20 Second Words of Wisdom Blog Chain Wrap Up

If you remember, on August 16th I started my very first blog chain. The goal was this:

Pretend you are addressing a crowd of aspiring authors eager to soak in your words of knowledge. The problem is, you've only been given a time slot of five seconds. In one sentence (no more than 20 words), please summarize the most important words of wisdom you can impart.

Everyone did a fantastic job playing the game. No one went over the word count and ever response was unique and informative. No easy feat if you found yourself at the bottom of the chain. In fact, I found this list so useful I wanted to repost all of the answers in one spot for easy reading.

I posted:

"Read as many books in your genre as possible and join a critique group".

Rebecca Knight Posted:

"Take it slow--make sure your writing is the best it can be, then research all you can before querying!"

Kate Kyrus Quinn Posted:

"Hello.* Now forget this writing nonsense and go to dental school.** No?*** Well, then**** prepare***** for an endlessly****** difficult******* battle********."*********

(You'll have to go to her blog to decode all the asterisks)

Amanda Bonilla Posted:

"Edit, edit, edit, and when you're sure your manuscript is polished, edit one more time."

Sandra Ulbrichalmazan Posted:

"Act like a professional writer from the beginning, and keep learning about yourself, other people, and the world."

Kat Harris Posted:

"Read your stories out loud."

Christine Fonseca Posted:

"Strive for authenticity when writing – with your voice, your emotions and your actions. The rest will take care of itself."

Sarah Bromley Posted:

"When you receive a manuscript request, grab your towel and don't panic. Agents are willing to wait while you revise."

Annie Louden Posted:

"Everyone else is writing a book, which means you can, too."

S.B. Clitheroe Posted:

"Get your work out there — your goal is for people to see it anyway — get over your fears!!!"

B.J. Anderson Posted:

"You can't be a writer until you sit down and actually write."

Michelle McLean Posted:

"Write with authority; remove all the "I thinks," "I believes," and "I hopes," from your writing and WRITE WITH CONFIDENCE."

Shaun Hutchinson Posted:

"In order to have life experiences to write about you have to get out there and experience life."

Jill Kemerer Posted:

"Soak up wisdom from veteran authors by joining a writer's group."