To All the Writers

[Sojourn]

I have always dreamed of writing a book, but my writing skills are lacking. Anyone know how to become a better writer? Any help would be appreciated. If you have any tips/advice that could help me I would be eternally grateful.

 

[sosilky]

unless its gonna be ghost written by a profesional I would suggest going back to school. or take some kind of credible class

 

[Deep Dish]

Nobody teaches a writer anything. You tell them what you know. You tell them to find their voice and stay with it. You tell the ones that have it to keep at it. You tell the ones that don't have it to keep at it, too, because that's the only way they're gonna get to where they're going. Of course, it does help if you know where you wanna go.

--excerpt from Wonder Boys

 

[Paper Man]

Deep Dish nailed it.

This Friday I was face to face with a rising international writer, with books published in more than 10 countries and the only thing he could tell me was pretty much exactly the idea expressed on the Wonder Boy's excerpt.

 

[SalParadise]

Getting Started

Write what you want to read. Write about what makes you angry, or what matters to you, or what you know, in your heart, in your memory, in the little details; the stories you can tell better than anyone else.

Get into a fixed routine. Write every day, take a break on Sundays. Aim to write 1000 words, or any other goal you think is reasonable.

Make sure you write with the door closed. No distractions.

You don't need to edit as you go. When you write, it's best to concentrate on what you want to express and the best way to say it. In time, you'll get into a rhythm. But it will take time.

Print out what you've done at the end of the day and put it in a folder. Then you can see your progress as you go. At the end of the week, look over what you've written with a critical eye. Where can you improve?

Be ruthless in your editing. This will give you the confidence to be free in your writing. It's a two way deal.

Keep a journal.

Writing Well

If you want to become a better writer, you can do various courses and workshops and so on. This will be good to get the technical side of things down. Ignore this notion that creativity is about 'letting it all out with wild abandon'. You need to get your craft down before you will get any rewards from spontaneous prose.

But remember, learning to write is as much a journey as it is the diligent application of good 'methods'. Don't become one of those people who goes to hundreds of writing 'classes' to learn the X,Y,Z approach to super alpha writing (sound familiar?). You are better off JUST WRITING.

Don't do an English degree. But it would be smart to take a few classes in poetry. In poetry, every word counts. I'm not crazy about poetry, but I can tell you, studying poems like Wordsworth's The Prelude and Milton's Paradise Lost in detail will help you more than reading dozens of full novels.

Study will help you with the technical side of writing, but for the creative side (applying all the principles of the craft in a way that will seize the imagination of your readers), you must READ.

Reading Well

Read the work of your favourite authors, the ones who really touched you. Read everything they have written. Analyse their best work, and ask - 'why did they use those particular words? What effect are they conveying?. By reading a great deal of their work, and writing your own at the same time, you will begin to pick up their good habits by osmosis.

Read a range of novels. Read plays, scripts, articles. The more you read, the more you will be able to place the strengths of different writers into perspective, and develop your own voice.

Also, if you read too much in one area you will become a stale imitator (for a while I only read Beat literature and EVERYTHING I wrote ended up as a 'wild and hip crazy night with the coolest cats exploding like spiders across the stars'. Had to cut that out for my own sanity!).

Stephen King suggests you read for THREE OR FOUR HOURS A DAY. Shows you how important it is. It won't be such a chore when you find a few writers you really like... and reading is more fun when you are doing so to improve your craft, and not just for pleasure.

Sucking

Want to know if you suck? Ask people. Ask people whose opinion on art is generally on the mark. By which I mean, they have a proven 'sense' of what sucks and what works. My friend David can give one word reviews which are almost always correct, so he gets first look at my work. Saves time

Rejection is a big part of being a writer. Even more so than being a DJ. In fact a lot of the stuff in the DJ Bible is very relevant to this craft.

'Patience Is All'.

If you suck at first, it is fine. Just suck less. And less. And less. By writing more. And more. And more.

