Comments on: Anyone Can Write a Book

By: Fiction Editor Beth Hill

Fiction Editor Beth Hill — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:33:18 +0000

Why not try? If not for others, you could always write for yourself, for your family. If English isn’t your first language, you could write in your first language and have it translated to English if that’s something you want to do.

If you’ve got a story to tell, tell it.

Good luck with the writing.

By: Basirwa Halisi Patrrick

Basirwa Halisi Patrrick — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:26:23 +0000

Hello!
I am burning inside and want to put the issue in writing. due to the frequent life and experiences i passed through and still facing more, so my question is.
can I write a book on the experiences I faced for 8 years?
but still have problems with my English.

By: Beth

Beth — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 01:19:19 +0000

Interesting and exhilarating and wild, Olivia. I think I best like a mix—know something and jump right in to learn the rest along the way.

Voice is so important. Once we relax into it, our fiction takes on that added oomph. And no one else will sound like us. I love the variety of voices and style and stories.

By: Olivia Cunning

Olivia Cunning — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 21:05:36 +0000

And this would be exactly why my first couple novels were practice (and suck eggs). I didn’t know anything about craft. I just wanted to write. So I did. Studying an actual book on how to write fiction? I didn’t know they existed back when I first started. Take a class before getting started? That would have boggled my mind. I just used my favorite authors as models and tried the monkey see/monkey do method of learning. A very slow process, but loads of fun! And who inspired me to try to write my first novel? Nora Roberts. Back when she was writing for Silhouette and hadn’t made a HUGE name for herself. I know talent when I see it. My attempts to copy that talent… pathetic. I’ve found my own voice now. That took a long time to develop.

I suppose you can learn as much about writing as you can before you start. That’s sound reasoning. Or you could jump in with both feet (which will get burned repeatedly) and learn in the fiery trenches. I chose the second route. Probably not the quickest or safest way to learn, but definitely interesting.