I’ve written lots and lots of writing advice tweets over the years. Here they are, all in one place!
I will keep adding to this list as I tweet them out and as Twitter allows more access to older tweets:
"My book was a huge success and it solved all my problems!!" said no writer ever.— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) January 2, 2015
How to format your manuscript:
– Double space
– 1″ margins
– 1/2″ indents
– Page #’s
– Page break for chapters
Don’t. Do. Anything. Else.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) August 2, 2014
Any writer who doesn’t accept feedback on their work has a fool for an editor. #writing
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) March 2, 2013
It’s better to start a trend than to chase one. #writing
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 19, 2013
Opening your novel with a gimmick is like shaking someone’s hand with a hand buzzer. They’ll never trust you again. #writing
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 18, 2013
A first paragraph is like starting a dance with a reader who can’t hear the music. You have to guide them until they find the rhythm.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 7, 2013
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) January 4, 2013
Authors: No one ever spammed their way to bestsellerdom. Not even to dozensellerdom.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) December 11, 2012
Crafting a novel’s voice is about flow, rhythm, cadence, vocabulary, lexicon, and slang #NaNoWriMo
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) November 2, 2012
Conflict is a novel’s oxygen: It needs conflict to survive but burn it too quickly and you’ll suffocate before the end #NaNoWriMo
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) November 1, 2012
Every protagonist has to want something big. The plot is how they overcome the obstacles in their path to get that thing (or not) #NaNoWriMo
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) November 1, 2012
Every novel needs: 1) starting place 2) protag’s life knocked ajar 3) character embarks on journey 4) ends up somewhere new #NaNoWriMo
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) November 1, 2012
First person narratives have to pass the elevator test: Would you want to be stuck in an elevator with that person for six hours?
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) October 7, 2012
The best thing to do when your work is critiqued: Give it time bit.ly/NW4rFQ#writing
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) August 2, 2012
William Faulkner on what makes a good writer: “99% talent, 99% discipline, 99% work” https://bit.ly/N7gb8b
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) July 22, 2012
“What is fiction if not a purposeful dreaming?” – Jonathan Franzen
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) June 22, 2012
A social media presence won’t make your book a bestseller. Use it anyway. bit.ly/LumjJL
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) May 21, 2012
You shouldn’t have to talk yourself into an idea. It should talk itself into you. #writing
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) May 5, 2012
Be wary of anyone who tries to tell you there’s only one way to find successful publication bit.ly/GQIJTB
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) March 26, 2012
The only novels writers regret are the ones they never got around to writing.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) March 18, 2012
Being a writer means researching the strangest things.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) July 17, 2011
Chapter breaks are magical. Use them for cliffhangers/punctuating a scene/changing scenery/giving the reader a breather.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) July 7, 2011
If your readers don’t know what your protagonist knows you risk making them feel frozen out out of the novel.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) June 7, 2011
Sometimes you stare at a blank screen for an hour and finally come up with one idea. And it’s worth it.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) May 17, 2011
The next big thing is never like the last big thing.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) March 2, 2011
Your enemies when writing a query: vagueness, braggadocio, “creative” formatting, logorrhea, comparisons to Twilight.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 28, 2011
One sentence pitch formula: When OPENING CONFLICT happens to CHARACTER, they have OVERCOME CONFLICT to COMPLETE QUEST.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 24, 2011
A narrator has to be likeable enough that we want to spend a book with them.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 23, 2011
If you’re not having fun writing it, they’re not going to have fun reading it.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 22, 2011
When editing, I trace one change through the book rather than working chronologically. Less to keep in your head.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 19, 2011
In a story-saturated world, really great ideas are very rare and precious. But it’s still the execution that counts.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 16, 2011
It’s important to grab a reader with a good opening, but inadvisable to grab them and start punching them in the face.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 15, 2011
In great novels, every character has their own set of goals, vices, and motivations and no one is purely good or evil.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 14, 2011
When writing dialogue, dialect is kind of like salt. Used sparingly it can add flavor, but you wouldn’t want to construct a dish around it.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 13, 2011
I figure, when in doubt: add space monkeys.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 12, 2011
