Advice for Writers by Gerald Murnane

[Guru Coyote]

I just stumbled over this article about an Australian writer, and wanted to share his "rules for writers" advice.
Especially 4 and 5 I think are relevant.

1. Most people can learn to write. He used to say to his students, “whatever sort of writer you were going to be before you enrolled in this course you’ll be a better writer after you finish this course.”

2. Don’t give up your day job. “Make sure no one ever suffers on account of you wanting to be a writer.”

3. Don’t watch television. “You think of the average time the a person spends in front of the television set and multiply that by the days of the week, it’s a big bonus when you can give up something like that.”

4. Don’t think of publication when you write.

5. Write about the things that only you know about. He quotes Isaac Bashevis Singer, “Before I write a story I must have a conviction that it is a story that only I can write about.”

6. Don’t look at last year’s bestseller; forget what’s popular.

7. Write about what is important to you not what you think is important out there.

8. Choose a time of the day when you have a limited amount of leisure time and give yourself over intensely to that time.

9. Hope for the best

Here's the original article:
http://open.abc.net.au/openregions/vic-wimmera-86ow2sq/posts/gerald-murnane-15pr7qc

 

[BWFoster78]

I'm not so sure I agree with some of those.

3. Don’t watch television. “You think of the average time the a person spends in front of the television set and multiply that by the days of the week, it’s a big bonus when you can give up something like that.”

Television can be a huge time sink, but, if that's how you enjoy spending your leisure time, don't give it up because someone doesn't think it's productive. Every one needs down time. When you become a writer, even reading takes on a different signifigance. If TV helps recharge you, do it.

4. Don’t think of publication when you write.

I think this is great advice for a beginner. Your first novel needs to be about learning, not getting published. If you're a professional, however, you need to consider what is going to sell instead of what you want to write.

5. Write about the things that only you know about. He quotes Isaac Bashevis Singer, “Before I write a story I must have a conviction that it is a story that only I can write about.”

I'd say, Write about what interests you. I doubt that you're going to find many topics that meets the criteria above. Maybe an autobiography.

 

[Leif Notae]

Kill your TV, I've always said that. It is different because it is meant to hypnotize you. It'll suck out your mind and leave you a husk.

All that said, there is merit to everything said here. If you want to do it as a career, you will do more than write fiction. You will teach, you will speak, you will do everything ELSE to make money. The writing gets your foot in the door.

Good find, Guru!

 

[VanClash]

Personally in my mind, television might help. But it really depends what you are watching.

My leisure time is playing computer games, and just recently I have started playing Oblivion. This game has let me wind down, but more than that it has really inspired me to write. I think if you’re watching the right thing you could wind down and get inspired at the same time.

 

[Penpilot]

No TV? I would adjust that to if you have time to watch TV, you have time to write, so don't complain about not enough time. If I have to choose between watching TV and writing, when I know I should write, I choose writing. But TV has it's place, for ideas, and to just unwind. Too much time spent writing can burn you out just as too much TV can burn up all your time. Just as most things in life, moderation is the key.

 

[wordwalker]

Besides, no TV would mean no Buffy, no Homeland, no other choice of master's classes. There's unwinding, there's inspiration, and then it's back to perspiration again.

 

[Zero Angel]

The TV situation really depends on a couple different factors.

How passionate are you about writing?
How driven for success are you?​

That's basically it. If you look at self-made millionaires (that didn't have lottery type experiences) and high-powered business people or the President of the United States and people like that, most of them didn't have time for TV when they were making their money (or are still making their money) or doing their job.

Writing is the same way. If you can focus your energy solely into writing, then you won't have time for TV and you will be more successful.

I'm a big subscriber to the harder you work the more you are rewarded. If you are not being rewarded at a rate that you are comfortable with, then work harder (and that means you will have to play less).

I work about 12-16 hours every day, and I despise the time I make to watch television because I am at a point in my careers where there is always something else I can be doing that is productive and helpful to me.

If you need to recharge, then that is a personal thing, but I doubt that most people watch television just to recharge. That would be the exception, not the rule.

