Tuesday 3 February 2015

Are you sick of ‘How to write' advice?



It’s Wednesday, time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up.

We’ve all heard the old saying which has been attributed to Somerset Maugham, ‘There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.’ Well someone ought to tell that to the modern writing gurus because in the last few years there’s been an explosion of ‘how to write’ bloggers, books, articles and websites.

“Throughout your MYSTERIOUS AND WONDERFUL AND OCCASIONALLY MISERABLE ART JOURNEY, you will meet many naysayers, and you will be given enough advice that, if you wrote all this advice upon many pieces of paper, you would singularly destroy a significant portion of the world's forests.” ~ Chuck Wendig
 
 
My writing tutor said to me once ‘your sentences are kaleidoscopic!’ In my earnest attempts to win her favour I learned how to shorten and tighten. I read all the 'how to write fiction' books I could get my hands on. I thought, wow, I know nothing about writing fiction and I became filled with doubt.
“How-to” tomes often coax us to be a writer rather than encourage us to do the hard work that would turn us into writers. That is to say, write your brains out. I’ll bet there are young writers out there reading less literature than “how-to” books. We’re being seduced into posing as writers “rather than spending the time to absorb what is there in the vast riches of the world’s literature, and then crafting one’s own voice out of the myriad of voices.” (author, Richard Bausch) ~ PJ Reece
 
 
It took me years to realize that in my adherence to the modern rules of writing fiction, I had limited in every possible way my natural way of telling stories.
At one stage I found a new writing partner. He said, 'your sentences go clunk', and 'they're the oral equivalent of riding over cobblestones'. He suggested I read every single sentence aloud. I did, and I discovered something significant. I realized that in my earnest following of the rules, I'd lost the soul of my work. I'd pared, and primped to the point of squeezing the juice, the life out of my story. I had done what I was told. But all I had left was chunks of clunk.

In trying to please everybody, I had sabotaged my own story. ~ Anne R. Allen
 
 

And yet, since I’ve started reading bestsellers in my genre, one thing I’ve noticed again and again (so far), is that none of these successful writers are following the rules! What gives? Why do we have to follow the rules and they don’t?
This ties in nicely with the theme in my life as I get older, of listening to my own spirit. Allowing for my own knowingness of what's right to imbue my work, rather than what everyone else tells me is so.
 

Paulo Coelho ~ Books are not there to show how intelligent you are. Books are there to show your soul.
 
 
 
These days I'm trying to give myself full permission to 'just write', to let it flow. But I have a long way to go yet in throwing off the shackles of the myriad ‘rules’ I’ve imbibed.

Chuck Wendig ~ Write like you don’t give a damn. Write like there’s no expected outcome except a finished story.

I really like what Bryan Hutchinson had to say over on Positive Writer, he said, 'there’s a crazy myth writers need to kill: The myth: You need to be an expert in all aspects of writing to be a writer. No. No you don’t. As a writer, there’s only ONE thing you need to be able to do, write.'

I have to somehow find my way out of the forest of advice and back to my natural state. How about you? Are you a writer in your natural state? Or are you still trying to adhere to 101 different writing rules? Or are you stuck halfway between both worlds (like me)? I'd really like to know!

 
Talk to you later,
Yvette K. Carol

28 comments:

  1. Down with rules! LOL. I agree. Rules have gotten in the way of my creative writing. The only way to learn to write is to do it and keep doing it over and over. Practice makes perfect. Someone said, I don't remember who, that you should learn all the rules and then break them! I found that to be pretty true.

    Gwen Gardner, IWSG Co-host

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Gwen, thanks for stopping by! I know what you mean. When I go to write now, my mind stops me dozens of times with 'you can't start with that', 'you're not allowed to use the word was', etc and it can stifle one's creativity to the point of not even being able to get out of the gate! You need to know the basics, agreed. And then, you need to forget them again!!

      Delete
  2. I don't have many answers either. I love to read about the craft, but I'm not looking for short cuts. I'm looking for the on switch. They always seem to get me going, inspire me to do better.