In novels, character and plot are like Jersey Shore and hair gel: you can’t have one without the other.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 11, 2011
I like my prologues like I like my dental appointments: short, painless, necessary.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 10, 2011
Great settings in books are just as alive, changing, and memorable as the characters themselves.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 9, 2011
Remember your successes when your fail and your failures when you succeed.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 8, 2011
In writing, pacing is the average interval between moments of conflict.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 7, 2011
If God wanted everyone to be writers he wouldn’t have invented distractingly beautiful weather.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 6, 2011
It’s important for writers to be self-critical enough to spot errors but not so critical that you’re paralyzed with doubt.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 6, 2011
A great first paragraph establishes the tone/voice, gets the reader into a flow, and builds trust in the author.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 3, 2011
Great writing feels effortless and is the result of an insane amount of effort.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 3, 2011
When it comes to dialogue, characters should say anything but what they’re actually thinking.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) February 2, 2011
Want to know what an agent’s inbox looks like? Read contest entries! nathanbransford.com/2011/01/want-t…
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) January 25, 2011
So many chapters can be improved by moving a key event from the middle to the end. Keep the suspense going as long as possible.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) December 11, 2010
I cringe when aspiring writers call books “trash.” Better to try and spot what works than complain about what doesn’t.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) July 14, 2010
Receiving a ton of queries treating capitalization & punctuation as optional. Unless you’re ee cummings: they’re not.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) June 14, 2010
When it comes to queries, your current project should always be the star of the show: https://bit.ly/bRagO8
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) May 6, 2010
“Pre-queries” are getting out of control. Send your query or don’t send it. There is no pre-query.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) March 1, 2010
“Writing is like the life of a glacier. One eternal grind.” – John Muir
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) October 31, 2009
If you want your query to look professional you might want to choose a font color other than pink. Like black for instance.
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) October 29, 2009
Life’s eternal mystery: why would someone spend months/years writing a novel and then throw together a slapdash query?
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) October 7, 2009
The myth of “just an author”: it’s not true today and I doubt it ever was: https://tinyurl.com/kna5bo
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) August 11, 2009
If you want to be a writer you need to know how to use a computer: https://tinyurl.com/kjphb9
— Nathan Bransford (@NathanBransford) July 27, 2009
These made me laugh. My students thank you.
Pre-queries? Now that's a hoot.
~jon
This is awesome.
You rock. These are excellent.
"No author spammed their way … " please, please, please hammer this one home!
I know it's a tough line to toe, promotion versus spam-ese. People need to learn how to turn the volume down on their own work.
Best way to do it? Promote other people's work … like a fox. Karma will, in turn, reward you. Consider this shared!
I'm doing it. I'm adding a space monkey to my WIP. I shall call him Weever.
I especially loved "Conflict is a novel's oxygen: It needs conflict to survive but burn it too quickly and you'll suffocate before the end", and the William Faulkner quote. All great advice.
Great tweets, and informative too! I didn't know there was such a thing as pre-query, or that people were sending them out. I especially like the tweet about memoirs; I think it's definitely true because some writers can make even the most ordinary things, like going to Wal-mart or baking a cake, sound entertaining enough that it motivates you to keep reading…and reading.
you should start your own line of cookies. Excellent advice!
I didn't even know there was such a thing as a prequery. I am glad to hear it is a step in the process that I can skip over..
These are great, start to finish, Nathan.
I'll take this one as my fave: "Great settings in books are just as alive, changing, and memorable as the characters themselves." — only because writers so often fall too far on one side of this fence or the other. While setting might not be The Star, it is still important!
Maybe we should get ALL of our writing advice in this delightfully short-winded form! -grin-
So g;ad I was able to catch up and read these gems all in one convenient place. Thanks!
This is a great list! And I'm so glad you're going to add to keep adding to it!
Some gems of wisdom here. I especially liked the one about first person/elevator, since I write first voice. Very true, and good to keep in mind!
So, I finished the first Jacob, and it is so fun. I just started the second one. "We don't negotiate with space monkeys"! Ha, ha, ha, ha – that is my favorite line – too funny. 🙂
Working my way up to the third! 🙂
"If you want to be a writer you need to know how to use a computer." Totally agree, but if you can read this pearl of tweetvice you don't need it!
Loving this archive, much easier than sifting through a twitter feed.
These are great! Glad I found you, (through Stumbleupon – that site has much to offer). I'm currently blogging memoirs and hope to turn some of them into a book. It is challenging to make things interesting.