Stephen King:
“The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”
writing process
Writing With…
Elbert Hubbard:
“Grammar is the grave of letters.”
Writing With…
Neil Gaiman:
“Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.”
Writing Revelation
Sarah Waters:
“Don’t panic. Midway through writing a novel, I have regularly experienced moments of bowel-curdling terror, as I contemplate the drivel on the screen before me and see beyond it, in quick succession, the derisive reviews, the friends’ embarrassment, the failing career, the dwindling income, the repossessed house, the divorce…Working doggedly on through crises like these, however, has always got me there in the end. Leaving the desk for a while can help. Talking the problem through can help me recall what I was trying to achieve before I got stuck. Going for a long walk almost always gets me thinking about my manuscript in a slightly new way. And if all else fails, there’s prayer. St. Francis de Sales, the patron saint of writers, has often helped me out in a crisis. If you want to spread your net more widely, you could try appealing to Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, too.”
Fanfiction for the Soul
Fanfiction has been in existence since 1939; you read that right. 1939. Now, fanfiction has served as an outlet for many to read and write as they please within a world the original storyteller has already created. It can be broken down into many subcategories as well, like: angst, crossover, fluff, darkfic, fix-fic, hurt/comfort, shipping, self-insert, smut, songfic, and WAFF. We’ve discussed some places where fanfiction can be found on the internet (Wattpad, FicWad, Tumblr, etc.) but another outlet which some can profit from is Kindle Worlds – Amazon’s fanfiction service.
Are you a writer of fanfiction and don’t like to admit it? Well, E.L. James and Anna Todd are two successful fanfiction writers and some writing professionals have taken to fanfiction as well. We all know E.L. James – writer of 50 Shades of Grey, and currently rewriting her best-selling series in Christian Grey’s point of view. Everyone knows the original 50 Shades was Twilight fanfiction. If you’re just learning this now, you read that right – Twilight fanfiction. Another author on the rise is Anna Todd. We’ve talked about her previously as a Wattpad star, but her original series After is based on some fanfiction she wrote about the British boyband sensation, One Direction. Embrace your love for writing fanfiction…these ladies did and they’re bestselling authors now!
Moving on to a more touch-y subject, many authors who rose to their fame the old-fashioned way don’t necessary enjoy fanfiction, especially of their own works. Authors like Stephanie Meyer, George R.R. Martin, J.D. Salinger, and Diana Gabaldon see fanfiction in a similar way: some form of plagiarism, discrediting the author of original story, and not a good way to write if you want to make a career out of it. But let’s break down why fanfiction is good for the soul, according to AutumnMooncakes (a fanfiction writer) and another source:
- To clear the air, fanfiction is not technically a form of plagiarism. It isn’t a form of trademark infringement until someone decides to make profit off it. This is exactly why E.L. James drastically changed her fanfiction to become an original piece of work.
- The writing of fanfiction helps embrace the creativity within an individual. Not all writers have a sense of what they wish to write about, all they know is – they want to write. So by using a world already created by published authors, the writer can exercise their own writing capabilities.
- Fanfiction has proven to be a form of support for members of the LGBTQ+ community. The connection people have to reading LGBTQ+ type fanfiction can change a person’s life in a way. So, why wouldn’t you want to helping people not feel alone?
- And find a way to deal with the bumps in the road of writing. Fanfiction sets creative limits with the characters already made by the author, getting the minor details right, and there needs to be plenty of research to make the character accurate. Even when the original author has added onto the series (i.e. spin-off, prequels), it makes the writing process more interesting to revisit the fanfiction piece to include new details.
I respect any author who dislikes fanfiction; they’re entitled to their own opinion and demand respect for their work. It should always be remembered a piece of fanfiction can save a life, can serve as an outlet for their fans who are facing their own struggles and a way for writers to embark on their journey of writing.
Fighting With Your Writing
Getting into an argument with your SO is definitely not ideal. Which is why I’m here to tell you: it is OKAY to fight with your writing. Many famous published authors admit to fighting with their keyboard regularly. So, if you are sitting behind your computer staring at a blank Word document fear not… your writer’s block will pass.
John McPhee recently published a book titled, Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process, and spoke in an interview about his personal relationship with his own creative writing. If you think that just a few hours after from your writing will inspire the next “Great American Novel”, think again. McPhee commits to a “five-day walk.” He takes a step away from his writing and will leave it for days on end. Take the time to rethink your argument, plot line, character development- whatever it may be and take your five-day walk. You may think you don’t have that time to waste, but the refreshed outlook and new ideas will more than make up for lost time.
