Guest post by Frank Viola
Many people have asked me for advice on writing and publishing. I’ve written six books published by four different publishers, and thankfully, each one has done well. While I claim no expertise in this area, I can share from what I’ve experienced so far.
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The U.S. Constitition guarantees the the right of authors to make money off their intellectual property. In Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8, it says that the Congress has the power “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.”
The first Congress came up with a law pretty quickly when it convened. While other issues remained on the back burner, they enacted the first Copyright law in 1790. That law has been reshaped over the years, primarily because people were living longer and the length of a vaild copyright was extended. Changing technology also had a role in changes to copyright law; it has been amended over time to keep up with the times. Revisions came in 1831, 1870, 1909 and 1976.
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In 1959 an American schoolgirl wrote to C. S. Lewis asking him for advice on the craft of writing. He sent her a list of eight rules, and I add my own editorial comments to each of them.
1. Turn off the radio.
Today, writers also need to turn off the TV, the iPod or the music streaming over the Internet. I know that some writers claim that background sounds enhances their creativity, but I don’t believe it for a minute, and apparently Lewis didn’t either. Writing is a solitary activity, where words are formed in a special space of the brain, and anything that competes for that space will result in a decrease in writing quality. Good writers are able to be alone with their thoughts and don’t need filler or distractions.
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Ernest Hemingway was a powerful, original writer and anyone who puts words to paper can benefit from learning about his writing style.
He was such an excellent writer that it is easy to get lost in his stories and forget to look at their construction. He is best known for The Sun Also Rises, For Whom the Bells Toll, The Old Man and the Sea, and The Snows of Kilimanjaro. He won the Nobel Prize for fiction in 1954.
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