The most helpful thing

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.

Galoot said:

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?

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An increase in confidence. It came with getting older and realizing that I knew how to do this strange thing.

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.

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

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

It's not easy, but it really works.

Easy

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

One thing

Galoot said:

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.
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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?

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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.

BIC?

LiamJackson said:

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.

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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.

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.

BIC

LiamJackson said:

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.

Click to expand...

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.

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

Galoot said:

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?

Click to expand...

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>

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

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.

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.

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.

Mine was to stop procrastinating and start submitting.

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.

SRHowen said:

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.

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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

Prayer

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

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 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.