Resources

Now here are some resources to help you along the way:

Kurt Vonnegut's rules of writing fiction


George Orwell on Language and Writing


Chuck Palahniuk's 13 Writing Tips

Books:

On Writing - Stephen King

The Elements of Style - Strunk and White

Adventures in the Screen Trade - William Goldman

Good luck!

And remember the words of Picasso:

"Good artists copy. Great artists steal".

 

[iqqi]

Great advice in this thread.

I am a writer, but am on an extended writer's block.

To keep it simple, read read read!!! (Especially if you aren't writing).

And then write, every single day. Even if it is nothing but describing what you did that day. You need to get used to your own voice, and then you can start embellishing with details and make it come alive.

I lost my voice, and am doing what I can to find it again. Sosuave has been instrumental in this process. So have certain friends who engage me in emails.

 

[iqqi]

OH! I agree that Stephen King's On Writing is fab, but my absolute favorite book on writing is Bird by Bird by Goldberg.

 

[azanon]

I have always dreamed of writing a book, but my writing skills are lacking. Anyone know how to become a better writer? Any help would be appreciated. If you have any tips/advice that could help me I would be eternally grateful.

Literature/writing courses in college helped me. Are you going to college? I couldn't write worth a dam* when I first went.* You can learn there.

* I just know someone's gonna say "you still can't write worth a dam*". Just want to call it first.

 

[Sojourn]

Thanks for the tips. Azanon in the fall I'm going to take a creative writing course at my local community college. The biggest thing for me is just sitting down to write. I have no problem whatsoever taking a book out and reading all day I just have to find a way to write more. I'm going to start with the tip about starting to write in a journal. I will keep you guys up to date on my progress.

 

[SalParadise]

iqqi, thanks for the recommendation, I haven't seen 'Bird by Bird' before.

If you've lost your voice, why not take a leaf out of Bukowski's book? Quit writing for a few decades, and take on a series of weird dead end jobs where you come into contact with the broken and dispossessed, and fill yourself with stories to tell?

That's one of the great things about writing - wasting decades of your life on booze and *****s can be the very best thing for your career. No wonder the craft attracts free spirits.

Sojourn, writing in a journal is a great way to start! You will get used to expressing yourself in the written form, you're writing about a vital topic (your own life), and there's no pressure on to write the Great American Novel. I find a lot of my best observations and lines come from doing a journal. Make sure to read that article, and keep us posted my friend.

 

[Gubby]

practise practise practise;

focus on pleasing yourself and forget about others. Enjoy your work and you'll write well;

read read read.

 

[iqqi]

iqqi, thanks for the recommendation, I haven't seen 'Bird by Bird' before.

If you've lost your voice, why not take a leaf out of Bukowski's book? Quit writing for a few decades, and take on a series of weird dead end jobs where you come into contact with the broken and dispossessed, and fill yourself with stories to tell?

That's one of the great things about writing - wasting decades of your life on booze and *****s can be the very best thing for your career. No wonder the craft attracts free spirits.

That is EXACTLY what I have been doing. As a matter of fact, I made a conscious decision to do so. But that had nothing to do with losing my voice. That happened due to putting myself in a vampiric situation with empty souls, that left me dry and speechless, literally.

I now have everyone fooled into thinking I am some kind of diva socialite without any kind of thought or care to anything, but really I am an introverted tortured soul romanticizing every thing I see around me. And taking notes on the dirt as well.

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA.... You are only young (and dumb if you so choose to be) once.

 

[iqqi]

OH! I agree that Stephen King's On Writing is fab, but my absolute favorite book on writing is Bird by Bird by Goldberg.

I think I got two books here confused. The one I love is Writing Down the Bones, and Bird by Bird (Lamont) is also good.

 

[SalParadise]

I'll resurrect this thread to post some thoughts on writing which were once shared by Pook, the most famous writer on SoSuave:

Let us compare Don Juaning to... writing.

There are many wannabe writers. They are all scared of rejection (though they won't admit it to themselves). In their minds, they seem themselves as a writer, will read everything on writing and write on their own. In th end, though, they must put out a manuscript or forever be caught in some 'dream'.

