Advice for aspiring novelists from a very successful one
August 4th, 2017 by Bob Bly
My friend Hunter Shea is a successful and prolific horror writer.
He is the author of more than 17 published novels including “The
Jersey Devil” (Pinnacle), “They Rise” (Severed Press), and “We
Are Always Watching” (Sinister Grin).
Anyway, Hunter recently told me an interesting story with a
lesson for writers that I want to share with you.
Take it away Mr. Shea….
“I attended only one writer’s conference in my life. It was close
to home in New York City, held in a college during the semester
break.
“Following my printed schedule, I went to a classroom to listen
to a famous thriller author talk about his path to publication.
“It was a packed room, so I had to take a seat in the back. I
noticed an old man sitting next to me.
“He leaned over and whispered, ‘You spend a lot of money on this,
kid?’
“‘You could say that.’ I’d spent nine hundred dollars I didn’t
have at the time.
“‘You see all these people?’ he said, pointing at the back of
everyone’s heads.
“‘Yeah.
“‘None of them will ever be writers. Come back here in ten years
and you’ll see the same faces.’
“‘Do me a favor. Hold onto your money. You want to be a writer?’
“I nodded, hoping the guy would quiet down once the author
started talking.
“‘Then go home and do two things. Read a ton. Then write a ton.
That’s all there is to it.’
“I quietly thanked him for the advice, enjoyed the talk by the
thriller author, and attended as many sessions that morning as I
could.
“Imagine my surprise when I saw that old man during the lunch
event stride up to the podium when he was introduced as the key
speaker for the day.
“That man was Elmore Leonard.
“Boom! I took his advice, and never again spent a dime on a
writing conference.
“Elmore Leonard saved me enough money over the years to buy a
brand new car. I wish he were alive so I could thank him
properly.
“If you’re going to spend your money, spend it on books to read.”
Thanks, Hunter!
This entry was posted on Friday, August 4th, 2017 at 2:53 pm and is filed under General, Success, Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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