By which I mean to say, 20 minutes for me to write, 10-40 minutes for you to read. Now while writing a horrible story that I have already thrown in the trash I ended up wondering if anyone happened to have the same idea as me for a story about Hel's "fantasy land", to which I found 300 stories, 1000 short stories people have posted on various websites, and about 12 stories from Norse mythology. So, I dropped it, not so much because of how many people were writing it, but because from reading all that I realized I know very little about Hel and my version of her "fantasy land" was not nearly horrible enough.
Which is to bring up the point of this random rant of mine, along with noticing how horribly mellow my version of Hel's lands of punishment were compared to others I noticed a large problem with aspiring writers. Some of the advice I give you I admit I might not even follow properly, but it's always good to try to keep them in mind. Since this is going to be a 20 minute rush, I cannot admit to this being a skilled read.
1) Agents? Forget it.
One problem I notice with a few people trying to start out seems to be one that I almost fell under the failure of. Which is to say the assumption that a Agent is needed in any form of publishing. Which is to say it's entirely false. A agent normally works off a percentage of your earnings from whoever you publish from which is why some aspiring writers might find it hard to get a good agent since these people just like you are not going to exactly be all that rich unless they happened to get lucky or have a lot of clients, which is why now you might notice a lot of agents requiring a fee to get them, which sadly was not always the case, thanks to so many bad cases from young writers who they decided to MIGHT make it, and end up broke. Besides, you won't even need a agent unless your making enough money that it would be worth someones time to steal from you.
2) Try to avoid Bias
Something that gets anyone, and will likely get me with this little essay is bias. When you write a paper for some class or a small story for whatever you don't see the errors, you just see what you were planning to begin with. So for most writers who tend to be used to thinking in a "off the ball" order, to readers (or your teachers) this can be nightmare. The only way to really get out of this is to get your friends to read over it, or wait a few days after writing it to see if you can pull any mistakes out.
3) Get a few personal critiques.
Something a few of us might have a problem with but is always a needed thing. When you're writing for the enjoyment of a lot of people, it is considered a number 1 goal that your work can be understood. To this I suggest around 4-10 people, which gives you plenty of room for interpretation, so if they are bothered by a few things but others like the same stuff, you can more or less ignore it and consider that to be preference, if a lot of people are complaining about a part, then it might be good or reorder or change it.
4) If it's bad, kill it, if your attached to the idea, throw it into something else.
One hard thing to do with a story for some people (me for example) is accepting that a story is bad, or that a part of it you were attached to just does not work. If say you follow number 3 on this list but all 10 of your friends who you got to read it say that your favorite fight scene is set at a horrible time, or the car accident you decided to mention thinking it would help the plot but just confused people or something else. It is just sometimes better to get rid of it, or better yet if you can think of a better place, move it somewhere will it will fit in more, or put the idea in a entirely different story.
5) Never use a reference book.
This is something I have actually laughed at before that someone was thinking was a requirement. Here is the thing, if your writing a story for a wide audience and you need to look up the meaning of a word in order to use it right or spell it right. There is a big chance half your readers won't know the word either. If you're planning to write a Language Textbook or something, that might be just fine, but if you're writing for entertainment, stick to words you know.
6) Having fun?
This is a strange one, but still needed, when you are working to be a writer of any kind, one big thing you need to always ask yourself while doing it is "Am I having fun?" You can think "no" once in a while but if you find yourself doing it a lot, you might need to look for a new job.
7) Pay attention to the market your sending to.
One thing a friend of mine had a lot of problems with while working at a local newspaper company was out of place stories. I am not saying everyone did it, but a LOT of people did. When you plan to offer up your stories to a place don't go sending a story about a mother and her child battling cancer to playboy or something and you will probably do fine.
8) Write something interesting.
When you write a story one thing that should be on your mind always is how interesting this would be. You want to draw your readers into something that can sit down with and move through 10-20 pages without feeling like it's been a hour. Which is why I must stress again the contents of number 3. Without some people to read over something for you, you could be spending a lot of time on something that nobody will ever want to read.
9) Don't stop!
When you find yourself writing, a story, I don't care if it's about a baby kitten or cow man battling a speeding fish, don't stop writing unless you absolutely have to. The moment you stop might be the moment your train of thought crashing into the grass and you end up staring blankly at the paper.
10) Bring a note book with you.
One of the greatest places for inspiration is the real world. Live in it, and make sure to take some notes about what seems interesting, along with any idea you have, it might be perfect to put in later on when you are in a mental road block.
My 20 minutes are up, good bye.
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