What is the best writing advice anyone ever gave you?

Q: I hope that you're making lots and lots of money with this novel and I can't wait for your next book to come out. You're an amazing writer. What is the best advice on writing anyone ever gave you? Thanks.


A: Everytime I get this question I think I answer something different because I have received some pretty good advice from some pretty knowledgeable writers, but from now on I am going to stick to this answer. Write every day. Every day.

I get up every morning at about 5:00 a.m. and write for a half hour to an hour. I produce about two books per year this way.

Now here is something neat that has recently happened. On Good Friday of this year, I wrote pretty much all day and I produced an entire novella. I am calling it THE MAN FROM IOWA, and it's about the gruesome murder of a child and the murderer's plea for forgiveness.

On Good Friday of 2001, I also wrote all day and produced an entire novella, which I later revised and expanded into my full-length novel COME WITH ME SHEBA.

I've really been in a zone the last month or so; I finished up a short story collection LOG ON, SOCIOPATH--which is a collection of dark, noirish pieces featuring a group of real crazies that Edgar Allan Poe would have been proud of.

Here's my advice to you: write every day.

Thanks for the email.

Preston


By the way, I apologize to you all for not blogging for the last month or so. I've been busy writing. Duh.

Preston