The most helpful thing

[Galoot]

Of all the things you've heard, all the advice you've read, all the stuff you've tried, what is the one single thing which has most helped you become a better writer?

You can only pick one. No, you can't pick an entire AW thread or book about writing.

I'll start.
---------------------
Nearly every night, for the past eight years, I've read aloud to my wife for at least an hour before bed-time. You name it, we read it.

I used to hate reading aloud something I hadn't read at least once to myself. Text flows straight from my eyes to my mouth, and doesn't generally stick well in my brain when I'm reading cold. But I eventually ran out of books I'd read before that I knew were worth sharing aloud, and began picking up new authors.

Some read horribly. Some read smoothly. Some read so smoothly that I find myself turning Shakespearian in my delivery (heh) and soaking in the words just as though I'm reading them to myself. I wind up slowing down my delivery when the tension is building, quieting my voice. I speak faster when the action is peaking. Twistingly complex descriptive phrases trip off my tongue when they're good, and trip me up when they're not. That's when I know I'm reading something exceptionally well-written and compelling.

When it is effortless to read aloud, I know I'm holding a good one in my hands. I'll slip my finger between the pages and go back later and study that chapter, that scene, that sentence, to find out what makes it tick. As a reader I want to keep going. As a writer I can't wait to turn back to the stunning page and dissect it.

When it is effortless to read my own work aloud I feel I'm reaching similar heights. If I trip, if I stumble, if I sound flat--I need to rewrite. If I read it in a way that would have made my drama coach proud, not because I'm forcing it but because I'm forced to by the quality of the writing, then I'm writing well.

Reading aloud, both my own work and others' work. That is my most helpful thing.

What's yours?

[Liam Jackson]

Man, that's a tough one. However, if I can choose only one, it has to be "BIC x 2,000 words per day (minimum)." Bic is such a simple concept, it's easy to overlook its importance, and the recommended 2,000 per day minimum turned out to be the magic number for me.

Prior to BIC, I was a streak writer. On some days I was a writing machine, cranking out 6-8k a day without breaking a sweat. On other days, I just sat around waiting for the muse to crack me over the head with inspiration. When I hit a really nasty mid-book wall the streak dried up, and the muse disappeared. (I had this mental picture of my muse clutching an empty tequila bottle and passed out underneath a barstool in Nogales, Mexico.)

Then I heard about the daily ritual of BIC. I still hit walls, but it's much easier to plow through them, now.

[Anatole Ghio]

I agree 100% with reading aloud.

I went to school to get a degree in creative writing and by far, the best lesson I ever learned, I got during my first writing class. This occured in junior college, before I transfered to a 4 year school, and I never learned anything else that was as valuable to me.

I spent the first half of the semester in the class struggling with my writing. Something about it didn't read right. My fondness for the classics had somehow ruined my writer's ear and my writing felt too formal and stiff.

I couldn't figure out how to correct it.

Then the writing program held a special meeting. The top students of each class read their works to a filled auditorium.

I sat back and just listened. No stress about trying to make my own voice work. No getting invloved in reshaping and reworking my own words. Just letting go.

After a while, I realized something. I realized the writing I responded to the most, managed to have both a unique writing style and to involve the reader with concrete details. Stuff you could taste, touch, feel, hear etc... in order to do that, the sentences had to be brief and to the point, or else the emotion would be diluted.

Once I began to focus on flipping back and forth between having a strong authorial voice and involving the reader with concrete emotions, my writing began to fall into place.

It never would have happened if I hadn't been able to HEAR what good writing sounds like. I never had the distance I needed until that happened.

It was the most valuable thing I ever learned as a writer... bar none.

[reph]

Of all the things you've heard, all the advice you've read, all the stuff you've tried, what is the one single thing which has most helped you become a better writer?
An increase in confidence. It came with getting older and realizing that I knew how to do this strange thing.

[Mistook]

The most helpful thing? Do you really want the truth?

