Jame Patterson: Don’t Listen to Your English Teacher
Melody Pickle, Writing Specialist, WAC, Kaplan University Writing Center
In this 6 minute interview, James Patterson tells what he has learned so far about writing. He covers the following ideas:
Do what you love no matter what. (His first book was rejected 37 times.) He also explains that one of his English teachers told him to never write again. Therefore, writers of all types, should not be discouraged by one negative comment.
Reminder – Teachers’ words have a lot of power.
Allergic to Writer’s Block – He says he is allergic to writer’s block. If he does not like a scene, he scraps it an starts over. He does not stop writing for two months to figure out a scene. (I love this phrase!)
Parents Get Kids Reading – He explains that it is a parental responsibility to get kids reading. He also has a great website for book recommendations for kids!
What a dynamic reflection from a respected best-selling author! Patterson’s advice for writing fiction extends to academic writing when he says, “Make every page its own thriller.” Making every page count is good advice for student writers and writing instructors/tutors alike.
Reblogged this on <3……….Laura Crean………..<3.