Some of the best writing advice I've ever heard or read came in today's post at Cynsations. Award winning and New York Times Bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith interviewed Egmont USA Publisher Elizabeth Law and Author Allen Zadoff. Allen's latest novel My Life, The Theatre, and Other Tragedies (Egmont, 2011) is now available but you may remember his novel Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have (Egmont, 2009). It won the 2010 Sid Fleischman Humor Award.
Here are a couple of the highlights for me. But you really need to read the entire interview. Trust me. It's worth interrupting your writing time. Also, there is an opportunity for a 30 page critique and phone call with Elizabeth Law to be won! Don't miss out!
Not to mention, Allen and Liz are just plain hilarious together. A working relationship to admire. Another reason why it's important to find that "right" editor. The one that clicks with you. The one that can't get your story out of their head.
Allen said, "Don’t try to write like other people. Let go of the idea you have to be literary or make words dance like Cormac McCarthy. Just write like you. Your job is learning how to do that."
Additionally, his take on how he processes an editorial revision letter, he calls them "notes", is a thought-process every writer should embrace whether you're gleaming feedback from an editor, agent or someone in your critique group.
Liz said, "Allen hadn't approached my edits like a checklist, he had taken what I said and then gone much further."
Isn't that what we should all be doing when we receive feedback? Taking the manuscript to a whole other level. How do you do that? Go read the interview. The clues are there!