Good to Know
So I spoke to that AP English class yesterday. The teacher is one of my dearest friends, so she knows me pretty well and made SURE ( love ya, BB!) to point out to the class that I don't do things the way, perhaps, writing books tell you to do things. I don't outline--at least not exactly. I don't always know where I'm going in a book. My desk is never neat. I can never find a pen. I don't follow a formula. I don't write every day. I'm disorganized, but have near-photographic recall. I'm, as my Facebook profile says, "A bundle of contradictions, a mile left of normal." Hell, I'm so far afield from "normal" I would say I'm playing in a different stadium.
And I think that's good know. It's good to know that there are a lot of ways to arrive at point B from point A. The EASIEST way is that straight line. But you can meander and still get there.
After I got back from the school, I had an email message from the guy who sat next to me in homeroom for three years. He is taking up writing. Wanted to know how to get started. Now that's a loaded question, of course. Get started as in buy a writing book? Take a class? Or figure out if there's even a story there? Or get started as in foot in the door? No matter the question, my answer tends to be . . . you have to muddle along and feel your way, hopefully with some mentors on your side.
There are all sorts of things that are "good to know" about being a writer, but I generally think the idea that you do it until you figure out what works for YOU is the most comforting. You can tell a writer who has been at it a while. They often preface their description of how they work with, "After all these years, I finally figured out my system, and what I do is . . . . ."
That's what I think is good to know.
If you do it long enough, you will figure out that it really doesn't matter how any one ELSE does it. Just that you find your system.
Thoughts? What do you think is "good to know"?
34 comments:
It's good to know your genre, the language you're writing in, and how the publishing business works. Otherwise, the way to get started is to sit in a chair and type one word after another. Again and again and again.
And again.
Jude;
Definitely . . . know what's being bought, what's got buzz . . . what's happening in your genre.
I think that it is good to know that first drafts are first drafts. I still have this fear that everyone else is writing amazing prose the first time around. Revision is where the magic lies. (I hope!) Not to say that you shouldn't write deliberately when drafting, but that everything can be cleaned up the second or tenth time around.
I think it's good to know that a person will approach writing in the same way they approached everything else in life. When I studied flute, I loathed being cooped up in a practice room going over and over and over scales and technical exercises. On the other hand, I never minded working out a those same scales and techniques I found in a hard passage in a piece of music I'd eventually perform. I like to learn things on a"need to know" basis. Same with writing. When I want to do something in a story and find that I don't know how, I go find out, try, ask questions of others, etc.
I'm not organized. My one bit of organization is keeping a file called "How I write a Novel." I've been documenting all the things I've tried over the past five years, what worked, what didn't. (The "didn't work" section is twice as long as the "This worked."
Heather:
I didn't really "get" that for a LONG time. I think I was too perfectionist about my early drafts.
E
Beth:
I have some haphazard idea files, but nothing particularly organized.
E
I used to be involved in a program in Nova Scotia called Writers in the Schools, so I would — for several days each term — teach creative writing to high school students.
My whole spiel was all about finding your voice. That every time beginning writers sit down to work, they're trying to commit an Act of Literature, and it's impossible to write with that kind of pressure. So I would talk about stripping away the embellishments to find their essential style. Once you have that down, you'll know what you need to add — or remove — to make your stories flow.
I still remember a senior at the back in one class, chafing at the bit. Finally, he blurted it out.
"Can I say what I think?" he asked.
"Sure."
"I think you're full of shit and your advice sucks!" I'm certain he was expecting me to get angry and come right back at him, as his teachers might. So he was surprised when I agreed. I explained that I was just telling him what works for me, and there's no right to become a writer.
Kristina and I couldn't be more different in how we approach things. I've got a degree and a few awards under my belt, and yet she's twice the writer.
I'm with Jude, I think. It's good to know, that ultimately, in one venue or another, competence and good writing will generally rise to the top.
Michael Crichton used to have a thing on his website where he basically said that how he broke into the writing field was fairly atypical, but a lot of people's journeys were atypical, so it was better that you figure out YOUR way instead of trying what he did.
I think so, too. And why in hell would someone want to emulate my tortured journey to a writing career? God, find someone who went from A to B to C without careening all over the universe first.
I think it's good to know that to write you must write. Not read about writing. Not ask about writing. Not dream about it, plan for it or ponder it. You can do all those things but in the end writing simply involves picking up a pen or opening up a word doc.