Reading is reading, but the first time I ever saw a true manuscript, in courier font, written by a very good writer, I got it.

Something about the monospaced type - the letters - larger than life - so plain. It sucked me in worse than any paperback ever could. I felt like I was reading for the first time - without the glitz of a cover, or the texture of a paper page.

I saw naked writing, and like a teenaged boy - seeing a woman in the nude, I suddenly understood what all the uproar was really about. A novel is a film, it rolls pictures through your head and makes you breathe funny - but it's all done with lines of little letters...

And I can afford that. I have the twenty-odd keys necessary to punch out my own, immaculate prose. And I strive for the day when those plain, courier letters, dissolve, and the paper becomes a screen, upon which the story displays like a dream.

[Richard]

"Writers write. Most people who want to be one don't."

[maestrowork]

"No rewrites or edits while working on the first draft."

It's not easy, but it really works.

[johnnycannuk]

Show, don't tell.

The same story can be told both ways and it is always better when "shown".


BTW, my reading out loud usually consists of Dr. Suess, Amelia Bedilia and Thomas the Tank Engine, so, although I think it helps a great deal, not as much as "show, don't tell."

Mike

[Jamesaritchie]

Of all the things you've heard, all the advice you've read, all the stuff you've tried, what is the one single thing which has most helped you become a better writer?

You can only pick one. No, you can't pick an entire AW thread or book about writing.

I'll start.
---------------------
Nearly every night, for the past eight years, I've read aloud to my wife for at least an hour before bed-time. You name it, we read it.

I used to hate reading aloud something I hadn't read at least once to myself. Text flows straight from my eyes to my mouth, and doesn't generally stick well in my brain when I'm reading cold. But I eventually ran out of books I'd read before that I knew were worth sharing aloud, and began picking up new authors.

Some read horribly. Some read smoothly. Some read so smoothly that I find myself turning Shakespearian in my delivery (heh) and soaking in the words just as though I'm reading them to myself. I wind up slowing down my delivery when the tension is building, quieting my voice. I speak faster when the action is peaking. Twistingly complex descriptive phrases trip off my tongue when they're good, and trip me up when they're not. That's when I know I'm reading something exceptionally well-written and compelling.

When it is effortless to read aloud, I know I'm holding a good one in my hands. I'll slip my finger between the pages and go back later and study that chapter, that scene, that sentence, to find out what makes it tick. As a reader I want to keep going. As a writer I can't wait to turn back to the stunning page and dissect it.

When it is effortless to read my own work aloud I feel I'm reaching similar heights. If I trip, if I stumble, if I sound flat--I need to rewrite. If I read it in a way that would have made my drama coach proud, not because I'm forcing it but because I'm forced to by the quality of the writing, then I'm writing well.

Reading aloud, both my own work and others' work. That is my most helpful thing.

What's yours?

I don't know, but all that comes to mind is a sentence I once heard. "Read everything, write often, write what you know, and never forget that your job as a writer is to tell a story."

But I can point to the one article that made the biggest difference. http://www.icestormcity.com/rumble/king.html

The part about agents is probably outdated now, but the rest of it still holds true.

[Lilybiz]

Man, that's a tough one. However, if I can choose only one, it has to be "BIC x 2,000 words per day (minimum)." Bic is such a simple concept, it's easy to overlook its importance, and the recommended 2,000 per day minimum turned out to be the magic number for me.

Prior to BIC, I was a streak writer. On some days I was a writing machine, cranking out 6-8k a day without breaking a sweat. On other days, I just sat around waiting for the muse to crack me over the head with inspiration. When I hit a really nasty mid-book wall the streak dried up, and the muse disappeared. (I had this mental picture of my muse clutching an empty tequila bottle and passed out underneath a barstool in Nogales, Mexico.)

Then I heard about the daily ritual of BIC. I still hit walls, but it's much easier to plow through them, now.

Pardon my ignorance, Liam, but what's BIC? I'm guessing you're not referring to 2000 words with a ballpoint pen.

