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9 Myths Uncovered About Creative Writing
1. You need the inspiration to begin
Don’t wait until to get inspired – just start writing. If you have to
wait for inspiration before you sit down to write, probably your
waiting would never end.
Thomas Edison wrote in the September 1932 edition of Harper’s
Monthly that ‘Genius is one per cent inspiration, ninetynine per
cent perspiration’ – in other words, success is almost entirely a
result of hard work. If you think of your writing as a task that has
to be done, you’re much more likely to get to your desk and
start. Even if you do feel that itch to write, inspiration can fade
away as soon as you’re confronted with the blank page or
screen!
2 . Creative Writing is an inborn talent
Some people believe that writers are born with the talent, but are
not made. Writers may be mostly people who love books and
read a lot. It’s possible that everybody can become a writer if
they work hard enough at it. That means reading a lot and
writing a lot, and being prepared to develop the necessary
techniques that writers use. The process may take years, but if
you persevere, you’ll end up a good writer.
3 . It is always fun to write
One can enjoy and have fun while writing sometimes. At other
times, it’s pure hard work. The more serious you are about your
writing, the less likely it is to seem like fun. Developing a piece of
writing requires an enormous amount of effort and
concentration.
4 . You write what you know
If writers only wrote about what they knew already, half the
books in the world wouldn’t exist! Many writers are driven to
write precisely because they don’t know about or understand
something, and they want to find out. Many writers research
extensively before and while writing in order to fill the gaps in
their knowledge.
5 . You have to write on your own
The claim that all writers are introverts who sit on their own all
day bashing at their keyboards simply isn’t true. If you’re more
extrovert, you have lots of ways to make writing a more sociable
activity
6 . Writing makes you special or different
You are special or different, anyway, but it has nothing to do with
picking up a pen or spending a few weeks or months at a
computer keyboard. Yet it is your own perfectly original and
special lens or filter that will make your creativity interesting to or
valued by others.
7. It is easy to get published
Conventional publishing has become more and more difficult in
recent years. The costs of paper and printing have gone up,
while the cover prices of books have gone down, partly because
of more promotions and discounts. Sales of hardbacks have
plummeted, and recently ebook sales have started to take over
from those of paperbacks.
Always try the conventional route first. If you’re thinking of self
publishing, employ a professional editor to make sure that your
book’s as good as it can be before you put it out into the world.
8 . Writing will make you rich
Most writers don’t make enough money from their writing to live
on. Even quite wellknown and successful writers have to take
other jobs as well. Only a handful of bestselling authors get rich
from writing. Most novels and narrative nonfiction books sell in
modest quantities, and only a tiny number are reviewed or win
prizes.
You have many better options available to accumulate a fortune
than writing! If money is your motivation, you may want to stop
now.
9. Write and become famous
Writing is unlikely to make you famous: only a small number of
authors become very household names. Go to a large bookshop
or browse an online bookstore and look at the huge number of
titles you’ve never heard of. Think of all the writers in the past
whose books are out of print and whose names are unknown
today.
One reason so many people want to write these days is because
the possibility exists that someone will read it far into the future
and find that it speaks to them in a way no other book has.
That’s a form of immortality.
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