From the PlosBlogs’ NeuroTribes Blog, investigative reporter and aspiring author Steve Silberman (Wired and others) recently posted an intriguing collection of advice to aspiring authors from 23 published
writers.
From Practical Tips on Writing a Book from 23 Brilliant Authors –
I love books. My late father Donald, who taught Wordsworth and Melville to inner-city kids for decades, used to read Ulysses to me while he carried me on his shoulders. Perhaps it was inevitable that I grew up to be a writer. Now, after years of investigative reporting for Wired and other magazines, I’m finally writing a book of my own.
And…..
I’m not sentimental about old media vs. new media. Nothing will ever replace the sublime feeling of sanctuary created by the printed page, but I treasure the books on my Kindle too, particularly when I’m reading at 30,000 feet. What I love is words — storytelling, the flow of well-wrought sentences, the gradual unfolding of a long and thoughtful tale, the private communion with an author’s mind.
But now comes the hard part. It’s one thing to work up a 4000-word magazine feature and another to sit down and write a 100,000-word book. I’m acutely aware that I’ve been granted a precious opportunity to cast light on forgotten history and provide a platform for voices that are rarely heard. At the same time, I’m scared out of my wits that the two decades of journalism that have led up to this project have not prepared me to write a good book. I wake up at 3am staring into the darkness, wondering if I’ll have the skills, discipline, and inner resources to pull it off.
He goes on to offer tips, tricks of the trade and suggestions from 23 published authors from his network.
The collection of advice is thought provoking, compelling, and yep, even inspiring.
One of my favorite mentors is fond of saying everyone has at least one good book in them.
In this day seemingly dominated by twits tweeting I like to argue the evidence is surging against his theory, though secretly I hope he’s right.
Fly fisher folk continue to produce engagingly creative prose, photography and film, and I suspect the books will keep flowing too.
We say keep ‘em coming.