I think it's good to know that telling a story is as much about cutting words as composing them.
It's good to try different writing methods, because that is one sure way to figure out what works for you. The tricky part is when your muse changes her freakin' mind and wants to do things differently in every single book!
Personally, I hate taking 'writing' classes or online courses. I'm one of those idiots who muddle through in her own way. There is no magic elixer. *DAMN*
I agree with Being Beth- to write like you approach everything else- I'm an artist- when I teach I constantly tell the kids, don't put eyelashes on your princess drawings until you have skethced out the big picture- it wastes time because you might change your mind- art has a workflow- thumbnail sketches, roughs,final compostion, then create your master piece- writing finally started to flow for me, when I took the same steps with it- words are just another medium- like oils or watercolors.
It's good to know yourself. That said, I believe that knowing who I am steadies my inner compass, keeps my self-confidence high, and silences the inner critic.
Great blog, Erica. It appeared at a stressful time in my life, and acted as a reminder that I just need to do what I know best and be content that I did my absolute best.
Rciahrd:
LOVE that story! And I like the idea of stripping away the embellishments.
E
Mark:
I have no road map I could point to except write a lot of words and find someone who writes as well or better than you to put you through your paces.
Amy:
If I had a dollar for everyone who came to me and said, "I have a good idea for a novel . . . ." and then didn't write it. Lots of us have IDEAS for novels. Can it actually flesh out to one? Gotta sit thy ass in a chair to find out.
Stephen:
Oooh, like that. Especially wise considering the source is so Scrabble-challenged. I had no idea you had such insight in your bag of letters.
magolla:
My muse changes courses, too. Often!
Julia:
The rest of my life is haphazard and chaotic, too. At least I am consistent that way. :-)
Kath:
{{{{{{{{Hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}} on the stress.
Good to know. Back up!!! Never leave a computer without backing up what you wrote.
Second thing. Never be afraid to overuse the delete key. If it ain't working, throw it away and try something new.
I don't think there really is a path to writing, just a lot of places to stop along the way. How you get to these points is less relevant than the fact you have to get there. So for us fortunate guys (fat , balding, bearded guys with a large hump on our shoulders and a limp), if we use our devilishly good looks and sleep our way to the top, that's fine, too. (It could happen. Really it could. Stop laughing at me.)
How did the tv follow an author for the day event go?
For me it's good to know that an outline doesn't have to look like the formulaic versions I did for research papers in school. I'm a linear person and thrive on guidance, but a rigid outline doesn't work for me.
Once I realized I can just write a short paragraph of half sentences -- just enough to remind me what happens next -- it was like a weight was lifted and I was free to write.
Allan:
Yeah. Sometimes, you just have to accept it's broke and you can't fix it.
E
Richmond:
The interview went well . . . the filming portion was funny. Perhaps I'll blog on that tomorrow!
E
Wow, to start? From ground zero?
Focus on story and craft. Ignore all the other stuff until you finish the book.
Despite the whole "trunk novel" philosophy, I think it's worth trying to sell your first novel. There's much to learn from going through the entire process.
I just read the comments, lots of good stuff to know. I'll just add that it's good to know that you are not in this alone and that at the same time your journey is unique, so trust it.
System? LOL! I used to dream of coming up with a system. I used to think I'd come up with a magic formula that would make writing a book easy, that would make every book easy. But now, if I even come close to a system, I bulldoze it and do the opposite.
Although... I don't know. I can feel the novel as a whole now. Like, I can just feel the first turning point coming, the midpoint, the climax... all the elements in a novel feel natural to me, now.
Glad your talk went well!
I think the best advice is just to go for it and see what works. Trial and error. I'm still figuring out everything that works for me, but I love the methods I've adapted. Of course there were tons that didn't work as well, lol.
Melanie:
Any outlining I do is more have-written sentences.
E
starbucks:
I don't know . . . the bottom line is if you get crushing rejections because you're querying something that really ISN'T ready yet because it's a first novel . . . I don't know what you necessarily learn. I think part of the process is knowing when you have something ready to shop versus when you don't.
E
Paul:
Excellent. I love the comraderie I have with writers, but in the end? It's still me and the keyboard.
Natasha:
Yeah . . . I don't know that what I have is a SYSTEM per se. LOL!
Nadine:
My method has more room for error now. I have more drafts and am ok with feeling my way through.
E
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