This afternoon, Colin Harvey and I co-presented the 5pm creative writing lecture at Bath Spa University. There were around 20-30 students in attendance. I read a brand new short story called The Bigger The Star, The Faster It Burns, which seemed to go over well, and did a brief question and answer session. I also shared with the students the following five pieces of writing advice:

1.    Never tell anyone the plot of your story until you’ve finished writing it. Once you’ve told your story, even in outline, some part of you relaxes. The story-telling urge is fulfilled. You’ve seen your audience react to it, and actually writing the story then becomes something of a chore, like you’re repeating yourself. It’s much better to keep the urge alive, driving you on until you’ve got the story down on paper, and you can then present it to the world in all its glory. Do you want to be a writer, or do you just want to be someone who talks about being a writer?

2.    Write first, edit later. You can go back and polish the first draft once it’s finished. The important part is to get the bare bones of the story down on the page. Editing comes later. If you spend hours working and re-working every sentence, trying to get it perfect before moving on to the next, you’ll never get anywhere – which is one of my biggest problems and one I have to consciously work against.

3.    Write the story one scene at a time. If you’re going to eat an elephant, you have to do it one mouthful at a time. In the same way, you can’t write a whole story or novel in one go. Break the narrative up into a series of important incidents, and then write a scene describing each incident.

4.    Always be professional. If an editor asks you to make changes, make them. Don’t be precious about your masterwork. If an editor has taken the trouble to write to you to suggest making a change to your story, it means they’re really interested in it, and usually (if you’re sending your work to reputable editors) they’ll know a damn sight more than you do about what sells in their particular market. If they suggest a change, make it.

5.    No one is going to give you the time to write. In order to survive, you’ll need a day job. You may also have a family. Where are you going to find the time to write a novel? You have to make the time. Stop watching TV. Get up earlier or go to bed later. Write on the bus. Stop doing housework.

It was daunting to stand in an auditorium in front of a crowd of people, many of whom were not science fiction fans. But they seemed to be interested and receptive, and appeared to enjoy the whole thing almost as much as I did.

Tags: Articles And Advice • Bath Spa University • Colin Harvey • Gareth L Powell