    I only use what speaks to me. :-)

    Anna from Shout with Emaginette

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you're onto something there, Anna, only use what speaks to me. What happens for me is I 'think' about the text too much (that's where the rules come in), instead of getting out of my head and letting it go. Then I'm not sure which rules to hang onto and which to ignore! Very confusing. Thanks for that tip, I'll remember that :-)

      Delete
  3. Love what Imaginette says about the 'ON' switch. I imagine that all writers, accomplished or not, have to deal daily with freeing themselves enough to write their brains out. ...While I was detouring somewhere before publishing this comment, I came across this Kafka quote (talk about serendipity):

    "I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. If the book we are reading doesn't wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for? ...we need the books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us."

    Hello!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Imagine my joy to see you here, PJ! :-) Yes, the 'ON switch' is the holy grail of all writers, I think - to hit the zone, running - good one, Anna!

      Love that quote. Books that wound and stab us. The books I remember the most clearly are the books that moved me, that effected some sort of change in me as well as the main character/s... To elicit emotion in the reader is also another kind of holy grail for writers, or me anyway. Cheers for stopping by!

      Delete
  4. When I started pursuing a writing career more seriously, I also felt that I didn't know enough to do it correctly. I read a few 'How to' books, but my complete aversion to them made me instead choose to become a more avid reader of fiction. In the way, I've read lots of advise from blogs, and to this day I follow a couple of grammar sites to keep the knowledge growing. I think knowing the rules is important, not necessary, but important. If you know the rules, then you can break them to achieve a certain effect. Rules were meant to be broken, but if you don't know them, you are haphazardly achieving goals much like the donkey who played the flute. I think you have a strong foundation. Now follow your inner voice and you'll create greatness.

    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm like you, Georgina, in that I tend to prefer to read blogs and certain writing sites rather than sit down to read a whole book on how-to-write. Small, easy snippets of time on a regular basis. That's do-able. Or alternatively, short how-to books!! And I also agree, you need to know the business first before you mess with it. Thank you so much for commenting!

      Delete
  5. Know the rules and know when to break them.

    You're right that it came become inhibiting. We're so focused on the proper structure that we lose the passion in the story.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly! The passion, the feeling, the life. It's like PJ said on his blog, he's in favour of becoming a writer from the inside out, and I am too. I want to know how to structure my story and then I want to revert to some sort of wild animal! Thank you for stopping by, L. Diane.

      Delete
  6. One of the lovely things about aging is recognizing our own voice in all the noise. We have interesting stuff to say, more confidence to say it, and a memory bad enough to forget the rules we didn't want to follow in the first place!

    LOVE the quote "the oral equivalent of riding over cobblestones" - I'm quite sure I'll find a way to fit that into a conversation very soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Shel, glad you liked it. I love a good quote myself.
      Yes, I often say the gaining of self knowledge as we age more than makes up for any down sides!
      Thanks for commenting. I appreciate it!

      Delete
  7. Lol! You're so right. Bestselling authors love 'was' and tell more than show and use bad dialogue when it suits them. Not that these rules are bad; they do make us watch our writing more and are great tools. But I see writing rules more as people's opinions rather than set in stone. Writing is still an art, not math.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agreed, T.Drecker! As PJ Reece said in his latest blog post, 'Our own “how-to” will be born of the love of the art of fiction.' We have to love our stories with our hearts not our heads! :-) Thanks for stopping by.

      Delete
  8. Great post, Yvette. Yes, there comes a time when we all have to let our instincts take over and write from the deepest part of our gut. Good storytelling is about getting in the zone after all the rules are known. Then it's up to us to know which rules to follow. I just finished Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell. It was an exercise in studying an unique voice that wasn't always easy to hear, but was worth the extra effort.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good stuff, Joylene. I just finished reading The Reptile Room, by Lemony Snickett, in which he has one page nearly full of the word 'ever'. His voice took a bit of adjusting to but once I got into it I read like the wind!!
    Thanks for commenting :-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love this! You are so right -- all the "rules" about writing can be paralyzing. If you follow all of them, not only will writing not be fun anymore, but you'll lose your writing voice. So glad you're rediscovering your own style. Happy writing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Caryn! And thanks for commenting. You're right, once you start down the path of trying to adhere more and more to the rules, all the joy gets squeezed right out of it!

