Pearls, Nuggets and Excerpts… the Series, Part 5
On turning the corner from your writing instinct to an informed writing instinct. The difference is what will get you published… and what will attract readers and solid reviews.
Day 5
Not all writers understand the nuances of that truth.
The nuanced truth is, within any genre there are certain expectations in play: Genre-specific tropes that you omit or violate at your peril. When a writer isn’t aware of those tropes, or worse, when they aren’t aware of the criteria that drive toward the universal principles of effective storytelling, the only approach that’s left is to guess. They apply their instincts to conjure and vet their choices.
Which is fine if their instinct is up to the task, which is rare among newer writers. They seek to imitate the genre novels they enjoy reading, but without the learning curve that guides authors of those books. Or—this being the subtext of those who deny structure or diminish the value of story planning—newer writers are seduced by advice that applies more aptly to literary novels, and thus may prove toxic to their genre-centric premise and vision for the story.
They just write. Because that’s what they’ve
read and heard. That’s what a successful writer advised from behind a
microphone. Just write. You’ll be just fine.
Maybe.
When an experienced professional just writes, that, too, is instinct being put into play. But their instinct is almost always at a higher level than that of the new or untrained writer. Novice writers will find an abundance of advice out there suggesting they should go with their gut and just write. It won’t be called guessing in that moment, but that’s exactly what it is when writers go at it without the omnipresent context of knowledge.
The pursuit of craft–principles and criteria–is advice you should carefully parse and vet. It is a process you should understand completely before diving in to that end of the pool. Because when it works, it is because of an informed instinct, not an untested one.
The exact
same principles and criteria apply to any process. Because the bar resides at
the same height—its way up there—for
either preference.
It is always better to know.
These excerpts are taken from my new craft book, “Great Stories Don’t Write Themselves.” Feel free to share with your writer friends, directly or via social media.
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