Never Give Up – Writing Tip Number Nine
Here’s my latest writing tip: Never Give Up – Writing Tip Number Nine. And also my reviews and writing news.
So NEVER GIVE UP – Writing Tip Number Nine
When I got up this morning, I planned what I would write in this post. Hopefully it would be something inspiring, but, I realise now, also fairly impersonal. That was before I suffered a writing-related setback.
I have been planning a major writing project for the last month, putting heart, soul and every working hour into its preparation. Today a negative response from an expert has thrown my writing plans into jeopardy and it’s tempting to give up on the project. But I’ve been in the writing game for long enough to develop the resilience to carry on. I know I will achieve my writing goals with this project because I’ve climbed over bigger writing hurdles and faced greater negativity before.
And I’m not the only writer to say this.
Earlier this year, million-selling author, Louise Jensen, posted on her blog an open letter to the critique service writer who dismissed her work four years earlier.
And in July Adrian McKinty tweeted: “2 years ago I was broke, homeless & an ex writer. The Chain is now a bestseller for a 2nd week in the UK, US & Australia. Struggling writers out there please listen: I got lucky & you might too. Never, ever, ever give up on your dream.”
Click here for more about his story.
So my very heartfelt advice today is keep on writing. Seek out those who support you with constructive criticism and ignore the naysayers. Luckily I have the support of another expert and the encouragement of the fellow writers I talked about in my post on welcoming criticism.
The only way to be sure you’ll never get published is to stop writing. However, you might well get your book out there one day if you follow Writing Tip Number Nine – Never Give Up.
My Writing News
HarperCollins has also revealed the fabulous cover of my new psychological thriller, The Roommates, which comes out this month. Thank you to everyone who tweeted about the promotion. In particular, my fellow Killer Reads authors have been great cheerleaders. You can read Chapter One here.
My Reviews
Because of the work on planning my new project, I haven’t had much time for leisure reading. But a day off at Weston-super-Mare, enjoying the last smile of the summer, gave me time for two great beach reads.
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
A tale of two sisters. Korede is the sensible, plain, reliable older sibling, and Ayoola is the stunningly beautiful, feckless but much adored younger one. Oh and she’s also a serial killer who thins out the long line of her admirers by dating them, bumping them off and calling Korede to clear up the mess.
Every time it happens, hospital nurse Korede sighs and does the necessary to protect her baby sister. But her loyalties are suddenly split when Ayoola takes a shine to Tade, a doctor Korede works with and secretly loves.
Behind the comedy crimes is a darker heart to the novel where the author reveals details of the sisters’ upbringing. The writing is smooth, the plot deceptively simple and the setting of Lagos well drawn.
My Name is Anna by Lizzy Barber
Eighteen-year-old Anna lives with her fanatically religious mother in America. Rosie, aged 16, lives in a loving home in London but hers is a family in permanent limbo ever since her three-year-old sister disappeared at a theme park in the US fifteen years previously.
Chapters alternate between the two girls’ viewpoints. With Anna we see the resurfacing of dormant memories after she sneaks away from home for a forbidden trip to a US theme park. In Rosie’s chapters, we watch her coping day to day with being the sister left behind and her growing desire for answers.
There are unexpected parallels in their mothers’ protectiveness and we learn that an even darker force than kidnap might be about to rear its head.
Perfect for fans of literary psychological thrillers or challenging Young Adult fiction.
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