There are a million things to know to write well. For me, reading aloud is a given and "show don't tell" is at the top of the list. I always have to go back and look for places where I'm not doing that.

Oh wait. I think I got it. BUTT IN CHAIR.

[Ella]

While a lot of people don't like them, my biggest help has been a small writers group. Our group is of varied ages, varied experience and the feedback has been wonderful. They're honest (I believe :)) and different eyes always spot different aspects. Not only has the feedback for myself been motivating, but reading some of the other fabulous writing is invigorating. Being excited about other projects and watching other people learn and grow comes around full circle.

[Jamesaritchie]

Man, that's a tough one. However, if I can choose only one, it has to be "BIC x 2,000 words per day (minimum)." Bic is such a simple concept, it's easy to overlook its importance, and the recommended 2,000 per day minimum turned out to be the magic number for me.

Prior to BIC, I was a streak writer. On some days I was a writing machine, cranking out 6-8k a day without breaking a sweat. On other days, I just sat around waiting for the muse to crack me over the head with inspiration. When I hit a really nasty mid-book wall the streak dried up, and the muse disappeared. (I had this mental picture of my muse clutching an empty tequila bottle and passed out underneath a barstool in Nogales, Mexico.)

Then I heard about the daily ritual of BIC. I still hit walls, but it's much easier to plow through them, now.

I think you're right. BIC is probably the most important thing any writer can do, and BIC X 2,000 words per day is even better. I've pretty much done this since day one, but it's amazing how many will argue with in.

[cwfgal]

For me the best advice I ever got was from Sloan Wilson, who taught one of many creative writing classes I've taken over the years. He told me my writing skill was adequate (a word I hate and I think he knew that) but that it lacked emotion. He told me I had to make the reader feel more. I had to learn how to manipulate the readers' emotions. He said writing what you know doesn't necessarily mean writing about subjects you have knowledge in, but rather writing about those universal things that all people know and can relate to: love, hate, fear, happiness, lust, etc. It was like a light bulb went on in my head.

The first novel I completed after taking his class was the first novel I sold.

Beth

[HConn]

Be the expert on your own work.

[Rose]

Of all the things you've heard, all the advice you've read, all the stuff you've tried, what is the one single thing which has most helped you become a better writer?
Morning Pages.

I'm not sure if my version of morning pages is what Julia Cameron (author of The Artist's Way) intended, because I only read the two or three pages of her book that discusses them and not a single page more.

Morning pages work for me because, as it turns out, I am a mean, judgmental, self-absorbed, and hyper-critical girl. Of course, nobody who meets me ever suspects a thing (I come across as warm and witty...and very modest), because the zillions of petty thoughts I harbored in my mind just festered there silently. They were never allowed to escape through my lips or my pen or keyboard. That is, until I discovered morning pages.

When I first started writing morning pages - that is, three pages every morning as soon as I wake up, and I write them long hand and have to finish them before I can turn on my computer - I was horrified at the output. It read like a whiney teenager's diary! I didn't see the point, but I kept doing them. Over time, my rants againt the previous day's (minor) annoyances turned into personal essays. Then ventured into deeper, unexplored areas of my life that I never dreamed I'd put on paper. Sometimes, the feelings and opinions that come out surprise even me.

FWIW, I'm happier because of my morning pages! I'm sure the world still annoys me, but for some reason I don't notice it so much anymore. I'm much less compelled to write all that petty stuff down. Those first few weeks of written diatribe seem to have drained me of the need to whine, and my head is now clear to write about things other people might actually want to read.

Another bonus is that morning pages taught me to just write, write, write without over-thinking or stopping. That skill transfered nicely to my work for pay - I think I'm starting to write faster and inject more of my own voice into my non-fiction articles.

Hmmm. I'm not sure I should post this....but <sumbit reply>

[zornhau]

"Murder your darlings" - no piece of text is sacrosanct until the book's in print.

[mdin]

I will third (or fourth or whatever) reading out loud.

