This blog has long been a friendly place to come and learn, and what better way to learn than to ask?
You have questions. Writer stuff, marketing, motivation, you name it.
ASK ME
Your questions. Your challenges. Your issues.
If I don’t know, we’ll put it out to my vast network of author friends and get an answer. Or I’ll make something up.
Many people helped me when I was starting out because I was willing to ask what I needed to know.
That shortened my learning curve substantially.
– Dan Alatorre
Dan Alatorre 
From your experience Dan both as a writer and witnessing other writers.
Firstly I don’t believe there is a definitive answer to this, but your opinion would be valued.
A writer, it is hoped will always seek to deliver their best when writing. In consequence a writer also look to challenge themselves to improve on the next work.
However, do you think it is valid to believe at some stage a writer could reach a limit when it comes to their overall creativity and thus being willing to experiment simply within their own ‘safety zone’?
This is probably a question loaded with all sorts of issues and interpretations.
I’m interested in views on this issue.
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Pressure can turn a piece of coal into a diamond, and it can turn in a coconut shell into a pile of dust.
I recently read that in the old days, when guys like Mickey Spillane and others were cranking out their pulp fiction, they readily admitted to having to write a new novel every few weeks. They also admitted that some were good and some were not. Reading them now, the good ones stand out.
I don’t believe that every writer continues to improve. But improvement is not an accident. And at some point, you take on the mantle of being able to know what all the rules are – and then just defy them anyway because The story is good enough to do that.
Also, just because somebody does something a lot doesn’t mean they get better at it. A lot of people don’t. A lot of people write crap and think it’s good and continue to put out more crap, never improving – and even going so far as to ignore good advice. Some of them may sell a lot of books but most do not, and the ones who do sell a lotta books aren’t really respected; or is that jealousy?
I don’t know and I don’t care.
My goal is to write stories that grip the reader and make them unable to put the book down.
You can ask which was the better story, the English patient or the original Star Wars. Critics loved one but the entire world loved the other and it has introduced new words into our lexicon and was sold for $1 billion franchise recently.
So improvement is relative and so is quality. Mickey Spillane also said, “The critics want me to create caviar, but people eat a lot more peanuts than they do caviar.”
Hard to argue with that.
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“Pressure can turn a piece of coal into a diamond, and it can turn in a coconut shell into a pile of dust.”
Now there is a quote for the ages!
This topic might bring as many opinions as there are writers who care about their work.
It would seem each has to find their own way as best they can, how they can. If they are dissatisfied this would be a time to seek advice.
My wife, a poet works hard making every word count. How she does it I do not know.
Me, I am probably more chaotic than is good for me. Willing to listen to advice on syntax and paring down some of the description. Very stubborn (downright hostile at times) over my characters, plots and directions. In this I am content, and will not blame anyone else if obscurity is my future. I just love to write.
In the meantime, best wishes for your future Dan
Roger.
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Thanks!
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