RichardGarfinkle
Second Edition and Second Laughter
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We all need help with our writing now and again. AW exists, at least in part, so that we can get and give such help.
But there is a challenge inherent in helping others overcome difficulties in their writing, the challenge of fitting our advice to their writing methods.
Each of us has our own ways of writing, our own needs and processes. A person who runs into difficulty will need help relative to how that person works, not relative to how the helper works.
Here are just a few areas of writing that people often need help on.
Preparation:
Some writers need to have what they are going to write firmly outlined before putting pen to paper.
Some need to fully imagine scenes before writing.
Some need to research subjects.
Some can just sit down and start.
Some need to have thought through their characters actions and motivations, sometimes even acting them out.
Some need to understand the how why and wherefore of their worlds (particularly in SFF).
Some love to discover what's going on in their own minds (Terry Pratchett talks about the better writer in the back of his mind).
Actual Writing:
Some writers are painstaking even in first drafts, making sure to have the right words.
Some need to just fly through their drafts and correct later.
Some need an even pace.
Some work in fits and starts.
Some need to avoid all distractions.
Others need to switch between writing and other activities.
Rewriting:
Some writers go through draft after draft, refining each time.
Some try to perfect on later drafts.
Some treat first drafts as elaborated outlines that can be completely torn apart and redone.
Others see the first draft as close to the final draft and needing only refinement.
***
None of these are right or wrong ways of writing, but they are often talked about as if they were right or wrong.
New writers need to learn which ways work best for them. Experienced writers need help working through their difficulties in ways that accord with their ways of writing.
It seems to me that part of RYFW is to respect people's ways of writing, to give help relative to those ways and not to try to impose one's own ways on others.
People may not feel that they are imposing. They can often feel that they are helping.
To take a common example:
Many writers find themselves questioning what they are doing and second-guessing their decisions. This can lead to paralysis and a sense of helplessness.
The most useful advice for such a person is often 'Just write it.'
But writers can also harbor actual concerns that they are taking their stories on the wrong path (forcing plot elements, trying to shoehorn characters into incorrect actions, and so on).
In such situations 'Just write it' leads to continuation of error and an increase of frustration and helplessness.
These two situations can generally be separated by asking appropriate questions before giving advice. If one asks the writer what they think feels wrong or seems wrong about the story a writer in the second situation is likely to give a different kind of answer from a writer in the first.
It's always a good idea to obtain as clear a picture of the problem as possible before offering advice.
Furthermore, the questions themselves can help the asker clarify the difficulties they are having with the writing.
This may seem obvious, but it is all too easy for people to be alienated from something they could do well by being given advice that is suitable for other ways of thinking than theirs.
But there is a challenge inherent in helping others overcome difficulties in their writing, the challenge of fitting our advice to their writing methods.
Each of us has our own ways of writing, our own needs and processes. A person who runs into difficulty will need help relative to how that person works, not relative to how the helper works.
Here are just a few areas of writing that people often need help on.
Preparation:
Some writers need to have what they are going to write firmly outlined before putting pen to paper.
Some need to fully imagine scenes before writing.
Some need to research subjects.
Some can just sit down and start.
Some need to have thought through their characters actions and motivations, sometimes even acting them out.
Some need to understand the how why and wherefore of their worlds (particularly in SFF).
Some love to discover what's going on in their own minds (Terry Pratchett talks about the better writer in the back of his mind).
Actual Writing:
Some writers are painstaking even in first drafts, making sure to have the right words.
Some need to just fly through their drafts and correct later.
Some need an even pace.
Some work in fits and starts.
Some need to avoid all distractions.
Others need to switch between writing and other activities.
Rewriting:
Some writers go through draft after draft, refining each time.
Some try to perfect on later drafts.
Some treat first drafts as elaborated outlines that can be completely torn apart and redone.
Others see the first draft as close to the final draft and needing only refinement.
***
None of these are right or wrong ways of writing, but they are often talked about as if they were right or wrong.
New writers need to learn which ways work best for them. Experienced writers need help working through their difficulties in ways that accord with their ways of writing.
It seems to me that part of RYFW is to respect people's ways of writing, to give help relative to those ways and not to try to impose one's own ways on others.
People may not feel that they are imposing. They can often feel that they are helping.
To take a common example:
Many writers find themselves questioning what they are doing and second-guessing their decisions. This can lead to paralysis and a sense of helplessness.
The most useful advice for such a person is often 'Just write it.'
But writers can also harbor actual concerns that they are taking their stories on the wrong path (forcing plot elements, trying to shoehorn characters into incorrect actions, and so on).
In such situations 'Just write it' leads to continuation of error and an increase of frustration and helplessness.
These two situations can generally be separated by asking appropriate questions before giving advice. If one asks the writer what they think feels wrong or seems wrong about the story a writer in the second situation is likely to give a different kind of answer from a writer in the first.
It's always a good idea to obtain as clear a picture of the problem as possible before offering advice.
Furthermore, the questions themselves can help the asker clarify the difficulties they are having with the writing.
This may seem obvious, but it is all too easy for people to be alienated from something they could do well by being given advice that is suitable for other ways of thinking than theirs.
) But I think you're taking a Real World - or even a *teacher's view - to the internet. 