cDo back exercises. Pain is distracting.\u201d<\/em><span style=\"font-size: inherit;\"> Neil Gaiman thought <\/span><a style=\"font-size: inherit;\" href=\"https:\/\/brainpickings.us2.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=13eb080d8a315477042e0d5b1&amp;id=0be4522bda&amp;e=037fd4acaa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">eight<\/a><span style=\"font-size: inherit;\"> rather than ten tenets would be sufficient \u2014 a meta-testament to his sixth: <\/span><em style=\"font-size: inherit;\">\u201cPerfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1538922149402_6225\" class=\"yiv8777415370entry_content\">\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1538922149402_6227\">Among the contributors was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jeanettewinterson.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1538922149402_7495\">Jeanette Winterson<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 a writer of exquisite prose and keen insight into the deepest strata of the human experience: time and language, our elemental need for belonging, the power of art, how storytelling transforms us.<\/p>\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1538922149402_7557\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Winterson offers:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1538922149402_6230\">\n<li id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1538922149402_6229\" style=\"text-align: left;\">Turn up for work. Discipline allows creative freedom. No discipline equals no freedom.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\">Never stop when you are stuck. You may not be able to solve the problem, but turn aside and write something else. Do not stop altogether.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\">Love what you do.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\">Be honest with yourself. If you are no good, accept it. If the work you are doing is no good, accept it.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\">Don\u2019t hold on to poor work. If it was bad when it went in the drawer it will be just as bad when it comes out.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\">Take no notice of anyone you don\u2019t respect.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\">Take no notice of anyone with a gender agenda. A lot of men still think that women lack imagination of the fiery kind.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\">Be ambitious for the work and not for the reward.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\">Trust your creativity.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\">Enjoy this work!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1538922149402_6230\"><\/ol>\n<ol id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1538922149402_6230\"><\/ol>\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1538922149402_7505\">For more hard-earned guidance on the writing process from other titans of literature, see Henry Miller\u2019s <a id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1538922149402_7506\" href=\"https:\/\/brainpickings.us2.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=13eb080d8a315477042e0d5b1&amp;id=8a6a56cfd8&amp;e=037fd4acaa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">eleven commandments of writing<\/a>, Eudora Welty on <a href=\"https:\/\/brainpickings.us2.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=13eb080d8a315477042e0d5b1&amp;id=ea6c2193ff&amp;e=037fd4acaa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">the art of narrative<\/a>, Susan Sontag\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/brainpickings.us2.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=13eb080d8a315477042e0d5b1&amp;id=6fee152a80&amp;e=037fd4acaa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">advice to writers<\/a>, and T.S. Eliot\u2019s <a id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1538922149402_7551\" href=\"https:\/\/brainpickings.us2.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=13eb080d8a315477042e0d5b1&amp;id=b77638b001&amp;e=037fd4acaa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">warm, wry letter of advice<\/a> to a sixteen-year-old girl aspiring to be a writer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-716 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/lisaalpine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/images-19-300x158.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"104\" height=\"55\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lisaalpine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/images-19-300x158.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/lisaalpine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/images-19.jpeg 310w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 104px) 100vw, 104px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Offered up by <em>Brain Pickings.<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1538922149402_6225\" class=\"yiv8777415370entry_content\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inspired by Elmore Leonard\u2019s classic 10 Rules of Writing published nearly a decade earlier, The Guardian invited some of the world\u2019s most celebrated living authors to share their own dicta of the craft. \u201cResign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never being satisfied,\u201d Zadie Smith counseled in the last of her ten. Midway [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3063","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-writing","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lisaalpine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/writing-hand-1443450678bLv.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7C79E-Np","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisaalpine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisaalpine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisaalpine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisaalpine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisaalpine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3063"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/lisaalpine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4116,"href":"https:\/\/lisaalpine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3063\/revisions\/4116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisaalpine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lisaalpine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisaalpine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lisaalpine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}