"YOU HAVE NOT BECAUSE YOU ASK NOT"

                                     HESITANCY IN SOLICITING HELP

            IT’S A COMMON FACT WE ALL REQUIRE HELP AT ONE POINT IN TIME THROUGHOUT OUR LIFE OR IN THIS CASE WRITING CAREER. I KNOW REACHING OUT FOR AID IS NOT ALWAYS AN EASY TASK, BUT IT’S OKAY. EVEN THE BEST WRITERS AT ONE POINT IN THEIR CAREERS SOUGHT TIPS ON HOW TO PROGRESS WHEN THEY’D REACHED THE END OF THEIR WITS TOO.

WITH SO MANY USEFUL WRITING TOOLS AND ADVICE ACCESSIBLE EVERYWHERE ON THE WEB, IT’S INSANE TO IGNORE THAT HELP IS AT EVERY TURN. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS CLICK AND READ. WHATEVER YOU STAND IN THE NEED OF IT’S ALREADY ACCESSIBLE TO YOU. IT’S NOT HARD FOLKS AND THERE S NOTHING WRONG WITH SEEKING ADVICE THAT’S READILY AVAILABLE FOR USE.

I JUST LIKE YOU, WHEN I FIRST STARTED WRITING, READ JUST ABOUT EVERY TIP THAT HIT THE INTERNET. TIMES WERE MUCH DIFFERENT THEN AND THE RESOURCES FOR HELP WERE LIMITED. MOSTLY CHAT ROOMS IS WHERE YOU WERE MOST LIKELY TO FIND WHAT YOU NEEDED. UNLIKE NOW, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE AN AVID PARTICIPANT ON SOCIAL MEDIA. NOT ONLY THOSE NETWORKS BUT GOOGLE IS A VERY USEFUL SEARCH ENGINE FOR SEEKING ADVICE.

NOW LETS TALK A MINUTE ABOUT WHAT YOU MIGHT STAND IN THE NEED OF: IF IT’S FORMATTING A DOCUMENT FOR A NOVEL, WHICH FONT YOU SHOULD USE OR SPACING? ALL OF THIS IS ONLY A KEYSTROKE AWAY, ESPECIALLY CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.

NAMES, HISTORICAL SIGHTS, PUNCTUATION, GRAMMAR, STYLE AND GENERAL INFORMATION, THESE ARE THINGS I HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU SEEK OUT.

HOWEVER, WHEN IT COMES TO WRITING OR

CREATING THE STORY THIS IS WHERE I DRAW THE LINE. PERSONALLY, I BELIEVE THAT NO ONE CAN TELL YOU HOW TO CREATE WHAT COMES FROM YOUR IMAGINATION. CREATIVE WRITING IS A LOT LIKE WHEN YOU WERE IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, AND EVERYONE HAD TO PRESENT A PROJECT FOR SHOW AND TELL.  INSTEAD OF TELLING, YOU MUST SHOW USING THE CAPABILITY OF YOUR THOUGHTS.

BUT I DO RECOMMEND ANY USEFUL TIPS THAT HELP WITH EFFECTIVE WRITING. WHAT DO I MEAN BY THIS? WELL I WILL TELL YOU. I DID MY RESEARCH TODAY AND THIS IS WHAT I CAME UP WITH. 21 HARSH BUT EYE-OPENING WRITING TIPS FROM GREAT AUTHORS. ARE YOU READY? HERE WE GO!

1.      THE FIRST DRAFT OF EVERYTHING IS CRAP- ERNEST HEMINGWAY SAID THIS.

2.      NEVER USE JARGON WORDS LIKE RE-CONCEPTUALIZE, DEMASSIFICATION, AND I QUOTE “THEY ARE HALLMARK OF A PRETENTIOUS ASS.”DAVID OGILVY

3.      PRESENT THEM WITH THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE, DOROTHY PARKER.

4.      PRACTICE, PRACTICE PRACTICE! THIS IS PARAPHRASE OF ADVICE FROM PAUL THEROUX WHAT HE ACTUALLY SAID WAS “MY ADVICE TO ANY YOUNG PERSON WHO WANTS TO WRITE IS TO LEAVE HOME.

5.      HARPER LEE, STATED ANYONE WHO ASPIRES TO A WRITING CAREER BEFORE DEVELOPING HIS OR HER TALENT IS TO DEVELOP A THICK HIDE.

6.      “IF YOU DON’T HAVE TIME TO READ, YOU DON’T HAVE THE TIME OR THE TOOLS TO WRITE. SIMPLE AS THAT, STEPHEN KING.

7.      IF WRITING SEEMS HARD, ITS BECAUSE IT IS HARD. ITS ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS PEOPLE DO. WILLIAM ZINSSER.

8.      SUBSTITUTE DAMN EVERY TIME YOU’RE INCLINED TO WRITE VERY, YOUR EDITOR WILL DELETE IT AND THE WRITING WILL BE JUST AS IT SHOULD BE, MARK TWAIN.