Everything else out there, show don't tell, voice, tell a story, etc., etc. all comes to light with a simple out loud reading. It's like reading it for the first time.

[Fractured_Chaos]

Like alot of people here, it's the reading out loud that helps do it foe me. If my prose is clumsey, or doesn't build with the same breathless pace I envisioned in my head when I read it out loud, then I need to rewrite it.

[mistri]

Someone's already said Butt In Chair, so I'll suggest one that doesn't work for everyone, but that definitely works for me:

Give yourself permission to write crap




Some people edit as they go, and much prefer to get one perfect sentence down than 3 imperfect ones. I respect that, and wish I could do that, as it would make revision easier and quicker. However, I prefer to just get some words down, and worry about how good they are later, as otherwise it would take me forever just to get a page written.

[veinglory]

Mine was to stop procrastinating and start submitting.

[SRHowen]

I'll go with the "Murder Your Darlings"

I agree with BIC and all the others, but this one has a lot of meanings. To me it means it's ok to write long passages that stop the motion of the story, or pretty scenes that have no place in the text, or add in that strange brother who is no other place in the work as long as it's in the first draft and you are willing to "murder" them later. It also goes along with learning that your written word is not written in gold ink--it's less than perfect and it's OK if someone says, hey this stinks. You can murder YOUR darlings to make it better.

[zornhau]

I'll go with the "Murder Your Darlings"

I agree with BIC and all the others, but this one has a lot of meanings. To me it means it's ok to write long passages that stop the motion of the story, or pretty scenes that have no place in the text, or add in that strange brother who is no other place in the work as long as it's in the first draft and you are willing to "murder" them later. It also goes along with learning that your written word is not written in gold ink--it's less than perfect and it's OK if someone says, hey this stinks. You can murder YOUR darlings to make it better.

Nice exegesis!
I'd add - humbly, from my unpublished perspective, of course - it's pointless to keep a file of outtakes for later use. If a large "darling" is transplantable, then it probably doesn't belong anywhere. Short darlings - e.g. a cool phrase - will pop into back into your head when needed, so no need to start a collection

[Daughter of Faulkner]

I talk to God then listen for the voices of my characters.

:Sun:

[oswann]

The chainsaw is your friend.


I edit without mercy. Yes I allow myself to write crap to a certain degree. Never intentionally of course this is a waste of time but I am a ruthless editor. Editing is God's gift to human creation. It separates the mass into two. Those who think that every word that falls out of them is sacred and those who are prepared to work.

Before you start Mr. Ritchie, I know that you are an economical writer who is able to write publishable work with little editing. What I am saying is that it is important that there is a distictive quality judgement that is able to be made when reading a MS.

It is either good or bad

This sounds simplistic, but stay with me. If the publishing world became like the artworld for example where it has become impossible to say if something is good or bad the marketplace would inundated with Travis Teas, but serious ones. When art students were told that the only tools they needed to have were the ones that they were born with the art world changed beyond recognition. People expressed themselves with no regard for history or experience or God forbid - editing. Students ran naked sploshing paint around the walls of art schools all over the world. They were free of the constraints of judgement. If Michaelangelo walked into an art school at the turn of the 20th century he would remark upon the changes and evolution of art, if he walked into the majority today he would not even know it was a place were art was made.

Yes, I am a painter and although I have avoided saying so elsewhere and I refuse to put up links to my work, I have an international reputation and I am disillusioned.

One of the key phrases for me was when Uncle Jim said that all arts were related. I have always written and have done so purely for my own pleasure, now, maybe for the wrong reasons, I am writing with the same vigor I reserved at one time for my painting.

The gallery world has become the nightmare that newbies think is the publishing world. It's who you know, it's how you banter, the openings and the connections. What's hot and what's not. Quality is something that is totally arbitrary and not spoken of.

The criteria for writing publishable commercial fiction is tight and thankfully tangible. The editing process can be done or not based on sets of rules that are comprehensible. Embrace them all.


