Heyyy! You're on stop number nine on the Vampire Crush blog tour, hosted by Good Choice Reading. At the end of the tour, there will be an awesome giveaway! Each stop on the tour will have a piece of a saying at the bottom, and it's up to to you to visit each stop an collect the pieces.
Today, A.M. Robinson is giving us a bit of writing advice:
"I love how many different ways there are to write successfully. Some writers work early in the morning because they feel like the ideas are freshest; others wait until late at night, when they can feel content that the day’s hurdles are behind them. Some spend almost as much time outlining as they do writing; others (myself included) will abandon any sort of plan as soon as they reach chapter two. Virginia Woolf often wrote standing up; Ben Franklin wrote in the bathtub. Find two writers whose days and writing processes are exactly the same, down to the minute, and the world will fold in on itself! Or—less dramatically and probably more realistically—I will be really surprised. But when it comes to offering tips on how to start a writing career, I’ve noticed that they all tend to agree on one point and one point only: In order to write a book, you have to write. Not talk about writing, or read books about writing or think about writing, or say the word “writing” twenty times while twirling counter-clockwise, but actually write.
As advice goes, it seems ridiculously simple. But I’d be willing to bet that Actually Writing is one of the hardest steps for a lot of aspiring writers. I know it was for me. I spent a good six years wanting to be a writer but convincing myself that I wasn’t ready to sit down at a computer yet. If it wasn’t assigned for class, I was a master of finding excuses—I hadn’t read enough writing guides! My idea wasn’t fully formed yet! I wasn’t familiar enough with the market! This television show needed to be watched RIGHT NOW! My fingers were tingling, better rest them! If I had spent as much time writing as I did spinning reasons on why not to write, I would have had at least one finished novel, maybe two.
Then, when I was 25, I got the kick in the pants that I needed. It’s an embarrassing kick in the pants to admit now (although is there ever an un-embarrassing kick in the pants? Discuss) as it had less to do with willpower and more to do with a Long-term Boyfriend Who Did Not Want to Move to New York Indiana
I started to write a couple of hours every day, staying after work until I had knocked out a thousand words. At first it was hard sticking around the office while everyone was leaving, but fifteen minutes in, a switch would flip and I would suddenly be typing away happily, buoyed by an incredible sense of accomplishment that came from doing something that I had been talking about for years. And besides, it was FUN.
Somewhere around page 130, the Boyfriend and I parted ways, but (thankfully!) the motivation to finish Vampire Crush stuck around. By that time I was hooked on Sophie’s voice. I loved how snarky and determined she was, and how at first the vampires invading her school were mainly problematic because they were making it harder for her to be editor-in-chief of her school’s newspaper. I loved the banter between her and James, her childhood crush/nemesis who had moved back to Michigan
So I’m going to dole out some advice, but I warn you that it will be utterly familiar. Go ahead and write what you want, how you want, where you want, and why you want, but seriously—just start writing. Because the sooner you have it down on paper, the sooner you can start making it perfect. "
GRAND PRIZE:
+++Signed HARDCOVER copy of Vampire Crush
+++A pair of whale-dotted pajama pants, a la Sophie.
+++Bat-shaped cookie cutter
+++Cute vampire monster mirror
+++"Vampire Blood" hand gel.
TWO ALTERNATE PRIZES
+++Signed paperback copy of Vampire Crush
+++"Vampire Blood" hand gel
That is a total of THREE WINNERS!!! This giveaway will be open INTERNATIONAL! All you have to do is collect all the secret sayings and follow A.M. Robinson on Twitter and Facebook.
Here are the blogs participating in the tour:
March 8th: With a Book!
March 9th: Once Upon A Twilight
March 10th: A Simple love of Reading Guest Post/Giveaway
March 11th: 365 Days of Reading Guest Post/Giveaway
March 12th: Skyla11377 Reviews Guest Post/Giveaway
March 13th: Without a Bookshelf Guest Post/Giveaway
March 14th: Dark Readers Guest Post/Giveaway
March 15th: IB Book Blogging Guest Post/Giveaway
March 16th: Another Book Junkie! Guest Post/Giveaway
March 17th: Read for your Future
March 18th: Good Choice Reading
This stop's clue: "AND MAYBE"
The next stop: Read For Your Future.
Thanks for hosting another great stop along the tour.
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