Another person came and said that he often would write bits and pieces of writing, but then find that he can’t write any more.
Brandon said that it probably came from one of three causes. One, That the story just doesn’t have enough ideas in it. He suggested making three characters who are complex who all follow the same storyline. When you get tired of writing one, than switch POVs. Two, that he’s just stopping when it gets hard, which is most common. He suggests that the cure for this is just writing. Three, (and he said this is usually the problem for older writers) they know that they are writing crappy stuff. Brandon said, that’s just fine. He says that he wrote 13 books before he was published. It takes time to get good.
He compared the last one to a pianist. Just like there are many levels of pianists, there are many levels of writers. He asked the writer-to-be how long it takes to tell how good a pianist is. The writer-to-be said usually withing a few seconds. Brandon then said that a publisher can tell almost as quickly. When they reject books while only reading the first few pages, they aren’t saying no to the book, they’re saying that the writer isn’t good enough yet.
The secret, he said, to publishing is practice. When you spend your time drilling, writing every day, just like doing piano exercices, you become better and better. Lots of books are being rejected every day. But once you become a master writer, your odds skyrocket.
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