      Delete
  11. I'm stuck in between too. It gets worse when you read/watch the masters' work and you get really frustrated by how many rules and conventions they break. And they broke them even when they were beginners! You know what:

    -I like writing lots of dialogue.
    -I often make my characters say what they mean, because I am that kind of person. If you ask me if something is wrong, I'll tell you no only if everything is really fine! I hate people who pretend, ignore or lie constantly. I'm so sick of people using subtext in real life.
    - I like adjectives and adverbs. Sue me! I'm not saying I use them everywhere, but I'm not going to cut all of them. They're not the horrendous evil most writers and writer advice seem make them to be.
    - I like changing point of view character.
    - If I say my character is handsome, it's up to you to think of Ewan McGregor or Kevin Costner or Justin Timberlake or Gerard Butler….or whomever. Why do I need to describe his eye color/height/hair?
    - If I need them to swear or have a sex scene, they will do so.

    Damn, I needed the therapy! Thanks, Yvette:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha ha, happy to oblige, Pinar! I feel your frustration - it mirrors mine. My friends and I are putting together an anthology at the moment, and one of the writers is 12. His piece broke every single rule I've heard of, and yet he got the most resounding response from every other contributor. I can see him going on to having an amazing career - as long as he doesn't start changing his natural style and following the actual damn rules the rest of us adults care so much about.
      I'm betwixt and between at the moment. I've adhered to the rules so much that I often doubt I know what's best, and that's what I'm trying to focus on shaking off with this, the last rewrite of my book.
      Someone said recently that the real big success stories were as much luck as anything. I also heard that this ridiculous piece of froth disguised as chick lit (I'm not even going to say the name of the book, just made into a movie, because I'm sooooo sick of it!) was the worst example of writing one reviewer had ever seen. Yet everyone in the world knows the title. What gives? Luck...
      Let's hope both of us have liberal luck in our careers, huh!!

      Delete
  12. I'm not sick of how to write books because I pace myself and read one every four or five months, but your post is a good reminder for all of us. You've been getting so much writing done lately, and I'm excited for you the get your book published, Yvette! Go, sista, go! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, sista! I have to say that I'm with you on the pacing yourself. I happen to be reading a particularly awesome book on the craft at the moment, called 'Into The Woods' and it's brilliant, mainly because it's talking the deeper meanings behind the books we write, and I love that sort of stuff.

      Delete
  13. It sounds like you've "found your way out of the forest!" Keep on writing, and learning as you go. Just get to the heart of the story, and the rest of the details will follow.

    Julie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Julie, thanks for commenting! I'm doing better I think.

      Your comment is timely and so coincidental. I was a beta-reader for a friend who is a few days away from publishing his novel - his book, called Into The Heart of Darkness, is about getting to the story heart. Last night, I finished reading it and wrote a review as I went (while the details were still fresh in my mind). I find myself very enamoured with the idea of the heart of the story, so thank you for bringing it to my attention again :-)

      I shall ruminate on this in a future post, and also hopefully get a book release post organized, so check me out over on http://www.yvettecarol.wordpress.com - that's the primary blog I'll be using from now on.

      Yvette

      Delete
  14. "In trying to please everybody, I had sabotaged my own story." ~ Anne R. Allen

    Oh, so very true!! Thanks for sharing, Yvette :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. We totally can get caught up in the rules. I think it is best that new writers just write and then learn the "rules" when they're a bit more confident in their works. There's definitely some merit to the guidelines everyone touts, but it is easy to sacrifice the heart of your work. I think that's why I'm liking so many indie authors. It's all about the heart.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for that timely comment, Crystal. I've just met a lady through Toastmasters, who wants to write a book, and wants my advice, and now you've given me much food for thought!

      Delete