A Caution To Writers

[SpectralDragon]

I find that a lot of this is true, however I would like to add something:

There is one excellent teacher to writing: PRACTICE! And in order to know if your work is good or not you have to have people read it, don't read the thing yourself. An author is often more critical of himself than other people (except publishers and agents, because those go overboard far too much in my opinion)

[Meneleus]

Reading books on how to write early on isn't such a bad idea as it can stop you from doing common mistakes and point you in the right direction. But it is from practicing that your own style develops. Everyone has their own unique way of expressing themselves, and that is not something you can learn that from a book. You just have to discover it.

It's the same for me with any form of art, sport, etc.  Learn the basics from others at the beginning, and then develop your technique yourself and stick to it.  There is no right or wrong way to do anything where art is concerned.

[kiauma]

I agree.  MacTombs recommendations are good, and the single book I would recommend is the slim volume 'The War of Art', by Steven Pressfield (a real bestselling author).  

But really, instead of buying how-to books, save your money for writing supplies.  I can tell you what the best advice any of them have to give, and it is all the same - perseverance.

It's sort of like practice, but more often.  []

If you persevere, you will learn everything you want to anyway.

[narfellus]

I found that online writing groups where you submit and critique other writers were somewhat useful to me. Not always. You get a lot of opinions that don't mean squat, and you read  A LOT of bad stories before the occasional gem. But it still gets your brain in gear.

[chill]

Hi MacTomb, great advice!

I thought that you had it in you, something about your writing, it's powerful yet simple - it seems simple. I agree that writing how-to books is counterproductive. Those books are not only serving the "devil" of procrastination, preventing us from writing. They are killing our "voice" too.

I enjoyed reading some of them though, and I think they were not too damaging.

'The War of Art' was one of them for me too Kiauma. But it describes the"professional" attitute toward writing. It's about resistance. There are forces we have to deal with. It does happen that resistance is the voice of wisdom, it tells us that we are not on the right path, but it is often the voice of 'Evil'.

What is helping me is to get in the 'groove', by selecting a particular music or doing something or reading something that puts me in contact with what I want to experience. Often, a one-hour nap in the afternoon will boost my imagination afterwards.

Other good books for encouragement were for me :
- On becoming a novelist (and yes it's a how-to-book as well, but the few recommendations worked for me - they were in total agreement with my style, with what I like).
- Walking on Alligators (not a how-to book, and not fluffy AT ALL).

Practice, practice, practice.

I write in French, and everyday I write at least 3 pages in French. Those are reflexions, notes on my current work, fantasies, dreams descriptions, grudges, complaints, etc.

[mactombs]

A brief history of my writing experience: I started writing novels in the 5th grade. I tried to publish several novels through junior high school and some of high school. I probably had 6 attempts total, then decided something must be wrong with my writing, and decided to look into editing.

I studied editing/style extensively for several years, reading everything I could find on it. There is a lot on how to write. My caution is this: how-to books are counterproductive. So much of it is personal bias, academic staunchiness, or egotisitcal. A lot of the how-to books are written by people whose credits don't even include fiction. They're professional how-to authors.

The same goes with writing groups, I find. Writers love to stroke their egos by telling other authors how they could improve their style or prose.

Here's my advice: don't read any how-to books. In my opinion (and keep in mind I have read most of the editing/how-to books out there) the only books on writing worth reading and taking to heart are 1) Stephen King's On Writing. He tells it like it is. Everything he advises to writers (and there isn't much) corresponds with my personal experience. 2) Ray Bradbury's Zen and the Art of Writing.

Books and advice on prose put a monkey on your back that inhibits you from writing from your "soul", so-to-speak. The inner critic destroys creative flow. The best way to write is to put down everything that comes to your mind the instant it comes to mind. When you go through to edit or rewrite, you can trim or change (and believe me, you don't need advice on how to do it, it will come pretty much intuitively). Of course, grammar is also very important, but you just need a reference book for that beyond what the grammar function in Word supplies you with.

Also, remember there are no laws of style. Sometimes "show, don't tell" isn't nearly as effective. Run-on sentences can be powerful. But style is something you learn over time, and it's very personal. There is no formula.