Pamela’s Prompts: What is the Best Writing Advice You’ve Ever Received?
Here’s what I wrote:
Years ago, I had the honor to meet author, journalist, and historian Shelby Foote. He is perhaps best known for his book The Civil War: A Narrative and his appearance in Ken Burns’s PBS documentary The Civil War in 1990, where he introduced a generation of Americans to a war that he believed was “central to all our lives.”
Foote was the guest speaker at a lectureship that my employer at the time sponsored, so I had a little one-on-one time as we explored Civil War artifacts in the library at my alma mater, Angelo State University.
(As an aside, I still feel terrible about the handshake I gave him. In my excitement and with my West Texas roots, I shook his hand too firmly. He winced. I apologized and we moved on to the topic of writing.)
“Mr. Foote,” I swallowed hard. “What advice would you give an aspiring writer who wants to write the next Great American Novel?”
In his trademark, no-nonsense manner, he gave me a pointed look and replied: “Well, not everyone who wants to become a surgeon can, right?” He then turned to look at another exhibit.
Ouch. Did Shelby Foote ever put me in my place!?
I thought about his comment in the days following the lectureship and, the more I did, the more I realized he had given me what would become the best writing advice I’d ever receive. I’d have to approach my life differently. I’d have to study the basics of writing much like a student who wants to become a surgeon. A student who wants to be a surgeon wouldn’t start in the operating room. He or she would start with the basics: Anatomy, medicine, and more.
To become a writer, I’d have to study the craft of writing. I couldn’t expect to become a best-selling novelist overnight (and I’m still waiting on that one). So, I dove in, and I continue to learn new things about the craft of writing every day.
Now, it’s your turn. Set a timer for 15 minutes and write. Ready? Set? Go!
Let me know the best writing advice you’ve ever received.
Happy writing!