9.      START TELLING THE STORIES THAT ONLY YOU CAN TELL, BECAUSE THERE’LL ALWAYS BE BETTER WRITERS THAN YOU AND THERE’LL ALWAYS BE SMARTER WRITERS THAN YOU. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE PEOPLE WHO ARE MUCH BETTER AT DOING THIS OR DOING THAT, BUT YOU ARE THE ONLY YOU NEIL GAIMAN.

10. CONSISTENCY IS THE LAST REFUGE OF THE UNIMAGINATIVE OSCAR WILDE.

11.YOU MUST STAY DRUNK ON WRITING SO REALITY CANNOT DESTROY YOU RAY BRADBURY.

12..  HAVE THE COURAGE TO WRITE BADLY, JOSHUA WOLF SHENK.

13.  STOP ARGUING WITH YOURSELF AND MAKE CHANGES ANNE ENRIGHT.

 14.THERE ARE THREE RULES FOR WRITING A NOVEL. UNFORTUNATELY NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THEY ARE. W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM.

15.  WRITING A BOOK IS A HORRIBLE, EXHAUSTING STRUGGLE, LIKE A LONG BOUT WITH SOME PAINFUL ILLNESS. ONE WOULD NEVER UNDERTAKE SUCH A THING IF ONE WERE NOT DRIVEN BY SOME DEMON WHOM ONE CAN NEITHER RESIST NOR UNDERSTAND, GEORGE ORWELL.

16.  YOU CAN’T WAIT FOR INSPIRATION. YOU HAVE TO GO AFTER IT WITH A CLUB JACK LONDON.

17.  REMEMBER: WHEN PEOPLE TELL YOU SOMETHING’S WRONG OR DOESN’T WORK FOR THEM, THEY ARE ALMOST ALWAYS RIGHT. WHEN THEY TELL YOU EXACTLY WHAT THEY THINK IS WRONG AND HOW TO FIX IT, THEY ARE ALMOST ALWAYS WRONG, NEIL GAIMAN.

18.  PROSE IS ARCHITECTURE, NOT INTERIOR DECORATION, ERNEST HEMINGWAY.

19.  HERE’S A LESSON IN CREATIVE WRITING. FIRST RULE: DON’T USE SEMICOLONS. THEY ARE TRANSVESTITE, HERMAPHRODITES REPRESENTING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. ALL THEY DO IS SHOW YOU’VE BEEN TO COLLEGE KURT VONNEGUT. HIS WORDS NOT MINE.

20.  WRITE DRUNK, EDIT SOBER, ERNEST HEMINGWAY. AGAIN HIS WORDS NOT MINE.

21.  DON’T TAKE ANYONE’S WRITING ADVICE TOO SERIOUSLY, LEV GROSSMAN.

OKAY THIS IS SOME GREAT ADVICE FROM A FEW RENOWNED WRITERS. I TRUST WHAT THEY SAY IS MOSTLY TRUE, YET IS STILL THEIR OWN OPINIONS.

THE TRUTH IS GOOD SOUND WRITING COMES FROM DOING YOUR HOMEWORK. ESPECIALLY IF YOU’VE NEVER WRITTEN BEFORE, IMAGINATION HARD WORK AND PASSION IS ALSO KEY ELEMENTS. NOW I’VE ALWAYS SAID THAT AND HAVE STATED IT MANY TIMES THROUGHOUT MY DIFFERENT EPISODES.

THE BEST WAY TO BE DEFLATED WHEN YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE IT ALL DOWN PAT, IS TO HAVE YOUR WORK MASSACRED BY AN EDITOR OR CRITIC. TO SAVE YOU THE DISCOMFORT OF BEING FACED WITH SUCH A GRIM REALITY THEN SEEK KNOWLEDGE BY EVERY MEANS NECESSARY BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR WORK FOR REVIEW. I’VE READ BOOKS THAT HAD THE TECHNIQUE DOWN TO ALMOST PERFECTION, BUT THE STORY SUCKED. THE PLOT WAS SHAKY WITH TOO MANY TWIST AND TURNS BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE BEING CLEVER. THIS HAPPENS WHEN WE GO AGAINST THE ADVICE OF THOSE WHO ARE DULY SEASONED IN THEIR CRAFT.

  AS I’VE SAID BEFORE DON’T BE AFRAID TO SEEK HELP, AND I CAN’T SAY THIS ENOUGH, YOU DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING. SEEKING ADVICE DOESN’T TAKE AWAY FROM YOUR CREATIVE FLOW, IF ANYTHING IT HELPS. TRUST ME I’VE BEEN THERE AND DONE THAT. NO MAN IS AN ISLAND WE CANNOT DO EVERYTHING ALONE. WRITING IS ONE OF THEM.