Kristine Wyllys was part of the blitz I hosted for her publisher Carina Press. She was featured with 3 other fantastic new adult authors. The blitz itself was hella long, so some of what was submitted to me had to be cut. Fear not my friends I’ve saved the good pieces for my readers. Here’s Kristine.

Advice to aspiring writers

By Kristine Wyllys

Since I first announced that I had a book deal, I’ve found myself being asked for advice more and more often. Sometimes, I’m able to distract the advice-seekers with pizza. I usually try. Because I’m not always convinced my brand of organized chaos is the best advice for someone to seek.

HEY LOOK OVER THERE AT THAT LARGE PEPPERONI PIZZA FROM THE PLACE OF YOUR CHOOSING.

Still here? Awesome. You fall into that other group then. Which is cool. You’ve just passed the most important writing test of all: you’re impervious to distractions. And if you want to be a published writer you need to be able to ignore distractions. Otherwise those deadlines go sailing right past you and you’re too busy studying that cloud shaped like a turtle to realize.

So since you’re serious about this, or at least not hungry at the moment, here’s the rest of my SO YOU WANT TO BE A WRITER list.

Have a child? A pet? An action figure you love more than most people? Perfect. Look at that thing. Imagine how much you love it and want to protect it. Now imagine handing it over to someone and that person takes one look at it, throws it on the ground, then lights it on fire while screaming that your face makes them wanna puke shards of their pelvis. Painful, right? Nearly unbearable? This is what putting a book out in the world is like. You’re giving your baby to someone to light on fire and puke pelvis shards on. Most people will not. Most people will be so wonderful it’ll make you want to cry. But every once in awhile, someone will have matches in their pocket. Make peace with that.

Writing is weird. You spend your time battling a blank screen and talking to characters in your head. It takes weird people to do it. Embrace that weirdness. Love your weirdness. Don’t bother fighting it. Know that the process is mad and you’re mad for it and worlds are born from that madness so it’s beautiful. Listen to me. This is important. You’re gonna find yourself in a closet one day screaming at whoever passes by it that you’re a burrito. It’s fine. It’s cool. It’s part of the package.

Bloggers are wonderful, magical, lovely people. Appreciate them. Appreciate them hard.

Don’t be a jerk. This doubles as life advice.

Remember that people are watching or the will be. So don’t leave the windows open while you get plastered with your skirt tucked into the back of your pantyhose. Keep it classy. Or, at least, have on nice underwear.

Write for you first. Everyone else second. If you’re not in love with what you’re doing, you can’t expect anyone else to be.

You are not an island. Find your people. It doesn’t matter who they are. Find your people and keep them close. You’re gonna need them.

This is a subjective game. I’m sure you’ve heard that before and it’s the truth. What one person loves, another will hate. Don’t get discouraged by it. You’re not gonna ever ever please everybody and that’s okay. Because you’ll please some people and that’s awesome.

Don’t get caught up in the daydreams that you’re going to be the Next Big Thing. It’s okay to dream it. It’s okay to have that tiny spark of hope inside of you that you will be. But at the end of the day, laugh, shuck your pants, and know that even if you never, ever see a best-sellers list, your words are out there for others to read. You’re living a dream.

Okay. Got all that? Splendid. So, how about that pizza now?

I feel ya Kristine! Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

 

 

[wysija_form id=”1″]