Friday, November 9, 2007

Free advice...

--it's sometimes worth taking. I've read this, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Authors from The Irene Goodman Literary Agency, so many times I've paraphrased it in my mind for quick retrieval and almost mantra-like use.

Hmm? How does it sound between my ears? Oh, like this...

The Seven Staples:

1. Same time, every day.
Show up, do the work--no excuses.

2. Don't give up.
Successful authors don't say, "I quit writing. It was just too hard, so I gave up, Oprah."

3. Pay attention to comments.
Even lousy ones. They're all useful.

4. Readers--give 'em what they want.

5. Figure out what you want, then get it.

6. Have a life.

7. Open the door.When opportunity knocks, open the door!

I may not say it as succinctly as Irene Goodman but I've taken the words to heart. Who knows? Maybe they'll give you something to think about, too. :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

4 comments:

Tory Richards said...

Man, I wish I could get number 1 down! I'm not very diciplined:(

Great blog today!

margaret blake said...

That goes for me too. I just cannot be disciplined. I am here there and everywhere. There is good advice in the piece though.
Thanks for that, Sarita.

Margaret.

Kathleen said...

Great advice! But so hard to be disciplined around the holidays -- especially when you have company and your office is in the kitchen. But we are all moving forward on our WIP's which is something to celebrate.

Sarita Leone said...

Thanks, Debbie. I think this is some of the best, and easiest to remember, advice I've seen. I pass it on as often as I can, hoping it'll help someone else the way it's helped me. :)

Discipline. It's hard, I agree. Here, there and everywhere, Margaret? You always make me smile. :)

Kathleen, wow! Your office in the kitchen? I am in awe of you, that you can work with cookies so close by. Me, I could never do it. I'd be eating when I was supposed to be writing, LOL.

You're right, we're all writing and that is worth celebrating! And I noticed we each occupy a place on the WCP Hot Titles list this morning. Yay Larks! :)