What a year it’s been! I hope you’re having a wonderful holiday season and celebrating in a way that brings you joy.
As we close the year, I want to celebrate all the amazing authors from the Meet the Author interview series.
Here’s who we met this year—and some of the wisdom they shared!
Danette Relic
Danette Relic is the author of Crash Bloom.
Do what’s fun. The “shoulds” are not going to bring out your best work, and it won’t be fun or fulfilling. Even if you go down the “should” route, there’s a dead end.
If you’re going to write, your voice changes if you’re writing from a place of should versus accessing your enthusiasm, your wisdom, and whatever it is that you as a writer have to offer that no one else can. You’re robbing the world of your true voice when you’re writing from a should.
Julia Seales
Julia Seales is the author of A Most Agreeable Murder.
The best thing that you can do is write the thing that you're the most passionate about. I wrote four or five full manuscripts before I wrote this book, and I learned so much through doing it. I don't regret doing that. A lot of the ideas were things I thought could sell, or that were popular at the time. The book that did get published was the one where I decided I was going to think of all the things I love and what would make a book I would want to read and write that. That passion comes through on the page.
Kasia Manolas
Kasia Manolas is the author of the forthcoming thriller Girl in the Dark Room.
Oh, number one, for creative writing especially—I know when I got started, I felt kind of crazy. Like, I'm going to make up characters, and they're going to walk around this fake world and do fake shit. And I was like, “This is so crazy.” Give yourself permission to play. Writing fiction almost feels childish sometimes, but it's a really powerful artistic portal.
Have fun with it. Believe in yourself. These are things that I need to remind myself of from time to time. It's not that serious. Letting it be the art you want it to be can take some pressure off it.
Mike Brennan
Mike Brennan is the author of Make Fun a Habit.
Just show up. I mean, every day, show up. Have the grace and freedom to say, one day, that might be ten or 15 minutes, which might not seem valuable. Another day, that could be three or four hours. The important thing is showing up and putting the work in. All of that adds up.
If you wait for inspiration, if you wait for huge time blocks, those things are rare. So do the work to show up consistently, and you'll be amazed at what happens.
Amelia Hruby
Amelia Hruby is the author of Fifty Feminist Mantras.
Cultivate your craft, and share before you’re ready. It’s really important to keep improving your writing, and the only way you can keep improving is if you keep writing and if you get feedback. Keep working on your craft, keep honing your craft to become a better writer.
It’s important to share your work with someone. I'm not saying you need to put it on social media. I'm not saying you need to publish it on the internet at all. Show it to your best friend, show it to a stranger at a local writing meetup. Show it to people and get feedback. We need those reflections to get better. That's how we improve.
June Gervais
June Gervais is the author of Jobs for Girls with Artistic Flair.
Find a couple of creative friends. They don't even have to be in the same field or genre as you. They can be visual artists. They can be musicians. But find a few friends that you love to be in their presence, and you feel filled up when you're with them, and at the end of the night, you think, “Oh god, I'm so glad I have them.” People who tell you about a book they've read or a thing they saw or an idea they had and they're similarly engaged in this weird thing we do, which is make a life making things. The best thing I can say is, get those people.
If you can live in a place where there's a bunch of those people around, that's even better. I'm in the suburbs of Long Island and in a bit of a place that can feel like a creative desert. You still have to find a few.
Emon Hassan
Emon Hassan is the author of I Dream of the Heights.
I know a lot of people say be yourself and write what you know. I feel like “write what you know” is something I don't believe in. I feel like writing something you don't know is where all the surprises are. It's in doing so that people find either it's a hit or a miss. But no matter what the case is, it sheds a light on something that's surprising.
For writers, I think the number one thing I would say is, beyond giving yourself permission, really put your own voice into the work. If it starts to feel wrong, out of the norm, or against the grain, it probably is something different. Think about how you want to be different because all writers go through that when trying to find their voice.
Nitya Kirat
Nitya Kirat is the author of Winning Virtually: 10 Tiny Habits for BIG Virtual Selling Success.
You know, I'm an engineer. I like process. I like structure. So, step one was coming up with an outline. Even if it's not the final outline, I wanted to come up with the outline so I knew what I was building. In our case, it was to come up with the outline and then review the stuff we had already written or videoed and where those might fit in.
The other advice I would offer is time blocking. It’s not rocket science. I don't think you can do much in 15 minutes, but I think you can do a decent amount in 30 minutes. They don't have to be huge blocks. Depending on your style, you might want longer or shorter and more frequent blocks. I generally do shorter and more frequent.
Nila Patel
Nila Patel is the author of Fictioneer’s Field Guide: A Game Plan for Writing Short Stories.
I’m not going to think of it as advice, but maybe as a challenge to someone who wants to write. I don't know the level of priority that writing has for different people and what your goals are. Everybody has different goals with their writing. Everybody wants to write different things.
But it's important to keep track of the core reason you want to write. Is it for other people? For me, if the core reason were other than something within me, it wouldn't work. I wouldn't be able to sustain it. It's that asking why? Why do you want to write? What part of that drive is coming from inside you? Would you do it if no one paid you or paid attention to your work? For me, the answer is yes.
Arjan Singh
Arjan Singh is the author of Competitive Success: Building Winning Strategies with Corporate War Games.
If you're interested in writing, start now. Don't wait. If you wait, you'll end up waiting ten or 20, 30 or 40 years. Starting the process sooner rather than later is number one.
Number two is that a lot of people say, “Oh, I'd love to write a book, but I don't have anything to say.” I don't think that's true. I think everyone has a story. Everyone has a unique experience that you can share with the world. It's just a case of figuring out how you're going to tell that story.
Tracie Kendziora
Tracie Kendziora is the author of Really Dumb Poems.
I would say just write. Give yourself permission to write. Know that it doesn't have to be a big thing. You don't have to publish it. It can just be for you, but if you feel called to write something, just write it.