Episode 412 THE GREAT AMERICAN AUTHORS (Part 10) Today's Best Sellers Give Their Advice : Curt Vonnegut, Walter Mosley, Stephen King, Lee Child, John Grisham, Carol Oates,

This episode gathers some great advice from the best authors of our current time. It is a fun episode. 

The collective writing advice from these authors emphasizes core principles of discipline, clarity, honesty, and reader engagement, while acknowledging that individual processes can vary (e.g., plotters vs. "pantsers").

Common and Diverse Themes

• Discipline and Consistency: King, Mosley, and Oates all stress the importance of a regular, consistent writing schedule, often daily, to build momentum and allow ideas to "bubble up" from the subconscious.
• Clarity and Simplicity: Vonnegut, King, and Mosley advocate for clear, simple language, avoiding jargon or overly "fancy" words to ensure the reader is engaged and can easily understand the story.
• Reader Empathy: A central tenet for Vonnegut and King is to respect the reader's time and attention, making sure every sentence moves the story forward or reveals character, and that the reader feels their time was not wasted.
• Honesty and Personal Voice: The authors encourage finding your own natural voice and writing about subjects you genuinely care about, believing this authenticity is what truly connects with readers.
• The Primacy of Story/Character over Plot: King and Mosley are notably skeptical of rigid plotting, preferring to place interesting characters in a situation and discover the story as they write. Conversely, Vonnegut suggests starting as close to the end as possible, implying a clear destination is necessary.
• Rigorous Editing: There is universal agreement on the necessity of editing. King suggests cutting 10% of a first draft and letting it "marinate" before revisiting, while Vonnegut talks about having the "guts to cut" anything that doesn't advance the narrative.

Individual Author Highlights

• Kurt Vonnegut: Famous for his "8 Rules," including the instruction to make awful things happen to characters "so that the reader may see what they are made of" and to use the time of a stranger wisely.
• Walter Mosley: Emphasizes that writing is a form of self-discovery and encourages writers to "write without restraint" in the first draft, exploring the darker sides of characters to make them believable.
• Stephen King: Strongly advocates for reading a lot and writing a lot, viewing writing as a form of "telepathy" where the writer transmits thoughts to the reader. He advises avoiding passive voice and adverbs.
• Lee Child: Stresses that "character is king" and that the writer's main qualification is being a reader. He also has specific advice on pacing, suggesting writing "fast stuff slow, the slow stuff fast".
• John Grisham: (Specific tips were not available in the provided snippets, but his work is a prime example of effective, fast-paced plotting that aligns with many of the above principles, particularly the idea of starting close to the action and keeping the reader engaged).
• Joyce Carol Oates: Focuses on using physical details and setting to reveal characters' interior psychological conditions, with details carrying implicit meaning within the story.

Questions or comments at , Randalrgw1@aol.com , https://twitter.com/randal_wallace , and http://www.randalwallace.com/
Please Leave us a review at wherever you get your podcasts
Thanks for listening!!