“Tips and advice for writers?”
WTF? Right?
Who exactly does Steve think he is giving out advice?
Let’s get one thing right, straight off the bat. I am just a novice myself. This advice is tantamount to the drunk slouched at the bar, passing out his whiskey soaked opinions to anyone unfortunate enough to get into earshot. But, I feel as though I’ve learnt a few things about a few things, had some successes, and some failures, so I wanted to pass out a few golden rules I have about writing and twitter. If it helps just one person, I’ll be happy.
Another note: In no way is this article taking pot-shots at anyone or is meant to offend anyone. That kind of passive aggressive BS has never been my style. The only person I had in mind when I was writing it was my younger self.
Okay, so, here we go.
1. BE GENUINE!
Be genuine in your writing. Be genuine in your conduct.
Don’t write about something you don’t know about or don’t care about because you think it’ll bring you success. No one ever changed the world by copying the person next to them. Write about what matters to you. Write about what makes your heart beat faster. Write about what makes you sweat. Write about what keeps you up at night. If you do this, the passion will show in your words, your sentences and your stories. Writing should be like an affair. Full of passion, fire, emotion and connection.
Don’t change who you are to write. Write who you are.
On conduct: Be genuine in the relationships you forge. It takes a while to sort through what relationships are genuine and which ones aren’t. Some people will have made friends with you for the wrong reasons. Find the people you can genuinely connect with. If you can imagine having a drink with them in ‘real life’ you’re onto a winner.
2. BE HONEST!
Write the story you NEED to write and do it HONESTLY. Tell the truth in your writing. When I first started writing I asked myself; am I going to be 100% honest? Am I going to put myself out there 100%? The answer was yes. If the answer was no, I would have taken up politics… That’s a joke… but, seriously… Be vulnerable.
In my opinion, the stuff I read that really blows my head back is the stuff that feels as though I’m talking to a very close buddy and they’ve told me a deep seated insecurity they have that I have as well.
It takes a hell of a lot of courage to be honest in your writing. To make yourself vulnerable like that. But, THAT is the true beauty of GREAT literature. Vulnerability.
3. READ!
Read, read, read. Read everything. Obviously.
4. ALWAYS BE WRITING!
Writing is like a sport, or a musical instrument, hell, like anything, I suppose.
The more you do it, the better you will become. The stronger you will become.
A thousand words a day is a novel in two months. I tend to write a lot on my phone. My first three novels were written partly in installments in subway stations, restaurants, the gym, standing on the street having a cigarette. I’ve also written more than a few short stories in the bath. You use your phone a lot, is what I’m saying, so instead of checking twitter, amazon, tiktok or liking that friends post of a sandwich they ate for lunch, write a few lines instead, or a poem. Redraft later at home on your pc.
5. DON’T FEED INTO NEGATIVITY!
Being a writer it can be easy to fall into a mindset of negativity. Bitterness, insecurity, jealousy, depression, grudges, even hate. Twitter flame wars are the equivalent of a petty, overly intoxicated bar fight. It may look funny for a second or two, but it just ruins the atmosphere for all the patrons and makes everyone feel shitty and uncomfortable. The whole nights ruined and the person you were enjoying a good time with says they’d like to go home. Alone.
Ask yourself why people tweet what they do? What’s their mindset? No one enjoying success or happiness ever spends their time tapping out bitchy tweets. If you find yourself talking shit about someone, ask yourself why you’re doing that?
It took me a year to realize this. Negativity just breeds negativity. It’s like that co-worker who is always bitching to you about something or other. In the beginning it’s fun, almost therapeutic to vent, but after a while it just brings you the fuck down and you start wondering if you should quit your job or not.
If you don’t like someone, for whatever reason, that’s fine. That is what the mute and block buttons are for. Mute, mute, mute. Or DM them and talk it out like adults.
Don’t be one of those strange people who are always telling other folks who they should and shouldn’t read, engage with, like or retweet. Trying to control others. And don’t listen to those people either. You’re your own person. You can think for yourself, right? Besides, that is some real junior high school level bullshit.
Avoid it.
Avoid little or large cliques. Cliques aren’t cool. No matter what 1980’s movie you think you’re a character in.
And, if you’re someone that suffers from anxiety disorder, addiction or depression avoid negativity like your life depends on it. Because it does.
6. USE YOUR NEGATIVITY!
Continuing on from points 2 and 5. If you have negativity, USE IT in your writing. Use the negativity or it will use you. I think nearly all of my best writing has been done while I’ve been very sick (I’m not talking about the flu or the covid kind).
7. BE KIND!
Life can be a shitty place sometimes. For someone putting themselves out there in their writing it can feel like a pretty unsure, unsafe place. Kind words, kind tweets, kind retweets, whatever, are FREE. I know I’ve had my whole day made many times just by a few kind words from someone on twitter about my work.
8. DON’T BLOW SMOKE UP PEOPLE’S ASSES!
The flipside to being kind. Always telling someone their work is perfect, if it isn’t, isn’t kindness. You are just blowing smoke up their ass to make them feel good in the hopes they’ll say the same things about your work. Yes, I have been guilty of this myself at times. Most of us have. It’s extremely difficult to give insightful feedback to people without them taking it the wrong way. A whole lot of tact is needed. However, the most precious gift you can give someone is that CONSTRUCTIVE feedback because it’s going to help them IMPROVE. I received some brutal feedback just the other day, but I was extremely happy to receive it because it DID help me improve my work.
9. A RISING TIDE LIFTS ALL BOATS!
Pretty self-explanatory. If someone boosts you by publishing your work, support them back. I can never understand writers, authors who don’t boost and support the places that have published their work. It’s the equivalent of being a really shite lay. Exiting the scene as soon as you got what YOU wanted. (Luckily Punk Noir doesn’t have that problem; most people we publish stick around and remain part of the family.)
Support your indie publishers. Support presses. Support your indie magazines. They need you and you need them.
10. IT’S NOT A COMPETITION!
Social media tends to bring out the competitiveness in everyone. Don’t measure your success by what others have achieved or haven’t.
The only person you should be trying to outdo is the person and the writer you were yesterday.
So there you have it, people.
My ten rules for surviving writing and Twit-Lit.
I hope it helps you, or if it didn’t, I hope you enjoyed reading it, at least.
Much Love,
Steve
Stephen J. Golds was born in North London, U.K, but has lived in Japan for most of his adult life.
He writes primarily in the noir and dirty realism genres and is the co-editor of Punk Noir Magazine.
He enjoys spending time with his daughters, reading books, traveling the world, boxing and listening to old Soul LPs. His books are Say Goodbye When I’m Gone, I’ll Pray When I’m Dying, Always the Dead, Poems for Ghosts in Empty Tenement Windows I Thought I Saw Once, Cut-throat & Tongue-tied, Bullet Riddled & Gun Shy and the story and poetry collection Love Like Bleeding Out With an Empty Gun in Your Hand.
Punk Noir Press 