F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1926. Let’s be clear: this man isn’t pretending.
- Wherever you go, carry a black Moleskine around. Don’t have it in your bag though, of course. Carry it at your side with a black pen in the other hand, or, ideally, prominently placed behind your ear.
- Drop some form of the line, “Yeah, I was thinking of putting something like that in my novel” into casual conversation. Example: Your girlfriend says, “I’ve actually been fighting depression for nearly a decade. I’m so happy I can talk to you about it though.” You: “Yeah, I was thinking of giving one of my character’s in my new novel depression. You can be my consultant. It’s gonna be a great book. Glad to hear about your depression.”
- Live in Paris, New York or London. San Francisco is an acceptable alternative, but not ideal. People are too happy there.
- Memorize a sentence from The New Yorker or The Atlantic and use it with friends or, preferably, in class so your teacher can also hear it. Multiple birds and stone situation.
- Have at least three blogs. Even if you don’t update them you can say, “I write for a variety of audiences with a variety of genres” and only sort of be lying.
- Tweet and Facebook links to articles you haven’t read but have smart sounding headlines.
- Sit in cafés. You can mess around on Facebook, browse People.com, stalk your ex – it doesn’t matter, just be in that “writer atmosphere.”
- Virtually check in to cafes saying you’re “doing a little writing.” Tweet it, Facebook it, Instagram it, Tumble it, WordPress it, put it in LinkedIn experience. Do what you have to do, just be sure everyone knows.
- Act like you care about book signings from lesser known authors.
- Write one article. Someone will eventually ask to see your writing. The rest can be “works in progress.”