Os.

[Nateskate]

I write straight through like a bullet. Unfortunately, that leaves a great deal of room for careless errors. So, I always proofread everything, then I proofread the corrected copy.

Being forced to re-read, has helped me see my weaknesses, so now I'm more conscience of them. I've become a "that" basher, because I had way to many "that's.

It's also helped me with prose, sentence structure, switching narrative to dialogue and dialogue to narrative to achieve a better balance.

When I write something fresh, in my mind it's the greatest thing since sliced bread, until I re-read it and think, "How could I have written this slop." No, the ideas are generally spot on. However, the execution of those ideas doesn't always come out as clean as I thought, and with sprucing, I improve it. There's nothing more satisfying to me than when I have something fully corrected I can read non-stop.

[Liam Jackson]

Pardon my ignorance, Liam, but what's BIC? I'm guessing you're not referring to 2000 words with a ballpoint pen.

There are a million things to know to write well. For me, reading aloud is a given and "show don't tell" is at the top of the list. I always have to go back and look for places where I'm not doing that.

Oh wait. I think I got it. BUTT IN CHAIR.

On the nose. :)

[Liam Jackson]

Zornhau and Oswann hit on my "second most important learning experience."

Early on, I had trouble with the "murder your darlings/cut ruthlessly." I tried too hard to tell the story and the result was overkill. When it came time to edit, I kept telling myself there had to be a valid reason I created a character or installed a scene in the first place. Eventually, I learned that cutting was esstential, and that nothing was sacred.

Overwriting is like putting all those damn "Keep America Beautiful" billboards along scenic strectches of the Natchez Trace. The intentions are good, but in the end, you've only cluttered up a pristine landsacpe with a bunch of ugly signs that no one really needs.

[maestrowork]

I have a different problem. I tend to "underwrite." I find myself having to pad and elaborate and expand on things after my first draft. I do cut stuff that becomes non-essential to the story, but as far as the main story goes, I find myself having to add dialogue, characterization, descriptions, and details for show vs. tell during subsequent drafts.

[Jamesaritchie]

The chainsaw is your friend.


I edit without mercy. Yes I allow myself to write crap to a certain degree. Never intentionally of course this is a waste of time but I am a ruthless editor. Editing is God's gift to human creation. It separates the mass into two. Those who think that every word that falls out of them is sacred and those who are prepared to work.

Before you start Mr. Ritchie, I know that you are an economical writer who is able to write publishable work with little editing. What I am saying is that it is important that there is a distictive quality judgement that is able to be made when reading a MS.

It is either good or bad

This sounds simplistic, but stay with me. If the publishing world became like the artworld for example where it has become impossible to say if something is good or bad the marketplace would inundated with Travis Teas, but serious ones. When art students were told that the only tools they needed to have were the ones that they were born with the art world changed beyond recognition. People expressed themselves with no regard for history or experience or God forbid - editing. Students ran naked sploshing paint around the walls of art schools all over the world. They were free of the constraints of judgement. If Michaelangelo walked into an art school at the turn of the 20th century he would remark upon the changes and evolution of art, if he walked into the majority today he would not even know it was a place were art was made.

Yes, I am a painter and although I have avoided saying so elsewhere and I refuse to put up links to my work, I have an international reputation and I am disillusioned.

One of the key phrases for me was when Uncle Jim said that all arts were related. I have always written and have done so purely for my own pleasure, now, maybe for the wrong reasons, I am writing with the same vigor I reserved at one time for my painting.

The gallery world has become the nightmare that newbies think is the publishing world. It's who you know, it's how you banter, the openings and the connections. What's hot and what's not. Quality is something that is totally arbitrary and not spoken of.

The criteria for writing publishable commercial fiction is tight and thankfully tangible. The editing process can be done or not based on sets of rules that are comprehensible. Embrace them all.


Os.

I won't argue with you. I've simply learned that, for me, when something is bad, editing and rewriting does little or no good.

