Aspiring and emerging writers want to know how it’s done. Like any apprentice, they look to their masters for information about the knowledge and skills required to become proficient in their chosen field.
Common advice for anyone starting out in a new field is to find a mentor. Attach yourself to a master and learn what they do, as well as learning how they do it. What’s their daily routine? What are the principles that underpin their work? Why do they do what they do? What are the shortcuts? How do they approach their work? What insight do they have on the industry?
 Obiwan doesn’t just teach Luke how to turn on a light sabre; he inducts him into the ways of the Force. |
 Dumbledore doesn’t teach Harry spells; he nurtures him into wizardry. |
 Miyagi doesn’t just teach Daniel how to hit and kick; he develops within him the philosophy of martial arts. |
 Nigel doesn’t just teach Andy how to dress; he initiates her into the world of fashion. |
And all of these mentors lead by example. They live the life.
‘Writing’ is a nebulous field. Sure, there’s the ‘rules’ of grammar. And, yes, there are tried-
and-true conventions of structure and trope that increase the likelihood of being a best seller. The three-act structure. The Hero’s Journey. Romance’s HEA (Happy Ever After), Crime’s who-dunnit, Horror’s shock and suspense. These elements of craft are easily learned.
But for all these rules and conventions, there are countless authors who defy them and become outrageously successful. This is where art comes in. Art is all about breaking rules, seeing things in different ways, joining or juxtaposing disparate elements. It’s about creating newness.
Each successful author knows the rules of their craft. What makes them stand out is their ability to create art with them. And since they are too busy actually writing to become mentors, we’re lucky that many of them provide advice, hints, tips, and information about their writing lives in the form of articles, books, blogs and interviews.
So I thought it might be a good idea to start collating them. Here’s the first in what I hope will be a series.
Kurt Vonnegut
Vonnegut wrote an article ‘How to Write with Style’. But that’s not an appropriate title. In the article, he expounds on four basic rules not to write with empirical style, but to find your own style. A very important difference.
- Find a subject you care about
- Keep it simple.
- Sound like yourself.
- Say what you mean to say.
http://kmh-lanl.hansonhub.com/pc-24-66-vonnegut.pdf
Toni Morrison
A wonderful interview with the legendary Toni Morrison. In it, we get some insights into the master’s own writing life in her own words. Think of ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People‘. What do successful writers do, and how do they think, that you don’t?
One of the ways to become a master in writing is not to follow their habits blindly, but to find your own habits that fulfil the same purpose.
“Writing before dawn began as a necessity …and that was always around five in the morning…I realized that I was clearer-headed, more confident and generally more intelligent in the morning.”
“Recently I was talking to a writer who described something she did whenever she moved to her writing table. I don’t remember exactly what the gesture was—there is something on her desk that she touches before she hits the computer keyboard—but we began to talk about little rituals that one goes through before beginning to write. I, at first, thought I didn’t have a ritual, but then I remembered that I always get up and make a cup of coffee while it is still dark—it must be dark—and then I drink the coffee and watch the light come. And she said, Well, that’s a ritual. And I realized that for me this ritual comprises my preparation to enter a space that I can only call nonsecular . . . Writers all devise ways to approach that place where they expect to make the contact, where they become the conduit, or where they engage in this mysterious process. For me, light is the signal in the transition. It’s not being in the light, it’s being there before it arrives. It enables me, in some sense.
“I tell my students one of the most important things they need to know is when they are their best, creatively. They need to ask themselves, What does the ideal room look like? Is there music? Is there silence? Is there chaos outside or is there serenity outside? What do I need in order to release my imagination?”
http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/1888/the-art-of-fiction-no-134-toni-morrison
Stephen King
And finally (for the moment!) Stephen King. My personal writing hero. Sure, I love ‘literary’ books – who can not get an emotional and intellectual rush from Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, 1984, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, Breath, Great Expectations, The Great Gatsby …. But as for page-turning-lost-from-reality goodness, King’s my man. All would-be writers of course are familiar with his memoir-cum-manual On Writing. In it he covers both the mechanical, “Avoid adverbs” and the philosophical, “Don’t worry about making other people happy”.
Here is it’s main advice dotpointed:
http://www.openculture.com/2014/03/stephen-kings-top-20-rules-for-writers.html
