Mapping the Labyrinth: A No-Mucking-About Beginner’s Guide to Starting Out as a Writer
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a young person in possession of a desire to write, must be in want of advice from an old fart
(image © TriStar Pictures)
I’m often questioned by younger writers looking to begin their journey. The field of writing - especially commercial writing - is as glamorous as it is treacherous. There’s a wealth of information out there, but you need to separate the truth from the clickbait. In an attempt to be more prepared next time someone asks me, and to save me from forgetting anything useful and just burbling about the price of printer ink these days, I’ve gone through some of my previous essays - namely, My Future Shock Hell, Submit or Surrender: Why Can’t I Take My Own Writing Advice? and Why Writers Are Full of S*** (And Why We Have To Be) - expanded upon several key points and arranged them into the following no-nonsense bullet-list.
This is aimed largely at younger writers (the Great Unbroken), but also rookies of any age looking to enter the field for the first time, either commercially or in sacred pursuit of the art itself.
Bear in mind that the following points are not universal truths. I make no claim whatsoever to be offering a comprehensive guide to success - I’ll leave that to the clickbait-gurus and bullshit-merchants.
These points are based on the singular experiences of me - a wistful, white, working-class idiot who’s completely self-taught, and has spent over twenty years bumbling his way in and out of freelance writing on comics, fiction and audio in the worlds of horror, fantasy and science-fiction.
I cannot draw you a map of the Labyrinth. No one can. Its walls and corridors shift over time, they adapt to suit or hinder the individual traveller. All I can do is draw a squiggle that represents the route I’ve taken so far. There are countless other paths, other experiences, other traps. So read widely and with an open heart. Gather clues from writers whose routes contrast with mine and build a composite map of your own.
When Starting a Life in Writing…
There is no one-size-fits-all advice. Everyone’s circumstances are different. Not all writers start in the same place. We arrive with different experiences and varying capacities for learning.
Writers further down the road than you can only really tell you what worked for them. Listen, but pick and choose what works or you.
Different backgrounds bring different obstacles. You’ll face different expectations and prejudices based on what and who people think you are. And how much you might be of value to them. Listen to those writers who have paved the way for people like you…