It's something I first heard from Isaac Asimov many years ago. He said that he soon learned that when a story wasn't working, that when the first draft was bad, he could never rewrite it into a good final draft that was acceptable to him. In a sense, that validated the way I write,

Most of my first drafts are good, are nearly publishable, or publishable, as they stand, and need only one run through for editing. This is due partly to being a situational writer, due partly to my natural storytelling style, due partly due to journalistic training, and due partly to experience.

This in no way means I don't write lousy first drafts and lousy stories. I certainly do. I've simply learned that, for me, a lousy first draft is never, ever going to become a first class final draft. I can sometimes get such a draft or story to the point where it's publishable, but it still won't be up to my standards. So the bad first drafts and bad stories get tossed. Throwing them away and writing a different story is my most useful editing technique.

And I certainly agree about the art world. I'm not an artist, except for my own pleasure, but I love painting, primarily in oil and watercolor, and I've tried my hand at other forms. I've also taken some pretty advanced art classes. But that is not at all where my talent lies. As a famous philosopher once said, "A man has got to know his limitations."

Yet I've never forgotten an art professor's reply when I told him I didn't think I had the talent to be a great painter. He said, "In today's art world, lack of talent is an asset."

[Fresie]

"Write what you know... and they don't."

Acceptance wise, it works for me every time. I'd love to write about many things... spaceships, strange lands, MY opinions, MY pet subjects. Most of the time I've discovered that tons of other people hold the same things dear and write about them, which makes my opinions pretty worthless. Not so when I stick to the motto above. We all know certain things that others don't but would love to know.

I learned it the hard way at high school while participating in a writing contest about our town. My wise father insisted that I wrote about the history of our town theatre -- him the leading actor and director, me his daughter, between us two, we knew all about it. Independent, I threw a fit and wrote a SF tale about our town in the future -- probably, like every other contest entry. I lost a writing contest for the first time in my life... and I keep asking myself what would've happened had I written about the theatre.

We all possess some insider knowledge -- use it!

[arrowqueen]

Persevere.

[Mike Martyn]

BIC (Butt In Chair) Thanks Uncle Jim!

[Anatole Ghio]

I won't argue with you. I've simply learned that, for me, when something is bad, editing and rewriting does little or no good.

It's something I first heard from Isaac Asimov many years ago. He said that he soon learned that when a story wasn't working, that when the first draft was bad, he could never rewrite it into a good final draft that was acceptable to him. In a sense, that validated the way I write,


Ray Bradbury has said 90% of his writing has never been published.

This is because it was a first draft that didn't work. Either he gets it mostly on with the first draft, or he tosses it into the trunk and never looks at it again.

I used to believe a story could be made in the editing. I now feel the first draft is the foundation. If the foundation is bad, the whole structure is flawed from the get-go.

I still do lots of editing. My favorite part of writing is in the rewriting. I just know if it basically isn't there in the first shot, the percentage is already against it being there in the second shot, so better to cut your loses and move on to the next piece.

[Anatole Ghio]

When I write something fresh, in my mind it's the greatest thing since sliced bread, until I re-read it and think, "How could I have written this slop." No, the ideas are generally spot on. However, the execution of those ideas doesn't always come out as clean as I thought, and with sprucing, I improve it. There's nothing more satisfying to me than when I have something fully corrected I can read non-stop.

I am the biggest fan of editing. I take very little pleasure out of writing the first draft. Sometimes staring at the blank page and having to fill it up is like getting a tooth pulled for me.

However, once I've got the first draft set and I feel like the idea is there and it is brought out in the writing, then I really go to town with editing.

Mainly, this means taking a red pen to the prose and making it read clean. It also gives me the chance to restructure and bring out the voice of the work -- which I do through the language by sharpening the lyrical sections, using punctuation to add meaning or to direct the readers focus.

Very rarely do I have to flesh out the main idea of the piece, once I have a first draft. I might add a scene or two, or blow a scene up or diminish it... but very rarely do I have to fudge around with the meaning.

