Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Writing 101





I started "seriously" writing back in 2010 when I signed up for my first NanoWriMo. I wrote an entire novel in a month. Tears streamed down my face as I wrote the final scene. Tissue in hand I typed "The End" and felt the pride only a novelist can feel.
Then I left it alone for a few months, as I was supposed to do, and when I finally got around to reading the thing it was... TERRIBLE!
Let's not even talk about the writing itself. It was bad, but it was something I could fix.
The story was a disaster. The characters were one dimensional, the protagonist wasn't likable, and the ending, that I thought was so touching, made absolutely no sense.
What went wrong?  I'd read enough fiction to know how it was supposed to go. Why couldn't I just write it out the way it was in my head?
Now, I probably could have tidied it up a bit and self published it. I might even have made some money on it, but something was clearly wrong with it.
And since I'm a quitter by nature I gave up on it. I did some photography, thought about selling some jewelry and then, as usual, came back to writing.
But this time I did it differently. Instead of writing, I read. I picked up anything I could get my hands on about how to write a salable book.
I spent last year learning about the inciting incident, the three act structure, the call to action, the midpoint mirror, the character arc, and so much more it made my head hurt.
But now that I'm writing again, I actually have an idea exactly where I messed up the first time. I know what was missing and more importantly I know how to fix it.
Am I suggesting you stop writing so you can get an education? No. Keep writing, but read too. Read everything you can get your paws on.
You're going to be busy, REALLY busy, but writing well takes work.
Believe me, I miss my nights in front of the tv, but I'm positive that, this time, I can write a book I'll be proud of. And if you listen to my advice, I'm pretty sure you can do the same.

P.S
Hopefully this post has motivated you.  Maybe you've ordered some books on Amazon about writing? If so, I want to say Bravo!
And I want to apologize because my next post is really going to piss you off. The title will be something like..."Forget everything you know":)

No comments:

Post a Comment