Writing Blog Number 2

20250820 Writing Advice From George R.R. Martin

Writing Advice From George R.R. Martin

More writing advice! And what makes it even better is that the first two mirror the advice I give! (Reminder: "20230113 Writing Advice" )
         So, this comes from George R.R. Martin, famous author-type person. I was going through an old hard drive and found a 2014 doc file with a list of links on it. 90% are dead (well, duh!), but this one was still alive! From August 2014 (so more than a decade ago), this is advice that I think applies to many writers.
         I want to bring up special note of the third bit of advice, as this very thing is something I see way too often on WdC. In fact, number 1 still creates issues with so-called writers. Sorry. Let’s let Mr Martin give the talk!

3 Writing Tips from George R.R. Martin

1. Read
The most important thing for any aspiring writer, I think, is to read! And not just the sort of thing you’re trying to write, be that fantasy, SF, comic books, whatever. You need to read everything. Read fiction, non-fiction, magazines, newspapers. Read history, historical fiction, biography. Read mystery novels, fantasy, SF, horror, mainstream, literary classics, erotica, adventure, satire. Every writer has something to teach you, for good or ill. (And yes, you can learn from bad books as well as good ones — what not to do).

2. Write
Write every day, even if it is only a page or two. The more you write, the better you’ll get. But don’t write in my universe, or Tolkien’s, or the Marvel universe, or the Star Trek universe, or any other borrowed background. Every writer needs to learn to create his own characters, worlds, and settings. Using someone else’s world is the lazy way out. If you don’t exercise those “literary muscles,” you’ll never develop them.

3. Begin with Short Stories
Given the realities of today’s market in science fiction and fantasy, I would also suggest that any aspiring writer begin with short stories. These days, I meet far too many young writers who try to start off with a novel right off, or a trilogy, or even a nine-book series. That’s like starting in at rock climbing by tackling Mt. Everest. Short stories help you learn your craft. They are a good place for you to make the mistakes that every beginning writer is going to make. And they are still the best way for a young writer to break in, since the magazines are always hungry for short SF and fantasy stories. Once you’ve been selling short stories for five years or so, you’ll have built up a name for yourself, and editors will start asking you about that first novel.

Whatever you do, though… good luck. You’ll need it.

So, not only does he tell people to start small (the Mt Everest analogy is perfect!), but has a go at those who only write in the fan-fiction sphere (my thoughts can be found: "20240301 An Academic Essay On Fan Fiction" ; "20240302 Some Fan Fiction Negatives" ; "20240303 Writing Fan Fiction" ).
         His five years of short story sales before that first novel? Well, I had around 8 years of writing shorts before attempting my first genuine novel. I had 10 years of short story sales before my first novel was accepted by a publisher. So… yeah, seems about right to me!
         However, magazines are dying (especially with new owners taking over established titles just for the old library) so I would change magazines to anthologies which are definitely out there and asking for submissions all the time!
         However, his advice mirrors that of Stephen King, Lionel Fanthorpe and many other authors with huge sales. Reading and writing are vital for any person who wants to be a writer.

Disagree if you wish, but then there are plenty of gatekeepers like me who won’t take you or your work seriously.
         Don’t know what to read? May I recommend starting here, at WdC, and give reviews? To review, you have to read, after all…