Ray Bradbury was born in 1920 in Illinois, and passed away in 2012 in Los Angeles California). He is a writer best known for his science fiction novels and for his book of short stories published in 1950, entitled "Martian Chronicles", which opened doors to prestigious magazines where he later wrote.
To Bradbury he was concerned above all with society and culture, which for him was too mechanized by the immense technological advance, and is what he talks about in a large part of his narratives. One of the novels that had the most success and continues to have was "Fahrenheit 451" published in 1953.
This book was brought to the cinema by the hand of François Truffaut, and in it he narrates the great influence that the media has on people, which seem to conform to what they are given without questioning anything. This can be seen in the next excerpt from the book itself:
“Get people to participate in contests where you have to remember the lyrics to the most popular songs, or the names of state capitals, or how much corn Iowa harvested last year. Fill them with fireproof news. They will feel that the information is drowning them, but they will think they are smart. It will appear to you that you are thinking, you will have a sense of movement without moving. And they will be happy… ».
In my opinion, one of the 100 best books that exist today.
If this seems too little to receive 10 tips from Ray Bradbury to become a writer don't keep reading. If, on the other hand, you like this writer, you think he has great works and you find his word and literary criticism valuable, keep reading.
How to become a writer according to Ray Bradbury?
Don't start writing novels.
According to Bradbury, creating a novel involves spending a lot of time in front of it. According to your point of view, it is best to write a lot of short stories, as many as possible.
You can't write 52 bad stories in a row.
You can love them, but you can't be them.
Looking at the great classical authors is normal. The great masters are there and you are going to try to copy them, even if it is subconsciously. Keep that in mind.
Analyze the great masters of the short story.
Follow and imitate Roald Dahl, Guy de Maupassant and the lesser known Nigel Kneale and John Collier.
Furnish your head.
«Read, read and read. Every day before bed, a story, a poem (but Pope, Shakespeare and Frost, not modern "trash") and an essay. Essays can be from a variety of fields, including archeology, zoology, biology, philosophy, politics, and literature. "At the end of a thousand nights, God! You will be full of things!"
Get rid of friends who don't believe in you.
Don't surround yourself with people who make fun of what you write or your literary ambitions. They are a drag.
Lives in the library.
"No computers!"
Bradbury was a great advocate for public libraries. He didn't think very highly of computers. Bradbury did not go to college, but his insatiable reading habits allowed him to "graduate from the library" at 28.
Fall in love with the movies
«And if they are classic films, all the better. Nothing like old cinema. "
Write with joy.
Don't write as if it were a job, because if you do it this way it will only become garbage. If this starts to happen, get rid of that writing and start over. You have to write to generate envy. May they envy your joy in writing! ».
Make a list of ten things you love and ten things you hate.
«Then he writes about the first ten and then kills the second ten, also writing about them. Do the same with your fears.
Remember! with writing what you are looking for is just a person who comes up to you and says "I love what you do."
Or, as Bradbury also says, a person who comes up to you and says "you're not as crazy as people say."
And if you still want to know a little more about this wise writer, here is a short video (it does not last more than 3 minutes) in which you can listen to him and find out a little more about his opinion.