{"id":121,"date":"2016-08-31T05:30:00","date_gmt":"2016-08-31T05:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.shortstorydayafrica.org\/?p=121"},"modified":"2016-08-31T05:30:00","modified_gmt":"2016-08-31T05:30:00","slug":"writetips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/?p=121","title":{"rendered":"#WriteTips From The 2016 Judges."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sindiwe Magona<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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– Read! Read! Read! This is the writer\u2019s greatest teacher<\/p>\n

– Writing is work. Work at it \u2013 practice makes perfect<\/p>\n

– When you have written \u2018The End\u2019 \u2013 put the piece aside for some time before you publish it<\/p>\n

– Revise … revise … revise<\/p>\n

– Criticism … welcome it; don\u2019t defend yourself or your work. Take it home and consider it a gift and use it as you see fit. Not all of it will be good. It is up to you, the creator of your work to see what seems to make sense.<\/p>\n

– Trust your gut feeling \u2013 after all, it is your work, comes out of you, your creation<\/p>\n

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H J Golakai<\/a>  <\/strong><\/h3>\n

– Never work hungry \u2013 truly, don\u2019t be a bloody hero. You\u2019ll have to toss most of it when you read it back later with a glucose-happy brain.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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– Don\u2019t try and \u2018sell\u2019 your voice. It takes awhile to sound like yourself but that\u2019s the joy of the thing, evolving. Never write for the sake of perfecting a style. Pour yourself into your story because that\u2019s what matters. Some great author said the perfection of style signals the demise of your imagination, and I really believe that. Trust your characters to tell you what your story will sound like.<\/span><\/p>\n

– You can never read enough. Ever. I recently found myself reading a thriller on my phone at a funeral. Did I feel like the biggest buttwipe on the planet? \u2013 definitely. Did I stop? \u2013 hell no. <\/span><\/p>\n

– Get a bunch of voracious readers and\/or good writers to show your work to. Feedback is essential. Many younger writers make the mistake of being so afraid of criticism that they squirrel their work away, yet they\u2019re puzzled as to why they can\u2019t find a publisher or win a competition. Because you sound terrible, and there\u2019s no one but you to tell you that. Make your circle bigger.<\/span><\/p>\n

– Stop worrying about winning competitions, getting famous or even finding a publisher. Seriously, stop. Get the work ready and it will find a home.<\/span><\/p>\n

– Create a daily writing regimen and do your best to stick to it. Don\u2019t beat yourself up if you don\u2019t. Just try and do a little bit of writing or editing every day.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Tendai Huchu<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

– Leave completed manuscript in the fridge-freezer for as long as possible.<\/p>\n

– Procrastinate \u2013 it helps.<\/p>\n

– Get a beta reader you trust.<\/p>\n

 – Retrieve hacksaw and scalpel from toolbox, collect manuscript from fridge and proceed to hack away.<\/p>\n

– Call Batman.<\/p>\n

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Sindiwe Magona – Read! Read! Read! This is the writer\u2019s greatest teacher – Writing is work. Work at it \u2013 practice makes perfect – When you have written \u2018The End\u2019 \u2013 put the piece aside for some time before you publish it – Revise … revise … revise – Criticism … welcome it; don\u2019t defend […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[140,47,56,141,139,53,142,69],"class_list":["post-121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-write-tips","tag-sindiwemagona","tag-writerwednesday","tag-writetips","tag-h-j-golakai","tag-liberian-writer","tag-south-african-writer","tag-tendai-huchu","tag-zimbabwean-writer","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shortstorydayafrica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}