Week 4 Story Lab: Advice to Writers
You Can't Write What You Wouldn't Read
Nora Roberts
She talks about writing what you're interesting in. Instead of writing something that might fit into a wildly popular genre, you should aim to write about something that you would enjoy reading. She also compares it to analyzing what people are into and what they are reading. From a market standpoint, if you try to fit your book into the popular genre, it is likely not going to be successful. This is because you have no desire to really write the book, instead, you are just trying to make the book to improve your financial situation. Nora also talks about having the three D's; desire, discipline, and drive. Without these you cannot get anything accomplished. I will definitely apply this to my writing by writing about a subject that I am interested in and not try to make it something it is not.
Be Specific
Rick Bass
Good writing is specific writing. This is something I can agree with. I read a decent amount and the books that I most enjoy are books that include specific details so I can see in my head exactly what is going on. Bass points out that if you cannot paint a picture with the scene, then it is an abstraction and this is never good. At least in fiction writing, creating vivid scenes instead of abstract ideas is more important. This will help me in my writing since we are writing short stories. Remembering this will help me be specific in the details I describe and want to convey to the reader instead of writing in generalities.
The Process Begins by Actually Sitting Down
Tom Wolfe
Much of the writing process is just sitting down and beginning to put something down onto paper. This hold true for me as well. Often times I will have difficulty sitting down and writing something because I think that I have too many things going through my head. I do not know where to start! I have to remind myself that your first draft does not have to be perfect. Simply getting something down on paper and then going back to polish up the idea is better than not writing anything at all. Wolfe expresses this thoroughly. It is something that I will be sure to take note of when it comes to writing my stories and my future blog post!
Nora Roberts
She talks about writing what you're interesting in. Instead of writing something that might fit into a wildly popular genre, you should aim to write about something that you would enjoy reading. She also compares it to analyzing what people are into and what they are reading. From a market standpoint, if you try to fit your book into the popular genre, it is likely not going to be successful. This is because you have no desire to really write the book, instead, you are just trying to make the book to improve your financial situation. Nora also talks about having the three D's; desire, discipline, and drive. Without these you cannot get anything accomplished. I will definitely apply this to my writing by writing about a subject that I am interested in and not try to make it something it is not.
Be Specific
Rick Bass
Good writing is specific writing. This is something I can agree with. I read a decent amount and the books that I most enjoy are books that include specific details so I can see in my head exactly what is going on. Bass points out that if you cannot paint a picture with the scene, then it is an abstraction and this is never good. At least in fiction writing, creating vivid scenes instead of abstract ideas is more important. This will help me in my writing since we are writing short stories. Remembering this will help me be specific in the details I describe and want to convey to the reader instead of writing in generalities.
The Process Begins by Actually Sitting Down
Tom Wolfe
Much of the writing process is just sitting down and beginning to put something down onto paper. This hold true for me as well. Often times I will have difficulty sitting down and writing something because I think that I have too many things going through my head. I do not know where to start! I have to remind myself that your first draft does not have to be perfect. Simply getting something down on paper and then going back to polish up the idea is better than not writing anything at all. Wolfe expresses this thoroughly. It is something that I will be sure to take note of when it comes to writing my stories and my future blog post!
(Pen and Paper: pxhere)
Comments
Post a Comment