7 Ways to Become a Writer
“Every writer is in a self-actualizing process. Writing is an apprenticeship. A writer is always becoming a writer.” Liz Strauss
I have always called myself a writer.
I call myself a writer because I write. I must write. That’s who I am. Sure – I became sidetracked in teaching for three and a half decades but all through that time I still called myself a writer.
I am a writer because I must write. Just like a musician must play or a singer must sing, like an artist who must paint or draw or a doctor is compelled to help the sick, so a writer must write. It’s the passion within that drives one on, it is the desire to share ideas and stories in the form of the written word that compels the writer to press on.
Like any other pursuit in life, however, one never arrives at perfection. There is always the striving after a better way to express ideas, there is always another story or poem or article that must be written because it will be better than the last one. As Liz says, “Writing is an apprenticeship.” We are always learning – or should be.
How to become a writer:
There are many ways of honing one’s skills. I would like to list just a few:
- Read. Voraciously. Read the works of other writers – good, bad and indifferent.
- Write. Practice is needed every day. Remember that even the most successful singers, musicians, basketballers and writers practise daily. Remember that not all that you write will ever be published – in fact, most of it won’t be.
- Study: learn about the craft of writing from the many books, magazines, websites and blogs about writing.
- Attend: Network with other writers, publishers and agents by attending seminars, workshops and conferences.
- Reflect: Pause often to reflect upon your own writing. Is it achieving what you set out to write? Can it be improved? Where have you made errors? What parts need rewriting?
- Publish: Sent your precious words out into the wild world. If your words only ever remain on your hard drive or on tatty pieces of paper in a drawer somewhere, you have silenced the inner you. You have silenced those words that you have created and which are crying out to be released into the world where they can touch the lives of countless others.
- Persevere: In many cases publishers will reject your wonderful words. You may have very few readers of your blog. You will easily become discouraged. Persevere. Keep writing. Keep on sending out your words. They will be heard.
Remember: A writer is always becoming a writer.” (Liz Strauss)
Links:
- 7 Traits that writers have in common – the inspiration for this post – it is worth reading the whole article. My thanks to Liz.
A wonderful thing about writing
“The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon. You can always do it better, find the exact word, the apt phrase, the leaping simile.”~ Robert Cormier
This is one of the beautiful things about writing. It is an art, not a science. There is so much to be creative about. It is exciting to start out with something in mind, only to find that a piece of writing, or a character, or a story plot takes over, creating an organic life of its own. I’ve had this happen on many occasions, even with blog articles.
Yes, I do plan what I am going to say, but sometimes I end up somewhere else entirely. With my short story writing I sometimes start with just the name of a character in mind. Then I mentally picture that person and ask myself, what is he/she doing? Why are they inhabiting my mind? What will they do with the “life” I have given them? Before I know it, this new “life” takes over, creating a little existence of its own.
Sometimes it doesn’t work like how I’ve described. That’s fine. Sometimes it is just a snatch of a conversation over heard, a memorable phrase or an amazing scene that is the leaping off point for a story. Sometimes I do know the ending from the beginning, and plan the plot accordingly. Often though, I enjoy the creative excitement of discovering the story as it unfolds.
It doesn’t always work. But that’s okay. It’s not brain surgery. I can go back over and rewrite – or even abandon the story completely.
I guess that’s why I choose to be a wordsmith – and not a brain surgeon.
Easy reading and the art of writing
No Comments »30th May, 2007; Category: Picture Books, Quotes, Reading, Writing for Children, Writing Hints, Young Readers
“Easy reading is damn hard writing.” Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Writing that is easy to read is certainly hard to write.
Many misinformed people think they will start their writing career by writing picture book texts for children “because they are so simple they must be easy.” This assumption is totally wrong.
Have you ever tried to write a very simple text for four and five year olds with the following criteria?
- Have a limited vocabulary
- Write within a strict word count
- Tell an interesting story
- Be relevant to the needs and interests of children
- Be age relevant
- Be sparkling text
- Be socially inclusive, non-sexist, non-racist and non-everything
- Be innovative.
If you have, and been successful, then you don’t need to be reading this post.
In the early 1990s I wrote a series of texts for a publisher. These were for three to five year olds, and I know how difficult, challenging, exhausting and demanding it can be. Throw a publisher’s deadline into the mix and you will appreciate how hard it really can be.
With much practice in the art of writing you can make your writing appear easy.
It may appear easy, but the process is very hard.
Use your inbuilt story antenna
“Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the one who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.” Orson Scott Card
Where do you get your story ideas from?
Do you have your eyes and ears open ready to receive story ideas, like some invisible antenna ready to receive the incoming messages?
Be on the lookout for story ideas everywhere you go, every person you see or listen to, snatches of conversation in the mall, the train, the television – if fact, wherever you are. Take a notebook with you and jot down those ideas, those words, the images you see. Record the sights, the smells, the sounds all around you and file them away for future use. Some of these jottings will never be used, others will be very useful and still others will be the gems that turn a good story into a great story.
Here are some examples:
- A white lily: I saw a white lily in the garden of a neighbour on my early morning walk. Write about what the memory of white lilies means to you about someone (friend or family) who recently died.
- A raven: A black raven flew over the house at sunset. Write a story about your cold feelings of impending disaster (death?).
- A rusty truck: Write about the joyful times you had on a favourite old truck on your uncle’s farm, and your sadness now that it is on the scrap heap.
- A singing bird: Write about the feelings you have when you hear a beautiful singing bird. What memories does it bring to mind? Who does it make you think of?
- The aroma of freshly baked bread or cake: Write about your favourite food, how it makes you feel and the memories it brings to mind.
Can you see the gem of an idea in any of these suggestions? If you can – start writing.
Make a list of twenty things you see on a walk around the block, or on your drive home from work or from the window of the train. Try to use as many of these things as you can in a story.
Remember: story ideas are all around you.
Good writing.