Sound Advice for Writers from Garrison Keillor

[spicedogs]

Garrison Keillor’s Advice to Writers
By marymenke | April 11th, 2008

Hey, I just got back (okay, I got back Sunday) from the Erma Bombeck Humor Writers Workshop in Dayton, Ohio and I’d like to share some of the things I learned. (BTW, Patsy Zettler won honorable mention in this year’s Erma Bombeck humor writing contest! Congratulations, Patsy! Me, I didn’t even get a dishonorable mention … oh, well, there’s always next year.)

Garrison Keillor was the keynote speaker on the first night of the conference. What a funny guy and very personable. Among his advice to writers:

Writing is not narcissism; it’s about the world. Get out among people.
Get out and walk. Be in touch with how things look.
Know the names of things.
Read your work out loud; it’s a great BS detector.
You inherited your voice from other people. Stick with it and trust it.
Writers shouldn’t box themselves in. Try different forms.
Review other people’s work. Don’t be obsessed with your own.
Write about shameful and embarrassing things–even if no one else reads it.
Write something for your own amusement–again, even if no one else reads it.
Exercise the freedom of your talent–wherever it takes you. Court disaster.

Next time I’ll post some great advice about networking from a workshop leader.

If you want to see a picture of me with Mike Peters (he’s the cartoonist who draws/writes Mother Goose & Grimm), another keynote speaker and a native St. Louisan (his mom is Charlotte Peters, a 1950s local TV personality), just ask!

 

Source:  St. Louis Writer's Guild

(click on the picture to view the larger size.)


  

 

 

Comments

[boheme06.livejournal.com]

There's some really good advice there!

[divka.livejournal.com]

Write about shameful and embarrassing things–even if no one else reads it.

That's definitely the hardest one for me. LJ's friends-lock has helped me start with some self satire, but I still have a long way to go with that.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. He teaches this stuff at the University of Minnesota. I would love to take his course.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

I still can't bring to let people read my stuff.

[divka.livejournal.com]

Now that is a shame.

Maybe you should start a second completely anonymous journal, not tied to this one, and start tossing your writing out into the world!

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

What a great idea. But I am afraid that some will know who I am. LOL.

And, besides, I am a gov't worker. I have to watch what I say.

I have no trouble with fiction. It's with essays that I can't let others read.

[boheme06.livejournal.com]

I know the feeling. A lot of these courses should be available online.

[divka.livejournal.com]

Hah, true. You'd probably need to not post in it at work. To keep it really secret, you'd need to find some random computer to post from--like at a public library.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

No, I cannot post from anywhere. They have ways. Muhahahahaha.

[divka.livejournal.com]

;p I worried more about the gov't monitoring what I do at work until I noticed our loading dock workers looking at porn on their computer downstairs.

I figure until they start noticing the porn hits, I'm free to waste as much time on YouTube and Lostpedia as I want.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

YouTube is blocked on my computer. Lucky you, you get to have it. I once got an e-mail to close my Internet browser. I was on the Michael Emerson Fan Board. It's scary. I don't work with secret documents. I am just an editor.

[divka.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's really creepy.

The NIH is clearly not paying anywhere near enough attention to what we look at on the computers. They're more paranoid about laptop encryption right now.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

At my place, everything is encrypted. We are really up to date, unfortunately.

Of course, you realize that I am under the Department of Labor, which is headed by Elaine Chow, who is one of the most antilabor person I know.