Take Five: #9: Ask a local

Take Five

Five-minute reads about writing

to help you with NaNoWriMo

Nov. 1 - Nov. 30, 2011

Courtesy: Sasha Soren (Random Magic)

Twitter: @RandomMagicTour

#9: Ask a local

Magazine publisher F+W Media (Writer's Digest magazine, or WD) is offering a complimentary download of a set of seven e-books from Nov. 6-12, 2011.

There are some interesting titles, but two books in particular stand out - both books feature several interviews with writers. If you'd like to know something, sometimes the fastest way is to just ask someone who knows the subject very well, or has a lot of experience with whatever it is that you're trying to accomplish.

The best way to learn to write is to write. But a second solution that might help save you some time - and, for those doing NaNoWriMo, time is at a premium - is to learn from experience.

That is, maybe not your own experiences, but the experiences of someone who's already been where you're going. Why's that? Well, if you were traveling in a strange city and didn't have a guidebook, you could get by just as well but doing a little asking around for the best spots to eat, or shop, or absorb a little culture or whatever you most happen to like.

Same premise. If you're visiting this city (writing) for the first time, you can of course make amazing discoveries just by putting on foot in front of the other, or being curious about what's over there or over that way. That's fun, and valuable.

But it's also fun to get the inside word on something; it saves time and you might discover something great that you might otherwise have missed. Or, it might just be the quickest way between you and finding the nearest spot open for brunch at an odd hour - for little fiddly bits of information like that, when you need the information right now, sometimes you're better off just asking a local.

Now, it'd be quite rude to corner the nearest writer and pump them for their advice on writing, but if they've taken the time to share some thoughts in written form, and the e-book is just waiting for you to have a little browse after you're done with your writing session today, then it's an easy decision to make. Solid advice from a knowledgeable source is valuable, and in this case, it's free. Well, it's free if you download by Nov. 12 - there's nothing wrong with actually buying either book, either!

So, here we have two e-book gifts from the F+W Media, the publisher of Writer's Digest magazine. This is a nice offer and would be a fun browse - after you've completed your two-hour minimum writing session today. Don't cheat yourself out of valuable writing time.

But, hey, if you've put in the work, then there's no reason not to enjoy a well-deserved bit of leisure. If you're spending some downtime reading reliable writing advice, it's not like you're slacking off, either.