Advice for up and coming writers from Teri Riggs, author of 'Resolutions'

My Advice for Up and Coming Writers

There are so many things I’ve learned on my journey as a writer and so much more to learn. I’ve decided writing is a career you’ll never learn everything about. Right when you think you’ve got it all down pat, BOOM, another lesson is learned. Writing is an ongoing search for knowledge. I believe a writer just beginning their journey could benefit from my three favorite tips.

Tip Number One: Read. Read. Read. You can never read enough books. We all have our favorite genres. My advice is to write in the genre you love to read. I don’t read Steampunk. This doesn’t mean I don’t like the genre, it means I know absolutely nothing about it. How could I possibly write about a something I know zero about? If I tried I’d end up on the floor in a heap of frustration, tearing out my hair. If I happened to actually finish the book, my readers would most likely toss me on the floor and pull out my hair, right before they killed me. Okay, maybe that’s bit overkill. None-the-less, the book would be a nightmare. I could do the research, but I feel it’s not the same as reading books, watching shows, or living the genre. I can’t do it.

Tip Number Two: Take the advice of editors, beta readers, and critique partners. You may not always like or use their suggestions, but at least be open-minded. If you don’t want their advice, why ask for it to begin with? I know this first hand. I submitted one of my manuscripts to several editors and publishers. They all seemed to have plenty of suggestions. Some were awesome, some not so much. I noticed one particular suggestion I wasn’t a big fan of was offered over and over. Okay, I decided, maybe these people with the similiar critiques are on to something. I made the change and the next publisher I sent the MS to, offered me a contract.

Yep, there may be something to this. Again, you may not always make or like the changes—that’s your choice, but when more than one or two editors, critique partners, or beta readers mention the same problem, you should take a closer look at the glitch.

Tip Number Three: Never give up! No matter how many times you hit a wall while writing and need a break, get your butt back in the chair as soon as you can. I’m not talking the let me grab a coffee kind of break here. I’m talking a break that goes on for days. Your manuscript is not going to get written while you’re playing hooky.

Never give up! No matter how many rejections letters you get. I always say I have enough rejections to wall paper a small bathroom. Rejections hurt. But in the end you have to pick yourself up and park your rear back in the seat. If you’re lucky, you’ll eventually get rejected by an editor who takes a moment to tell you what they see as a problem. Like I said in tip #2, think their ideas over and see if maybe they’re right. You have to roll with the punches and grow thick skin if you want to be a writer.

Did I mention, never give up! Remember if you don’t swing the bat, you’ll never hit a homerun.

Resolutions

By Teri Riggs

BLURB:

DEA agent Eve Taylor has had her fill of alpha males. When Resolutions’ operative and former lover, Dillon “Mac” McKenna, threatened her hard-earned independence, she ran. On a mission to gather evidence against a Colombian drug-lord, Eve discovers the drug-lord is helping terrorists plan an attack on American soil. Before she can escape with the vital information, she’s captured and comes face to face with her mortality…

As a teen, Mac watched his family fall apart after his mother died doing dangerous U.N. work. The possibility of losing Eve to a mission ignited an overwhelming need to protect her. When he forced her to choose him or her job, she walked away. Two years later, it seems all his nightmares have come true and he’s tasked with rescuing her from a Colombian prison. Mac has never stopped loving Eve, but does he dare risk his heart when he’s so terrified of losing…

On the run, Mac and Eve must learn to trust each other again in order to stay alive.

Read an excerpt:

Occasional bursts of gunfire echoed in the distance as the distorted voices of Mendoza’s men moved closer. The damned monkey started chattering again. She flipped onto her back and forced her breathing and heart rate to slow. The night’s stars faded into the orange-red sky of morning sunrise and a welcomed calm washed over her. For the first time in her life, Eve wished she was still back home in Duncan Falls, Iowa with her four overprotective brothers. The Alpha Four, she called them. They’d be royally pissed if she didn’t somehow get out of this mess.

Her mind turned to thoughts of Mac, the only man she’d ever loved. Maybe he’d been right after all. Maybe she wasn’t cut out for this line of work. Maybe she did need him. So many maybes.

Eve closed her eyes and the maybes and darkness took her.

Available on Amazon

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

Teri Riggs was destined to be a writer. As a small girl she didn’t read bedtime stories, she made up her own. Who needed Little Red Riding Hood or The Three Little Pigs when there were so many great tales bouncing around in her head? When she grew up and became a mother to three little girls, she continued the tradition of making up bedtime stories. On the occasions she chose to tell conventional fairytales, Teri usually gave them a bit of tweaking here and there or added a new ending. Her girls loved it.

After her daughters had the nerve to actually grow up and leave home, Teri discovered she had a passion for writing and jumped right in. It came as no surprise she chose to write mysteries and happily-ever-after’s since that’s the genres she loves to read.

Teri lives in Marietta, Georgia with her husband, one of her daughters and two dogs that seem to think they rule the world. And some days Teri thinks maybe they do.

Teri still frequently tells herself stories as she falls asleep. The only difference now is she wakes up the next morning and turns her bedtime stories into books.

Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Eyes-Die-Last-ebook/dp/B005Z5FZGE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1346084828&sr=1-1

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Teri-Riggs/329379907142621

Twitter: @TeriLRiggs

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/terilriggs

Teri is giving away a $50 Amazon gift card. Enter the Rafflecopter and follow the tour for more chances to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway