On February 20th, students and faculty members had the opportunity to listen to SCSU graduate Jaclyn Watterson and novelist Micheal Shum discuss their experiences as writers. They were able to give students helpful advice on what you have to do in order to pursue this challenging yet rewarding profession.
The first and most important piece of advice they gave was to write regularly. There is no such thing as a perfect writing schedule. Every writer will have a different procedure that works for them. Your writing schedule is entirely up to you, so take the initiative and hold yourself accountable. The only way to fail as an author is to give up and not produce anything at all. Even if you are not inspired, it is important to put your thoughts on the screen or paper. Sometimes the best time to write is when you have no inspiration at all. If you get stuck, it may help you to rewrite stories that you love! The story may go in a completely different direction than the original.
Second, find a community of people who understand your creative process and give you critiques that you will use. This may be a group of fellow students or even professors that you feel comfortable sharing your work with. It is hard to find others who understand your vision. Workshopping is important because it will help you to make connections and generate ideas that you have not considered before.
Third, take advantage of your time as a college student. Southern Connecticut State University offers hundreds of different courses every year! Use your time as an undergraduate student to expand your knowledge in different fields of study. You may find other subjects that interest you and that become sources of inspiration for future writing!
Fourth, you have to read! Watching TV will NOT make you a better writer! There are many practices in writing that cannot be taught. They require years of training the brain by reading different materials and repetition. An example of this is punctuation.
Finally, celebrate your accomplishments no matter how small they may be! In the writing profession, it can be easy to get discouraged. Rejection is something you must be prepared for as it occurs nine out of ten times that you submit a piece for publication. You must trust in yourself and believe in your vision!