11 tips from Ray Bradbury for beginning writers

The author of "Farenheit 451" offers several recommendations for beginners in literature, including "Don't start writing novels"

The American writer Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) is one of the most outstanding authors of the 20th century. Author of The Martian Chronicles (1950) and Farenheit 451 (1953), his work has been so acclaimed in the field of science fiction that an asteroid has even been named after him. At a writers' symposium convened by Point Loma Nazarene University in 2001, Bradbury shares details of his life and experience as a writer that may be helpful to anyone who dreams of producing their own literary work.

1. Start with short stories

For the acclaimed author, it's a mistake to start writing novels. "The problem with novels is that you can spend a year writing one and it won't fit, since you haven't learned to write yet." Instead, he advises writing a large number of short stories, small stories that, although not of great quality, serve to practice. "I challenge you to write 52 bad stories. You can't." According to Bradbury, after so many attempts, "a wonderful story will surely come along.

2. Don't try to imitate your favorite authors

The author of The Martian Chronicles cites as one of the mistakes of his youth as a writer trying to imitate the authors he admired, among whom he cites Jules Verne, Arthur Conan Doyle and H.G. Wells. "You can't be any of them," he says, "you can love them but you can't beat them.

3. Learn from the great storytellers

Roald Dahl, Guy de Maupassant, John Cheever, Nigel Kneale, Edith Wharton, and John Collier are some of the authors Bradbury considers masters of short stories, which every aspiring writer should read and study. He also advises against more recent stories such as those published by the New Yorker magazine, which he says "lack metaphor" and only portray everyday life.

4. Get into metaphors

Bradbury sees himself not as a great born novelist, but as a "collector of metaphors". For this reason he recommends that the beginning writer "gobble up" quality literary works, so as to expand the tools with which he can later create his own. In this paper he suggests reading, every night, a story, a poem and an essay on any subject -he especially recommends those by George Bernard Shaw. According to him, with this routine you will end up "full of ideas and metaphors" in your head, which combined with your perspective and life experiences will generate new metaphors and ideas.

5. Stay away from friends who don't believe in you

If you have people in your life who make fun of your desire to be a writer, "call them today and say goodbye," advises Bradbury.

6. Visit the library often

The author says he did not go to university - he could not afford it - but instead "graduated from the library", which he visited 3 or 4 times a week for 10 years. "Live at the library, not on your computer."

7. Fall in love with movies

Bradbury considers himself very lucky to have been able to go to the movies since he was a child, and he sees the movies, especially the old ones, as great food for the mind.

8. He writes for fun

Writing should be fun, not "serious business." You must write with joy. If you feel that writing a story becomes "work", throw it away and start doing something else. "If your mind goes blank in the middle of a story, it's your subconscious telling you it doesn't like what you're doing."

9. Forget about making money

In his paper, Bradbury relates how, throughout his life as a writer, he turned down large amounts of money in commissions, because he knew that if he wrote something that he was not interested in for money, it would "destroy" him. "My wife and I were 37 when we were able to buy our first car." You must write what you would like to read.

10. Make two lists

"Make a list of ten things you love passionately, and write about them. Make a list of ten things you hate, and kill them." Write about the people you hate, about your fears, your nightmares, and kill them.

11. Write about the first thing that comes to your mind

"When I start writing I never know where I'm going, all my books have been surprises." The author recommends you to start writing, to associate words that come to your mind. "Hopefully, at the end of the second page, characters will begin to appear" from your "true essence". There you will discover things about yourself that you didn't know you had, "you won't know until you put it to the test".

Reviews

[Samuel Dickens]

Thank you. I doubt that I would ever have read what Bradbury had to say about writing, if not for this. Without knowing it, I guess I have been prescribing to about 75% of his advice. The authors I fell in love with at an early age are Poe, Serling, and Bradbury.

[harpapayne]

I know this isn't a kind of story that you used to see, but I have looking for the best place for my article, and I believe writerscafe is what I was seeking. I'm not the pro writer, I make money by doing copywriting or writing reviews. Writing is tough, and I believe these tips would help some of you.