The Rules of the Road
Writing is an art. While there are rules to writing there is no formula to writing a good novel.
These rules are simple.
First, you must fall in love with a story
Then, you must write a rough draft of that story.
Finally, polish that draft, through successive drafts, to bring the story out.
While doing this you will learn to write.
Everything else is like worrying about gilding the frame of a mirror and hoping that this will somehow make the mirror reflect better.
Each and every story requires us to learn anew, no one is an expert when it comes to a new story.
You must learn to write according to the needs of each and every story; each story contains its own lessons on the art of storytelling and writing.
Listen to the story, not your ego.
6 comments:
This was simply an excellent post. I'm decent at writing articles, short stories, and overall short pieces of work - but when I attempt to write novels, something I'd love to do, it all falls apart.
I'll definitely have to start reading this blog and following your advice, because you have a lot of great stuff to offer here. And I'd recommend any of aspiring writer to do the same!
I especially love the last part of the post:
"You must learn to write according to the needs of each and every story; each story contains its own lessons on the art of storytelling and writing.
Listen to the story, not your ego."
Thanks for taking your time to share your knowledge and skill with us. :)
Thanks, Tay = ) I’m not sure if I’ve any wisdom to give anyone, all I can share is what I feel about writing, and what the world is slowly (and oh how slowly I am learning) teaching me. Thanks for the recommendation- I was just going through your own blog, “Super blogging tips” and you present some great ways to monetize a blog, there’s a lot I can learn from you, too.
The most important thing with writing a novel, and I guess the best piece of advice is “write a novel” it takes time, and there will be many failed attempts- they are not so much failures though, but ways of learning stories that you don’t need (or want) to write. I read Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck when I was about eleven, and the book haunted me for years, I though that if I were to write a novel, it would have to be along those lines. It turns out I’m not John Steinbeck- this revelation hurt like hell initially, but when I learned I was me, and that was enough, I had my own stories to tell, and my own way to arrive at them, I was unleashed. Now I write flat out.
If you’re out to monetize your blog, visit “Super blogging tips” (http://superbloggingtips.com/) for some great advice- Tay has a wealth of experience, and his blog is not a mass of tacky advertisements- anyone who offers monetizing tips without resorting to tacky displays of adverts is worth listening to = )
I sometimes feel like a really contrary bugger or maybe I'm not a particularly passionate person but I don't think I've ever fallen in love with a story I've written. For me a story is like an ache you need to rub until it gets better and a novel is just this wall of pain you need to work through. Near the end when you're just tweaking here and there there can be some pleasure in working out the last few knots and, of course, there is a huge amount of relief once you've finished but that's about it.
You’re not a contrary bugger, Jim, it’s the same feeling, just from a different angle = )
I have to write the story, it itches at my head like a thousand bugs, it consumes me, chews me up and wrings me out. I think you and I probably have that same feeling of relief when the story is out of the system. A lot of what we feel sometimes, I think, comes from our beliefs about what we’re feeling… [sailing, sailing into uncharted territory, that’s what I’m doing now]
I’ve got a friend who can look at the most beautiful sunset, and grumble about how it’s another day ending that they didn’t do all the things they needed to, but he sits and writes some really beautiful songs, for the same reason you do, it’s an ache that needs to be rubbed at. What matters, and what his work has in common with some of my better work, is the feeling it elicits- if someone can make you feel happy, or mad, or glad or sad it doesn’t matter the degree of passion they appear to have or lack, they manage to inject the necessary passion into their art. Hell, some of the best writers would have been called wet blankets, but damn, they knew how to inject the feeling into their work.
Jim, is perhaps my favorite contrary bugger, who has a great talent as a writer, and has contributed immensely to the shape of “The Anatomy” One day I’m going to get to have a pint with him (I’ll bring over some Coopers Pale Ale, Jim, it’ll be a treat for the senses). Until then, I enjoy his blog = ) “The Truth about Lies” you can find it in the links on the left hand side. If you need to know anything about writing, this is a great resource, and I cannot recommend enough that you go have a look.
Keep on being a contrary bugger, Jim, blokes like you help blokes like me get their ideas together = )
Great advice huh..Thank you for sharing what you know!
Thanks, Moonlae. I’m kinda lucky, in that people enjoy reading what I’m writing, but all I’m trying to do is explain to myself how these things work- without formalizing it into a set of rules or rigid structure (aside from the fundamental rule and Nike Slogan, “Just do it”). Glad you enjoy it, makes me happy = )
Moonlae, unless I’m very wrong, runs a great blog called, “Moon Goddess Lae” (http://moongoddesslae.blogspot.com/) which is a stunning personal blog. I really enjoy her writing style, which could be described as tapping the gonzo Journalism root that Hunter S Thompson came up with. Intensely personal with a great honesty, it’s well worth a look, not just for the incredibly well told stories she presents, but the way she works easily within what can be a very difficult style to make work = )
Post a Comment