I discovered a blogger who wanted to remind her readers about accepting the unknown and the uninhibited. It’s one of the many duties of being a writer and trying to get published. She also said, “Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone was rejected 10 times before it was published, and Rowling suffered depression and anxiety. Stephen King was broke without a phone line when he wrote Carrie, thought the draft was terrible and only sent it in for publishing after his wife fished it out of the bin. Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, the writers of a warm little page turner called Chicken Soup for the Soul, received 33 rejection letters before their manuscript was accepted.” This just serves as a little reminder that your relationship with your writing should still hold strong long after the manuscript is done. Without a little confidence and persistence, the manuscript may never see the light of day in the publishing industry.
And most importantly, don’t forget to learn from your mistakes. Rather than be angry at the wrong turns you have made, embrace them. YA author Alice Oseman serves as an example of learning from her writing. One of the biggest things she’s learned is diversity. Oseman said it best herself, “It’s important that all people are able to see themselves in literature.”
Bottom line is, don’t be afraid to scream and shout at your computer. When nothing else seems to be working- walk away, learn from the mistakes you made, and go forth with a stronger relationship with both your writing and yourself. These are the simple ground rules to a wonderful and successful union.
And of course, don’t forget to apologize to your computer.
The Writing-Regimen
Finding time to write is sometimes the hardest thing to do. We have other jobs, errands to run, houses to clean, and children to tend to. We say we will write when we have the time, but do we ever really have the time?
I love hearing about other people’s writing routines and regimens. There are so many different ways to make time to write, the process is intriguing. I found an article by Shawn Blanc on the Observer blog about his writing routine and why he believes in having one.
Every morning Shawn sits down at his desk and that’s his time to write. He sets a timer for 30 minutes and cuts off all his connections to the outside world. For the next half hour, all his energy and attention goes towards writing. This ensures that he finds time to write every single day. As Shawn points out, putting words down on a blank page is the hardest part. Carving out a particular time each day, forces Shawn to write more instead of just writing when he has the “time.”
Despite the fact that Shawn already has a regimented writing routine, he is always looking for ways to improve its effectiveness. Currently, he doesn’t write much on the weekends and he mentions that he feels those effects on Monday morning. As the week progresses, his writing gets better and better. Having this type of self-awareness will make Shawn a better writer, the ability to recognize your weaknesses is half the battle. For some, that break might be beneficial but for others it might be detrimental.
I also particularly liked how Shawn actually starts his writing process for the next day, the evening before. He leaves a note on his keyboard about the topic he wants to write about tomorrow morning. This way, he can think about the topic before he starts writing and he isn’t scrambling to find a topic the next morning. If we think about our goals before we set out to achieve them, our mind is put at ease and we feel a little more ready to take on the day.
If you still haven’t found the writing groove that works for you, you might also want to check out my post on finding your own creative space.
Whether Shawn uses what he writes every day, or ends up throwing it out, at least he is writing. Write on.
Different Strokes for Different Folks
There are so many different ways to write a novel, which makes every story unique from one another. Some authors prefer to write from an outline, others write first and last sentences then go back and fill in the rest, while some writers prefer to write in scenes, mash them together, and reorganize. The ways authors could go about writing a novel are endless. Chris Bohijalian described his writing process in an article entitled, “The Writing Process that Led to ‘Close Your, Eyes, Hold Hands,” in The Huffington Post book blog.
I found his process really interesting because it provides maximum amount of freedom to let your creativity juices flow, which is an integral part of writing. It’s pretty simple- Chris just sits down and writes. He does not have an outline, nor does he know where the story will take him. He simply lets cause and effect led the way, only deciding on a story topic and voice before writing. Next, he lets the character take him through the story. It’s as if he puts himself into the mind of his character, writing down their emotions, thoughts, actions, and reactions as they come to him (which sometimes happens to be a bike ride).
Chris points out that this style of writing calls for a great deal of rewriting. He uses Ernest Hemingway’s approach- to start each day off rewriting what he wrote the day before. This concept, as Chris points out, allows him to remember clearly where he was the day before and gives him a jump off point to start his new work. I find this process intriguing because it allows you to revisit the state of mind you were in yesterday- you can choose to stay in that state of mind or modify. Every day provides a different perspective. It also provides a unique opportunity to connect each page of your novel to the next earlier on in the editing process, instead of creating a major headache after your first draft when you realize the flow of your story just isn’t right.
This process of not outlining the scope of your novel and relying on the character is a very challenging but rewarding creative process. It allows for the writer’s own creativity to take control. When you have an outline it’s very common to become “married” to it, making it harder to change the story’s direction when needed. Obviously, this free handed style isn’t going to work for everyone, but the good news is that there are many different writing processes out there. If you have not found a style yet that you are comfortable with, give this one a try. Even if you just try it as a writing exercise, it will be very beneficial to feel the amount of opportunity that is out there for your writing. You really have no idea where it will take you. Write on.