I you have a good foundation, the meaning is part of that, so by having to rethink the meaning, it is tantamount to saying the foundation wasn't quite strong.

[Fractured_Chaos]

I have a different problem. I tend to "underwrite." I find myself having to pad and elaborate and expand on things after my first draft. I do cut stuff that becomes non-essential to the story, but as far as the main story goes, I find myself having to add dialogue, characterization, descriptions, and details for show vs. tell during subsequent drafts.

Wow. I thought I was the only one who had the problem.

[Tish Davidson]

Put your ego on hold

Listen to your editor. Really listen with an open mind. Almost anyone's work can be improved. Great editors help you go deeper. Good editors help you improve without altering your voice. Mediocre editors help move the story along by making you cut the flab and get your logical ducks in a row. Bad editors don't last long in professional publishing. Yes, sometimes you'll get advice you disagree with. Sometimes you are right to resist changes. But most of the time, if you separate yourself from your work, you'll find that an editor can improve it. Editors are a bridge from your mind to the mind of your readers. If an editor can explain WHY a certain change should be made, seriously consider the request. You can learn a lot about how to produce PUBLISHABLE work by asking about the rationale behind editor's requests for changes. Learn to accept criticism impersonally (maybe when I'm two hundred and five I'll get there :))

As for reading - read your work aloud. If you find you're not reading what is on the page, change the manuscript. Often you find yourself rewording to a more naturaly syntax and rhythm. What you've written may look beautiful to your eye, but clank to your ear. Never send out a piece you haven't read aloud.

[SJB]

Obviously BIC and writing every day are the most important ones, but one of the niftiest pieces of advice is Uncle Jim Macdonald's "Type up the first chapter from your favourite book" one. I've done this with several pages each of two novels, and one entire short story, and gained a whole new appreciation of some of the ways in which my favourite writers worked.

I'm going to take a few English papers next year to finish off my BA, and might well use this technique to help me with critical appreciation. It's dandy. :Thumbs:

[zornhau]

Can I also add:

Read modern examples of your chosen genre* by new** writers

*As I student, I read mostly secondhand novels. I wasted a couple of years trying to become "The Next Lin Carter". Enough said.
**Established writers get a certain licence not afforded to newbies. For this reason, you have to read successful new writers.

[aadams73]

Wow. I thought I was the only one who had the problem.

Nope, I'm a serious underwriter too. :)

[Note On]

> what is the one single thing which has most helped you become a better writer

Taking on things I'm not sure I can do.

[oswann]

Yet I've never forgotten an art professor's reply when I told him I didn't think I had the talent to be a great painter. He said, "In today's art world, lack of talent is an asset."[/QUOTE]


Talent, experience, learning, perseverance, the list goes on. All of the assets that people who aspire to write well accept as tools of the trade. I won't change the debate but I'm glad you took the time to respond Mr. Ritchie.


Os.

[KTC]

I would have to say the small on-the-spot writing group I attend. The instant feedback on my instant work helps me to realize that, #1 I'm doing something I love and #2 I may be a little better at it than I thought I was.

[Julian Black]

This may sound odd, but for me it's Slushkiller (http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004641.html).

If you haven't yet read it, do so. Read all the comments, too. Then go back and re-read it periodically.

Teresa Nielsen Hayden and Friends haven't necessarily taught me how to write--I'll be working on that one for the rest of my life. What Slushkiller did, however, was teach me how to see my eventual manuscript from the editor's perspective, and ultimately the reader's.

I can write page after page of gramatically correct English prose, with proper spelling. According to Uncle Jim, this puts me far ahead of most slushpile authors. Slushkiller showed me just how far, and in doing so proved not only informative, but one of the most inspiring things I have ever read about writing. By the time I finished reading that thread, I felt much better about both my abilities as a writer and my chances of one day seeing my novels into print.

[SJB]

This may sound odd, but for me it's Slushkiller (http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004641.html).

