I Still Have No Idea…

By: Suzanne Robb

Stuart was kind enough to ask me to write something for Women in Horror Month…and I have to be honest I am a bit nervous. What to talk about? I want to sound interesting (I’m rather dull).

When I sat down to start this it occurred to me that I have been writing for almost ten years. I started out doing non-fiction and then a friend persuaded me to branch out. To write a short story for a horror anthology.

At first I brushed it off. Me writing horror? No way. I couldn’t do something like that. Though  the longer I thought about it and the more my friend persuaded me to give it a shot, I said what the hell?

I submitted three stories, the first two rejected (rightly so) and the third accepted. During the process I learned quite a bit and in the last decade not much has changed.

And by “not much has changed” I mean that I am still learning. When it comes to writing it is a never ending process. Aside from grammar, submission guidelines, word territory, plotting, outlining, research, and a million other things – there are different views, ideas, methods, and ways of doing things that at times I feel like it is easy to get lost in the shuffle. Lose sight of the goal, which is to create.

Write every day. Read every day. Follow this blog, Pick up this book about writing. Write what people want. Create a brand. Publish as much as you can as fast as you can. Take your time, put out a quality product. Mailing lists. Websites.

All of it is overwhelming and at times contradictory.

For me, the best advice I have ever taken to heart is to read every day.

I read any and all genres. I read new authors and established ones. I read outside my comfort zone. I do this because it helps me expand my ideas, build upon stories in my head, add depth to characters, and create interesting plot twists. I love to mash up genres, ideas, beliefs.

But that is me and there is one thing there is no shortage of when it comes to writing: Advice on how to be a writer.

My thoughts on the matter are to do what works for you. Whatever it is that inspires you, motivates you, encourages you, makes you work at it – go with that.

Tell your story because you are the only one who can.