Whether you’re writing the Great American Novel, or a DIY manual impishly titled Bonfire of the Bathroom Vanities, a lot of people wonder just how it is published writers get published and produced scriptwriters get produced. So I’ve decided to do a few posts with practical advice for beginners.

Here’s my first tip:

Make sure you know how to write well and make sure it’s your best work.

To accomplish this, seek out folks who don’t feel obligated to be kind because they are a friend, lover or family member. A local writer’s group ought to do the trick. Unless someone develops a crush on you, they’re likely to be tough but honest, which is what you want.

That said, there are a lot of posers in such groups, so make sure whoever you’re listening to has a brain.

The most idiotic comment I ever heard in a college writing class was in response to a break in the narrative. A scene ended with the main character getting into a car and then the next part of the story began with the main character across town in a museum.

Some lamebrain/pseudo-intellectual actually asked, “So, how’d he get to the museum? You never said.”

And the response of the writer? “He drove.”

Seemed fairly obvious to everyone except the pretentious writer who asked.