It does sound odd, but I found the thread comforting, too, for the same reasons. Of course, it's making sure that my technically perfect prose isn't "dull, flaccid and underperforming" that's the hard bit.

Sigh.

[Sassenach]

I disregard most advice and tips, and keep writing.

[Julian Black]

It does sound odd, but I found the thread comforting, too, for the same reasons. Of course, it's making sure that my technically perfect prose isn't "dull, flaccid and underperforming" that's the hard bit.

Sigh.Well, I've long since outgrown #8 (It’s nice that the author is working on his/her problems, but the process would be better served by seeing a shrink than by writing novels.). I think that describes just about everything I wrote before I hit 30. Thank goodness I didn't buy my first computer until I was 32.

Reason #11.--Someone could publish this book, but we don’t see why it should be us--is the one that gives me the willies...

[MacAllister]

Ah. Ditto what Julian says about Slushkiller (http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004641.html). I'd never submitted anything anywhere until I read that essay and the comments that follow. (Found AW from there, too.)

Of course, that may have been a good thing, you understand...

[detante]

"Omit needless words."

[Craig Shaeffer]

BIC is my personal favorite, but that's been taken. This one has sort of been hit upon, but I think it bears repeating...

Study good writing.

Now, that's a far cry from reading good writing.

Yeah, with reading comes a certain amount of osmotic absorption, but that's expressed in style and tone. What about the other areas? How about structure?

The novel on which I'm working--my first--has revealed some of my own limitations. Frankly, only a few months ago, I was crappy with time. The passage of it, the expression of it, all that stuff. I simply didn't know how to jump smoothly from one day to another or from one month to the next.

So, I picked up Dan Simmons's A Winter Haunting with the intention of studying it while I read it. I wasn't specifically looking for an elixir for my time problems, but darned if I didn't find it.

Right there in those pages, in those chapters, I saw how Simmons took Dale Stewart (his NASCAR driver-sounding protag) from one day to the next, how he muddied the chronological waters when the story called for nebulousness, how he flashed back and cross-cut without boring or confusing the reader.

The whole process is a bit like film editing, and being a Film Lit teacher, I never thought to put my cinematic knowledge to good literary use.

Anyway, the point I'm making is that Simmons taught me a great lesson. So does Elmore Leonard, every time I read his dialogue. Ruth Rendell is teaching me a hell of a lot about how to shift POV without jolting the reader out of the story.

Study great writing. It helps, even if it shows you how obtuse you've been for not learning a lesson earlier.

[Jamesaritchie]

This may sound odd, but for me it's Slushkiller (http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/004641.html).

If you haven't yet read it, do so. Read all the comments, too. Then go back and re-read it periodically.

Teresa Nielsen Hayden and Friends haven't necessarily taught me how to write--I'll be working on that one for the rest of my life. What Slushkiller did, however, was teach me how to see my eventual manuscript from the editor's perspective, and ultimately the reader's.

.

As a friend of mine says, "I don't think as much of Teresa Neilson Hayden as I probably should. I only pray to her twice a day, and only burn candles at her alter on Sunday morning."

Seriously. If there's anyone in this business a writer should listen to pretty much each and every time, it's her. If you think one thing, and she thinks another, the wisest thing to do is to wonder where you went wrong.

[triceretops]

The unforgiving minute.

Tri

[aka eraser]

My high school English teacher in Grades 11 through 13 gradually convinced me that I had all the tools to succeed as a writer. His faith in me was stronger than my own and sustained me during the seemingly-endless-rejection years.

[oswann]

My high school English teacher in Grades 11 through 13 gradually convinced me that I had all the tools to succeed as a writer. His faith in me was stronger than my own and sustained me during the seemingly-endless-rejection years.


My final year English teacher told me several years after I had left the school, town and state that my final Creative English exam was used as a teaching model for years after. My first published work and I didn't even know.



Didn't get paid anything either.




Damn.





Os.