Can u please talk about how you became such a wonderful writer?
Oh
god. So I basically wrote an essay-length response to your ask and then tumblr ate
it, but I will do my best to answer your question as thoroughly as the first
time. Here we go.
I should preface this by saying I think all writers can always improve their
writing, and that you should never stop trying to do so. This will also end up
being more of a “general tips for writing” thing, because I improved my own writing
through a number of different factors:
PRACTICE
I
really can’t emphasize enough how important this one is, and that “work 10,000
hours to get good at something” statistic you always hear about is
true. When you’re a young writer, or a new
writer, your ideas are stellar, but your ability to execute them, not so much.
Writing creatively is extremely difficult, and at that point in the
game you don’t have enough built up experience needed to create an engaging
narrative. That’s what the practice is for.
You need it to get used to the
process of writing. You need to write every day so you get fast at putting your ideas down on paper, and it becomes easier to
translate what’s in your head into something that can be viewed by others. It helps
you get over the learning curve.
Basically
I’ve been writing almost every day for 2-3 hours per day (and sometimes more)
since I was in high school. Its greatly improved my skill level.
REMEMBER THE KEY TENANTS OF
WRITING
If you’re serious about your
writing, there are some core tenants that are absolutely necessary, and if you don’t have them, you’re fucked:
the plot, not the setting, nor the theme. Those are all super important
factors, to be sure, but if your characters do not come off as believable,
fully-realized individuals – if they’re boring to read about – readers can and will drop your story. And you need to
treat all your characters with equal
love and importance – even the secondary ones.
Setting/World-building: This is the second most important element of your story,
imo, and along with characterization and dialogue, one of the hardest to pull
off. The world your characters exist in – and how you describe it – is what
gives your story weight, and makes
it seem believable to the readers. It’s also what allows them to put themselves into
the scene, to imagine the events as you describe them. This is especially
important in genre fiction (i.e. SF and fantasy). The way you describe setting/world-building is
through the senses: touch, taste, sight (both small and large details), smell,
hearing and time. Never forget time.
It’s very important for grounding your scenes. Some helpful links for world-building (that I can remember right off the top of my head): http://www.sfwa.org/2009/08/fantasy-worldbuilding-questions/ http://www.trekearth.com/ (great for picture reference)
Dialogue: One of the dreaded top three in terms of difficulty, but
also very important. Good dialogue – natural dialogue – is a crucial part of
making your story believable. Avoid stock lines, and study how people talk to
each other irl.
Goal: Your characters need a goal to work towards, and you need a goal, as the author. What is it you’re trying to get across with this story? What are
you trying to say to your audience? You need to think about these things.
Theme: A bit more abstract, but pretty important, imo. Examples
of themes are self vs. collective identity, cosmic nihilism, etc.
They’re not explicitly stated in your story – not usually – but a philosophical
underpinning is what gives weight to the subtext of your narrative.
ENCOURAGEMENT
This
one is also really important, and one of the big reasons why I won’t edit the
work of beginner authors. When you first start off writing, unfortunately your
ego is pretty fragile. Writing is an intensive, time-consuming process, and
despite what we like to tell others, often deeply personal. When someone tells
us this labor of love is shit,
it hurts. Really hurts, and when
you’re a beginner you don’t have the thick skin needed to deal with that sort
of criticism.
Some
new authors, if they’re exposed to this too soon, they just quit – they stop
writing altogether, and this is very dangerous, because there are literally
whole libraries of stories out there that have been lost because people like making other
people feel like shit. When I was a beginner, I was never exposed to this. I
was told how to improve my stories, to be sure, but I was never told that I
suck. My parents encouraged me, and my extended family encouraged me; my
friends and my teachers and everyone I knew encouraged me, so by the time I got
to a place where the criticism can be absolutely soul-crushing (i.e.
university), I had developed a thick enough skin to deal with it. I was more
concerned with getting better than
with being accepted, and I was eager to get critique from others.
