Carl Hiaasen On Writing

Writers Write shares writing tips and resources. In this post, we share tips from Carl Hiaasen On Writing.

Carl Hiaasen is an American author who was born 12 March 1953. His works of fiction include Star Island, Nature Girl, Tourist Season, and Skinny Dip.

He writes for adults in the humorous crime fiction genre and his more than 20 novels include themes of environmentalism and political corruption in his native Florida.

He also writes novels for young readers, including Hoot, which won a Newbery Honor. His other children’s books are Flush, Scat, Chomp, and Skink.

He has written a column for The Miami Herald since 1985 and he has three Pulitzer Prize-nominations for his non-fiction work. His most recent work of non-fiction is Dance of the Reptiles, a collection of his columns.

In an interview with The Guardian, the bestselling author said, ‘The greatest sin for a writer is to be boring.’

We found this post by the author on Scholastic and we wanted to share some of his advice with you.

Carl Hiaasen On Writing

1. I don’t know any successful writers who didn’t read like crazy when they were kids. Reading gives you a great appreciation for storytelling, and for language.
2. There’s no magic piece of advice — writing is hard work, and good writing is even harder. The only way I know to get better is to write as much as possible and to not give up, even when you’re discouraged.
3. When you’re not writing, read as much as possible and learn from what you read. Great novels and great stories are like textbooks to someone who’s learning the craft.
4. Some novelists rewrite their books from start to finish, but I polish chapter by chapter. Before I’m done I probably read and tinker with each chapter 15 or 20 times, and even then I’m rarely 100% satisfied. There’s always something I think I can do to improve the writing, but at some point you’ve got to let go of the manuscript and have your editor give it a fresh eye.
5. Writing is one of the loneliest and most solitary jobs you could have, but it’s also one of the most rewarding. To be able to create from nothing a story that makes people laugh — or even just think — is a talent that nobody should waste.
6. I’ve been very lucky in my career, but luck only takes you so far. In the end, every writer has to get up and start the next day with nothing but a blank page and their imagination.

Read the full post here: Scholastic

Source for image: Carl Hiaasen

 by Amanda Patterson

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TIP: If you want help writing a book, buy The Novel Writing Exercises Workbook.