Now, it's not just television either. Television is a metaphor. It's anything that is taking you away from your future. Anything that is preventing you or enabling you to prevent yourself from being successful is something that needs to be avoided if you can manage it.

I have good weeks and bad weeks personally. I generally make time for the Daily Show no matter what, but other than that I've cut most of the fluff.

 

[Guru Coyote]

I love the discussion about TV etc that this has kicked off. Very good thoughts here.

No TV? I would adjust that to if you have time to watch TV, you have time to write, so don't complain about not enough time.

Yes, that about sums my own take on this.

One note on the whole "being productive" and "work hard" aspect: In the article, Gerald Murnane is described as "he never forces himself to write." I think that is an important context to the "no time for TV" aspect. Maybe his whole point was not to "spend all your time writing," but rather to "waste no time on TV."

And, yes, TV can totally be inspiring. The reason I personally stopped consuming any mainstream media (Radio and TV) is another: They force their schedule upon me. I need to be there when my fav show airs. (Sure, today that has all changed, we can record stuff.) And any time I DID sit around for the show I thought I's like to see... when it finally started, I often didn't enjoy it much. DVDs were my salvation, and now the Internet. Now I can pick and choose and consume when I am in the right mood for it. Oh, and podcasts

To me, the greates benefit of these new media is that I can self-schedule. I can start listening to a podcast, but I cn a get up and do something else at any point. The podcast will still be there to finish tomorrow.

 

[Chilari]

In any case I suspect with my generation at least, Reddit is a greater time sink than TV. It certainly is for me. I don't watch much TV at all. Just F1 and Downton Abbey, so that's, what, a few hours every second Sunday and 2 hours every second Saturday, on average. Reddit? Two hours daily, more at weekends, easily if I don't discipline myself. Evened out over the course of a year, TV takes up about 2 hours weekly, Reddit about 18 hours. And TV can be inspiring, even the Formula 1, whereas Reddit rarely is.

Maybe I should unbookmark Reddit; then I could get so much work done.

As for the "write about things only you know about" one, couldn't disagree more. I've had enough of ancient beekeeping for now and that's the only thing almost nobody else alive knows much about. I'd say "write a story that is uniquely yours" but that's not saying much. "Use your experiences to inspire and influence you" might be better.

 

[wordwalker]

(You know, one of the better arguments that TV could be a time-sink is that Mr. Murnane gave nine rules and pretty much this whole thread has gone to that one...)

 

[Anders Ämting]

1. Most people can learn to write. He used to say to his students, “whatever sort of writer you were going to be before you enrolled in this course you’ll be a better writer after you finish this course.”

"Before this course, you were on your way to become a terrible writer. Now you'll just be a bad writer."

2. Don’t give up your day job. “Make sure no one ever suffers on account of you wanting to be a writer.”

I don't see what giving up your day job has to do with making people suffer.

3. Don’t watch television. “You think of the average time the a person spends in front of the television set and multiply that by the days of the week, it’s a big bonus when you can give up something like that.”

Way ahead of you. I don't even have time to watch TV what with all the time I spend on the internet.

4. Don’t think of publication when you write.

Why not?

No, seriously. This isn't something blatantly obvious, you are telling young writers that they shouldn't try to get published. You can't dole out advice like that without explaining why.

5. Write about the things that only you know about. He quotes Isaac Bashevis Singer, “Before I write a story I must have a conviction that it is a story that only I can write about.”

This is such a profound piece of advice, I can't even tell what he's trying to say with it.

"Write about the things only you know about"? What does that even mean?

6. Don’t look at last year’s bestseller; forget what’s popular.

Again, why? What exactly is wrong with wanting to be popular? And how does not wanting to be popular make me a more skillful writer?

7. Write about what is important to you not what you think is important out there.

Because those are totally not the same thing.

8. Choose a time of the day when you have a limited amount of leisure time and give yourself over intensely to that time.

Write when you have the time. Gotcha.

9. Hope for the best

What happened to "don't think about getting published" and "forget about popularity"?

 

[Ireth]

I've had enough of ancient beekeeping for now and that's the only thing almost nobody else alive knows much about.