(ALMOST)
NO BAD IDEAS
I
know a lot of writers will disagree with me on this one, but basically I’m
of the mind that there are (almost) no bad ideas when it comes to writing. It’s
not the idea itself that is bad – it’s how you execute it that matters. This is why I have no problem with most tropes.
The ideas are good – there’s something valuable to them, otherwise we wouldn’t
keep reading – but the reason why people say they’re overdone is
because generations of successive authors have repeated the same trope ad nauseum with
zero deviations. When they do this, they lose the element of surprise, which is
crucial for keeping your audience engaged.
There are a couple reasons why
people do this: one is lack of experience (which is where practice comes in), and
the other is fear: you know this particular idea works, and you don’t want to
be rejected, so you do that, sticking to the formula. But you need to be bold with your writing. Writing
is all about building upon the ideas that have come before you, and then
improving them – it’s about combining ideas together to create something new.
WATCH/READ
OTHER MEDIA
I
know it is always recommended to read books to help with the writing process, and
I agree, but I would go further than that. I would say look at all sorts of media. On a personal
level, I study history and space (and everything to do with it),
and I watch movies. Lots and lots of movies. I like thinking about how to
make a novel work in a
visual format. This might be why I’m very comfortable with writing action.
HAVE
A SYSTEM
Have
a system for writing. Every writer I know has a different one, and there is no
wrong way to go about it, but having a system makes the process of
creating a novel much less daunting, and it allows you to execute complex
plot-lines that would otherwise be impossible to keep straight in your head. My
own process generally goes something like this:
Get an idea: Mine usually come
instantaneously, and are triggered by something I’ve seen.Let that idea ferment: All my ideas seem brilliant in
the moment (to me), but sometimes I’ll get bored with an idea, and if
you’re bored with something, you don’t want to spend months or even years
writing about it. I’ll think about an idea for a month to a year(s), and
if I still like it, I’ll write about it.Research/Planning: Before I start writing, I map
out my plot, plot arcs, major events, setting/world, overall themes,
characters, create the structure for new languages (if need be), and do
any research that may be required. This will be continuously revised and
added to over the course of writing, but you need to have the bulk of it
done beforehand.Create 2 Documents: One for brainstorming, the other
for the first chapter. Sometimes I write in chronological order, which is
what the chapter documents are for. Sometimes I get an idea for a scene
much further down the road, and don’t want to forget it - I write those in
the brainstorming document, and when I need to, I stitch those scenes
together to create a chapter.Write a Raw/Rough Draft: I’m not too concerned about
spelling or coherency here. I just need to get my ideas out on paper.Revise Raw Drafts: As many times as need be. This
is the editing process. It’s long and arduous but I actually don’t mind it
too much. For my original fiction, I have editors to look over my stories.
For fanfiction, I usually don’t - that’s just something I do for fun.Publish: Unfortunately I’m still working
on this one. Putting up fanfics is easy enough to do, but I’m still in the
process of trying to get a publisher to pick up one of my original stories.
Once I figure it out, I’ll let you guys know.
MULTIPLE
PROJECTS
Not
everyone does this, but I do. Sometimes I get overwhelmed or bored with a
particular story, so to keep myself from hating it I switch
projects. It keeps my mind fresh, and allows me to recharge.
NATURAL
TALENT
I
don’t really like this one, but everyone says it plays a factor, so I would be
remiss not to talk about it. My own personal opinion on it is this:
you have to like writing and reading in order to be a good author. If you don’t
like it, that lack of interest will show up in your work. People who
naturally love writing will always have an advantage over you.
The
opinion other people have of me (in person): I’ve literally been writing since
I was 4. My first story was a picture book I drew in nursery school about a
family of grizzly bears getting
shot by a hunter on Christmas. My first novel was about sentient
dinosaurs trying to escape flash flooding, and I wrote that when I was 10. I
have been writing all my life, almost every day of my life, without
prompting, and I’ve been told repeatedly that this is not a thing that normal
people do. So I guess this is where natural talent comes in. But again, I really hate that term. Imo, writing is predominantly a learned thing.
