writing tip

I came across this great writing tip from Jerry Spinelli, an author I really admire, and I thought I'd pass it along.

"Write what you care about. When I write it out, I always underline the word care."

Mr. Spinelli goes on to say, "My reasoning goes like this: You want to be published, right? You want to be read. And not just read—enjoyed. Right? That is to say, you want your readers to care about your story. It goes without saying that to maximize your chances of doing so, you need to do your best writing. Your best writing, I believe, will come out of you when you care what you're writing about. Caring will draw things out of you that have nothing to do with spelling or query letters or subscriptions to writing magazines. Bleed your caring onto the paper or computer screen. It's the first way to make a reader—or editor—care about your story."

—Jerry Spinelli