Jeffery Deaver is my absolute favorite among current mystery/crime writers. I love the trick endings to his books, but also the mini-tricks along the way that surprise me. When it comes to learning to write, here’s his advice.
“The best way to learn about writing is to study the work of other writers you admire.”
Writers start as readers. So, look at the work of writers you admire and deconstruct how they write. Outline their work. Try to imitate them. Use them as the starting point for developing your own style.
Here’s one more piece of advice from Mr. Deaver, one that’s not so encouraging.
“Just because you have a word processor and an idea doesn’t mean the book needs to see the light of day.”
If you want to write a business book, I’d take that advice as encouragement to take the time and make the effort to refine your idea and the way you express it.
Want more advice from Jeffery Deaver? Here are links to the sources for the two bits above.
Thriller writer passes on wisdom to Virginia club
Q & A on Jeffery Deaver’s site
Want more? Check out the complete list of Advice from the Masters posts.