The One True Way

Writing is hard.

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, no matter who they are. They might be other writers who, after a certain amount of success, have forgotten all of the blood, sweat, and tears it took to get where they are. They might be scornful family members that don't understand your "silly little hobby". But we all know better. We know how difficult it is to be a writer, how draining it can be on both your energy and your emotions.

There are lots of "writing courses" that you can take online to "write a novel in 30 days with just one easy payment!" Most of these courses are scams. There is no secret to writing a novel quickly and easily... the only way to do it is through hard work, practice, and perseverance. If it was easy, everyone would have a published novel.

A few of these courses are genuine writer's tutorials that explain how any given author achieved their own success. Reading these can be useful, but eventually you realize that all the research in the world will not help you finish your own novel any faster. Every writer has their own way of writing and every writer has their own ways to be productive. It is good to research these ways, many of them are useful, but you also need to do some soul searching and find your OWN tricks.

There is no secret formula. There is no One True Way. There are no guarantees. All you can do is keep on writing.

There is one thing that all successful writers have in common, however. They surround themselves with a support network. Those friends that think you are wasting your time? Ignore them. Find yourself some new friends. Seek out other writers. Build communities. Find others like you. Offer and receive encouragement as well as constructive criticism.

Write for yourself, but when the writing gets hard, the support of good friends and colleagues is invaluable.

Starting A Novel

Today, I read a post on one of the forums I frequent (I will not reveal the forum out of slight embarrassment) asking how to begin a fantasy novel. I thought about it for all of two seconds before coming up with a few good, solid pieces of advice for beginning a novel, and I thought they were worth typing up and sharing. Here we go.

Rae's Advice For Starting A Fantasy Novel:

1. You don't have to start writing at the beginning

Although I started The Second Sister and The Witch's Daughter at the beginning, all of my other novels began somewhere in the middle. I wrote the scene that had captured my imagination and filled in the rest later. It is much easier to write that way. This is good advice for the entire novel-writing process. Do NOT force yourself to go through from beginning to end, or you'll get stuck. Write the fun bits and do a little filling in every day.


2. Start scenes late and end them early

For any scene, but especially for beginning scenes, it is helpful to introduce the reader to what is happening after the action has already started and leave before the conflict is resolved. This will help build suspense and cut out some of the boring bits that don't do much besides pad your word count.


3. The three (and a half) ways to start a novel, a chapter, or a scene

a) Dialogue
Beginning a scene with dialogue puts you right in the action and introduces characters, their thoughts, and their speech patterns immediately. I highly recommend it.

b) An action
Beginning with an action is similar to starting with dialogue. It introduces a character and their thoughts (at least some of them) immediately, without any fluff. The reader will want to know what happens next.

c) Description of a character/landscape/ect
This is the hardest but the most common way to begin a novel. You need to be very careful when you begin a story with a description instead of an action (verbal or physical). Describing the landscape or location should only take a few sentences AT MOST, and after a few punchy, vivid descriptive adjectives or adverbs, you want to move right to the dialogue or action. You can take a little longer with characters, especially if they are doing something while you describe them, but you still want to get to the interesting stuff fast.


4. There is plenty of time for backstory

If your fantasy world (or sci fi world, or modern day world...) has lots of backstory, don't worry. There will be PLENTY of time for you to add that in later. Feed the reader little pieces until they get a clear picture, don't shove it all into the first chapter and definitely don't add a prologue. As I've mentioned before, just because some great Sci-fi writers do it doesn't mean it's a good idea... trust me.


5. Don't copy the greats (because some of them are boooh-riiiing)

Just because someone writes a great fantasy novel doesn't mean that they wrote a great beginning as well. Tolkein comes to mind. I despite Tolkein's writing, but his world and characters and conflict are just SO damn good that no one cares about his clunky word choices. Write a beginning that interests you, don't go imitating great novels that might not have the best start, no matter how amazing the rest of the novel might be. If you have to imitate someone, you're better off with the novel with a bang at the beginning and no substance later on. You can go back to copying and idolizing the masters once you've gotten past the first chapter.

Fanfiction

For beginning writers, Fanfiction is an incredible way to test the waters and get your writing out there. Nervous that people won't like your ideas? No problem! Pick your favorite book, TV show, comic series, or video game and try writing a story. The great thing about fanfics is that they can be as short or as long as you like, no one expects 100% perfect quality, and lots of people are interested in them. You can develop a steady fanbase of readers by writing fanfiction.

Before I ever finished a novel, I wrote fanfiction. I will not dare to divulge my original pen name, which is still floating around fanfiction.net, and which I still receive positive reviews from on occasion. Suffice to say, the writing I did back then pales in comparison to the work I do now. There were spelling errors, odd comma splices, poorly thought out plots, and weird descriptive adjectives. The worst part is that the pairings were straight, since I wasn't out to myself back then. But people still ate it up. Fanfiction readers aren't picky, so they're great fans to have and wonderful people to ask for feedback from.

Now that I'm older and a lot wiser, I've resumed writing fanfiction again. Although I have moved on from Justice League (I had a crush on Wonder Woman), X-Men (I had a crush on Jean Grey), and Teen Titans (I had a crush on Raven), I decided to give it another go with Law and Order (I now have a crush on both Alex Cabot and Olivia Benson). You can find my new fanfiction account (Rae D. Magdon) on the sidebar link if you want to check it out.

Besides, you never know when your fanfiction might become the jumping off point for a novel. You can steal scenes, bits of dialogue, and descriptions without anyone being the wiser! And if they notice, they will probably just smile to themselves and feel clever for recognizing the transplanted section. Jae, a favorite writer of mine, even managed to turn her Law and Order fanfic into a purchasable Original fiction novel! (I've discussed this in a previous post)

I'm going to bed now, but I just wanted to rant about the virtues of fanfiction before I fell asleep. So if you're shy about writing, or stuck on a novel, go watch some trashy TV and start writing! It's a lot of fun and a great stress reliever. Besides, then you have fans to read your original novels and short stories.

Write For Writing's Sake

If you want to be a good writer, you have to enjoy it. All of us have periods of difficulty with our art, but writing comes from the soul, and if you do not love what you are doing, you will not be able to create anything worth reading. Sometimes, we lose ourselves. This can be an isolated problem that only involves writing, or it can be an extension of problems in other parts of our lives. Writers often struggle with personal problems and let them seep into their projects. This can be helpful if you are trying to add emotion to your writing, but when it becomes counterproductive, it is important to remember that writing is about joy and need.

Write for writing's sake. Write because you need to. Write because you enjoy the act of writing. Do not write to be published. Do not write so that you will 'finish' a novel (although that is a great goal, it is not the MAIN reason you should write). Write because you love turning to a blank page in your notebook or opening a fresh word document. Write because you have a story to tell. Write because you need to, not because you think you should.

If you have lost the desire to write, work to rekindle that desire. It's kind of like maintaining a romantic relationship. You and your writing should have 'dates' to sit down and get some work done. Read books you love. Write scenes that are interesting to you. Set small, manageable goals. Even if you do not think that other people will be interested in what you have to say, write what speaks to you. Chances are that it will speak to someone else, too.

I'm back!

Sorry about the extreme posting delay, but I have been in Chicago without internet for an entire week. It was torture, but I got a lot of The Witch's Daughter written during masterclasses. I have actually been back for two days, but I was super tired because I went to a late night drag show once I got back. The girls were ah-maz-ing! My favorite was probably Sabrina, a black crossdressing midget who could dance like nobody's business!

I'll probably post something that is actually about writing later tonight.

Rae