Be Open

I had the great fortune to help out a beginner writer a couple of weekends ago. I took her to her first author lunch and then to her first writing seminar. I've been writing for a few years. I don't know nearly enough about the writing world but I was able to pass along some gems of wisdom.

The best piece of advice I gave was to be open and generous with information. Other writers, being polite, asked her about her story. My friend didn't want to tell them about her plot because she was scared about her plot being stolen.

I never worry about people stealing my plot.

There are very few truly, truly fresh plots out there. Plus most writers have way too many plots than they can ever write. We know what our strengths are and we design plots around our strengths. I would never write a non-alpha hero. I write alpha. That is what I know. That is what I do best. There is, thankfully, a demand for that type of hero.

Recently another friend of mine did an exercise in a workshop. Every writer was given the exact same barebones plot. Not a single story was the same. They were so completely different that the buried core plot was difficult to uncover.

The benefits to sharing far outweighs the downsides. Other writers can help with plot holes. They can give insight on to who and how to market the story. They can point us to great research and often private research. We share from each other's experiences.

Be open. Be fearless.


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Kimber Chin is giving away a freebie story on http://businessromance.com/ .