Adapted from http://www.writersdigest.com/article/get-real-about-publishing/Whether writing a submission or novel, there are some good techniques to help you write better
1. Write, don?t talk.
The tendency when you?ve got something as hot as your idea is to talk it out with your spouse or best friend or fellow gamer?and oh, how gratifying it is to see them catch your excitement and reflect it back. And then maybe a game store clerk or a kindly aunt and I?m not going to mention your Pilates partner or car mechanic, as I?m sure you get the picture: The more you talk out your idea, the harder it is to transfer it into print with the same high energy. When we hit the keyboard, a certain amount of drudgery awaits. If you?ve gone the too-easy route by talking, you?re going to face the too-hard route of writing.
2. Create a daily practice.
The same thing goes for lying in bed thinking of all your great ideas or sitting in a traffic jam daydreaming about how your piece will sound. Out, out, go all those perfect sentences and bits of language that may never come back when you?re finally staring at the blank screen. Yes, you can always carry a notebook for scattered ideas, but the better plan is to slam the lid down and wait for your special time. Learn to funnel every bit of project's energy into a regular daily practice of writing. Get up at 5 a.m., when your mind is fresh and the house is quiet, and creak open that lid. Your ever-searching mind will love you because never again will you postpone the time to think and write; now all your senses are getting ready every minute of the day for this one precious time?and boy, will the dam burst. (Pardon all mixed metaphors from now to end of article.)
3. Find a trusted advocate.
An author needs solitude during the writing process like an infant needs milk. Every time you sit down alone at the keyboard, think of destiny?s hand placing you there: This is your fueling station, even when?especially when?you read the pages the next day and think, oh hell, it?s horrible. Remember Anne Lamott?s advice about ?s**tty first drafts.? They?re just part of the learning process, and believe me, to paraphrase philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, every failure makes you stronger.
But a time does come when you as the author are too close to the material to judge objectively how good it is, and that?s when you need trusted outside help. Resist your inclination to run a chapter by friends or relatives, because they?re rooting for you to succeed?and, like it or not, that taints their judgment. Better to find a writing group or individual who games and writes who?ll work for you. Ask other writers and book bloggers for referrals; try two or three sessions, and if you don?t find the advice useful, go find another one. If your a novelist, hire a consultant with publishing experience who knows how to be your writing advocate?someone who not only points out your weaknesses, but shows you how to use your strengths to fix them. If all else fails, find a high school writing teacher or English professor or your friend the English major you trust and ask her for a read-through. Just don?t start the submission process alone, without reaping the benefits of valuable outside input first.
4. Cultivate your local bookseller.
If you are an author, you?re probably a reader, and I hope you?ve been placing your book-buying dollars with an independent bookstore. Not only do these hardworking retailers keep free speech and literary diversity alive, but they can be an author?s best friend. If you?re a returning customer who?s known by the staff, when you do land that coveted book deal, they?ll all be so proud of you and so excited your book is coming out that they?ll have ideas to spread the word you?ve never thought of. They can, for example, write selling reviews to other booksellers through the national pipeline of independents called IndieBound; create ?shelf-talkers??personal written recommendations from staff taped on the bookshelf; talk the book up with your publisher?s sales rep; host your first launch party; tell other authors about your book; offer a place for TV/radio/newspaper interviews, get word to the dozens of book groups they host and generally create the kind of buzz that makes your publication day a real event.
While this is aimed more ath novelists, you can do the same thing with your local gamer community and the store that you get things from. People working at said stores are probably hardcore gamers, who game blog, know gamers who blog, are on email lists, and might actually write review bit for their local distriutors. This still works for gamers, it is just harder to find that perfect peson.
Don?t wait until you have a book to build these relationships. Start right now.
5. Do it now.
While this was written for authors with only the tiniest tweak I made it for Strolen writers. Right now you are reading an article as long as one of our submissions. Someone thought about it and made it so. Why not you? I know this is preaching to the choir, but it works.