Many writers believe that they will become great by focusing on their 'game', oops, I mean craft. They use ACTION verbs everywhere and focus on a STYLE. "Style" they say, "it is all about style." So it is no wonder that we get tons of books that offer no insight into Human nature or life itself. What do you call books that have no real value except they might be readable? That's right, trash.

The major writers I've heard mock and make fun of those who go after the 'style' approach (just as older, successful people, mock and make fun of the people who go the pure 'style' approach). I remember Orson Scott Card telling me how silly and insane the little 'creative writing classes' are and that really nothing learned in college will 'help' one become a writer. The best thing one does is to go out, experience life, and look around, not to be cooped up in a solitary room.

My professors hold up a book like Elements of Style like a holy grail. Someone like Card thinks the book is 'evil'. "Pook, you have all these young writers trying to develop a 'style'. But style is not the arrangement of words and phrases, but the genuine voice of the writer himself." Writing is communication. The more phrases and 'happy words' you put in, the worse it becomes. Writing isn't about word management; it is about putting your vision directly into the reader. (The same is true with Don Juaning! Don Juaning is making your own vision of life appear in the way you want, not to play silly games and play with 'styles'.) There were really popular books such as Uncle Tom's Cabin and others that are UNREADABLE today. Why? Card says that the writer spent his time showing off stylistically and the work does not stand the test of time.

All this 'style reading' and 'word management' just gets in the way of writing. In the same way, seduction and constant 'strategies' and 'philosophies' on women get in the way of life.

There is no such thing as a perfect life. It is just life. You already have a core of identity. You already have your dreams, ambitions, and wishes. If you change those, you risk losing what makes you you. You risk losing your soul.

 

[Gubby]

Y'know I've never read a book on writing.

I'd expect my imagination to be better enriched by reading a fiction book instead.

 

[Bible_Belt]

Louis L'Amour said in his autobiography that if you want to learn to write - then write. Just do it, and that is how you get better.

 

[KarmaSutra]

I've been an active writer since third grade. Poetry and short stories were my platform in those days. They've sinced branched off into a myriad of mediums.

What helped me the most was film school in Manhattan. Away from my co-dependence and comfortability. I lived in the East Village and lived a completely bohemian lifestyle with my two roommates.

Talk about fvcking culture shock.

From those experiences, and the lifestyle I led, I've learned diversity and to write from my gut. Everything is a potential story.

If you want to be a writer, you first have to grab a pen or put your fingers to the keyboard. Second, don't think. Let your subconcious flow through the pen or your fingers and splash the page with your view of the world.

If you're writing fictional stories let your characters tell the tale. Let them breathe and sweat and bleed.

My writing instructor taught me that:

"Genius steals. Talent borrows."

Steal everything from everyone and use it as an example of your own self reflection.

 

[leftForDeadPhoenix]

You need to have writers that you love first then find your voice.

 

[iqqi]

I like prompts as ways to jog my creativity. I am always looking for new ones that are actually interesting from the beginning.

However, whatever works to just get you WRITING is good.

Anyone got any favorite prompts?

Or websites?

 

[SinJester]

Good thread. I used to have a passion for reading and writing but it was somewhat lost because of the bullying I was subjected to because of it. Sad really but I'm not going to blame anyone. I read my own stuff from when I was as young as 12 and I'm impressed with myself lol. I've always been into fantasy fiction myself.

I think the best way to learn how to write is to read a lot. A read tons as a kid and I was top of my grade last year for English, my teacher says it's probably because I used to read so much. Then of course you actually have to write, I'm no proffesional but I don't see too much value in books that teach you to write etc.

I really don't like English in school because it tries to make writing a science where I believe it is an art. The teacher says that the writer planned this and this when honestly they have no idea, it is open to interpretation. It's like trying to teach a natural Mystery Method.

Myself I find the hardest thing about writing is keeping to the project. I would start writing a novel and then a week later get a great idea and start another!

Cheers for posting what Pook had to say about writing I found that really interesting.

PS: I can't wait to read Karma's book