Writers Tips & Tricks Day 3: Passion & Writing by Nalini Singh

Passion & Writing

This post was inspired by a conversation I recently had on Twitter that included a new writer who was worried about where he would place his as yet unfinished work, how he would market it, and whether anyone would buy it.

Author Justine Larbalestier started the conversation off by saying: “…focus on writing and not worry about publishing.”

It’s exactly the same thing I believe: That you must write the book first. Everything else can come later.

You can’t market or sell a half-written book. Neither can you “write to the market” by chasing trends. I deeply believe that passion shows on the page.

So my tip is to write a story you’re passionate about. A story that makes you race to the computer to put down more words because you’re impatient to find out what happens, and to see your characters. A story that makes you cry, makes you laugh, makes you despair and celebrate with your protagonists.

Because if a story has that effect on you, chances are it’ll have the same impact on your readers.

So shut the door, turn off the Internet, put on your headphones if you write to music (or light a candle, whatever works!), and write. That is what you must do first of all. At the start and throughout your career.

I’ve been writing as long as I can remember and all of my stories always held a thread of romance (even when I was writing about a prince who could shoot lasers out of his eyes). I love creating unique characters, love giving them happy endings and I even love the voices in my head. There’s no other job I would rather be doing. In September 2002, when I got the call that Silhouette Desire wanted to buy my first book, Desert Warrior, it was a dream come true. I hope to continue living the dream until I keel over of old age on my keyboard.

A little more about Nalini:

I was born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand. I also spent three years living and working in Japan, during which time I took the chance to travel around Asia. I’m back in New Zealand now, but I’m always plotting new trips. If you’d like to see some of my travel snapshots, have a look at the Travel Diary page (updated frequently).

So far, I’ve worked as a lawyer, a librarian, a candy factory general hand, a bank temp and an English teacher and not necessarily in that order. Some might call that inconsistency but I call it grist for the writer’s mill.

Find out more about Nalini and her books here: Website | Facebook | Twitter @NaliniSingh | Goodreads 

Make sure to check out all of the other stops on this month long tour HERE and enter the grand prize giveaway.