Ancient beekeeping, huh? Info on that would come in really handy for my vampire novel, as I want to have the hero learn how to keep bees. Not sure if this counts as "ancient", but do you know how it was done in 14th-century Scotland? Feel free to PM me; I don't want to hijack this thread too much. Or if you've already made an "ask me about beekeeping" thread, I'll go and look for it.

 

[Guru Coyote]

"Before this course, you were on your way to become a terrible writer. Now you'll just be a bad writer."

Oh, yeah! Small steps, small steps.

I don't see what giving up your day job has to do with making people suffer.

People who are relying on you to put food on the table?

What happened to "don't think about getting published" and "forget about popularity"?

I think what he means is "don't think of getting published while you are writing.

 

[Zero Angel]

Maybe I should unbookmark Reddit; then I could get so much work done.

As for the "write about things only you know about" one, couldn't disagree more. I've had enough of ancient beekeeping for now and that's the only thing almost nobody else alive knows much about. I'd say "write a story that is uniquely yours" but that's not saying much. "Use your experiences to inspire and influence you" might be better.

I don't know what Reddit is, and your post has convinced me to continue to bury my head in the sand in regards to Reddit.

As far as the beekeeping goes though, you should TOTALLY write about that, just do it in addition to everything else. I believe people that have knowledge have a moral obligation to make sure that knowledge is passed on.

PS Love the new icon!

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Some useful stuff in there. For me the most important would be not to think about publishing when you write. My thought is that he's bang on there. If you want to produce the best writing you can you need to concentrate on the writing, on telling the story you want to tell. Trying to write something because you think it might sell, say another teenage vampire love story, is a mistake. If it's not what you want to write, if it's not what you're passionate about, then what are the chances that it's going to be your best work? Not good in my view.

So write the story you want to write, then when it's done, edit and revise it according to publishing.

As for the idiot box - amen. I watch too much of it. But I also get ideas from it, and story telling is an ideas game. So it's a mixed bag. Maybe the better idea would be to be selective in what you watch. Watch what you really, really want to, and anything else that you think might inspire you. Don't just sit in front of the idiot box and blob out every evening, all evening.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[Zero Angel]

As for the idiot box - amen. I watch too much of it. But I also get ideas from it, and story telling is an ideas game. So it's a mixed bag. Maybe the better idea would be to be selective in what you watch. Watch what you really, really want to, and anything else that you think might inspire you. Don't just sit in front of the idiot box and blob out every evening, all evening.

See, that's called "research", totally different from watching television. Also what justifies rampant Wikipedia use, forum'ing on here, fiction, nonfiction and art book purchases, along with other things as well

 

[Guru Coyote]

Actually... I'm not sure if selective TV (or and media) is so inspiring.

Here's the thought: inspiration often comes when we are convronted with the unexpected. With new concepts, with things we would not ordinarily consider.
I actually get my best inspiration from those very rare instances when I watch TV with a friend... like once a year or so.

Selection kind of implies that I know what I am going to see, experience...

Habitual consumption of any media also very much falls into this "know what to expect" category. As such, it won't inspire.

 

[Chilari]

I don't know what Reddit is, and your post has convinced me to continue to bury my head in the sand in regards to Reddit.

As far as the beekeeping goes though, you should TOTALLY write about that, just do it in addition to everything else. I believe people that have knowledge have a moral obligation to make sure that knowledge is passed on.

PS Love the new icon!

Stay away from Reddit if you value your time. If you like kittens and mildly amusing photos though, go right ahead and look for it.

As for ancient beekeeping, I have written about it, in my masters dissertation. The University of Leicester School of Ancient History and Archaeology has two copies and Professor of Apiculture Francis Ratneiks of the University of Surrey has the third.


But back on topic, I took the day job one to be dependants suffering because your income drops.

Generally I'm not sure this advice is that well thought out. With all the discussion it has garnered over interpretations and contradictions it's starting to feel like Mr Murnane just whipped off some advice in five minutes because someone suggested it or he thought it would look good on his website, without really thinking about it much.

 

[Zero Angel]

But back on topic, I took the day job one to be dependants suffering because your income drops.

This is how I interpreted it as well, although that might be my own bias.