Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes, #4

Don't Expect Miracles


A doctor spends five to ten years learning how to be a doctor. Why, then, do people think they can learn how to be a professional writer of fiction in a week or a month -or even a year?

The writing of fiction is very deceptive. Like riding a bicycle, it looks easy until you try it. But whereas the bicycle gives you quick and painful proof that riding it isn't quite as easy as it appeared, writing is more subtle; your very first story may look good to you -even though it's almost certainly unpublishable on later reflection.

You came to this book because writing interests you, and you're probably doing some of it. To the task you brought some lanuguage skills and a desire to tell stories. Your language skills may be quite good. (I hope so.) You may have wondederful ideas for stories, and you type well, etc. etc.

Does any of this mean you know how to write fiction? Unfortunately, no. The writing of fiction -except in the case of that very rary genius- is a dificult job. It involves the interactive working of dozens of specific, hard-won techniques. It may become and art, but only by first being consummate craft.

Yes, if you have a modicum of talent, you can learn how to do it. But it may take you years.

But, why should that be such bad news? If the task were easy, everybody in the world would be a writer, and your achievement would mean little. Setting out on a difficult course is exciting, and the conclusion can be the triumph of a lifetime.

It's worth the time. Expect no overnight miracles, but have faith. If you persevere, the chances are good that you will achieve some success.

Conversely, if you get disgusted or discouraged, expecting overnight fame and fortune, you're certain to fail. Absolutely.

Write in your journal or some other permanent record your goal as a writer five years from today. Write where you hope to be in four years, and three, and two, and by next year this time.

Put the list aside somewhere safe and get to work. Be patient, but press yourself to work hard. Then, a year from now, compare where you were with where you will be by that time. You'll be surprised and pleased.

Maybe you won't be a selling writing of fiction yet. But you'll be a lot closer and able to see your own progress.




Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes, #1

Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes, #2

Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes, #3

McKenna said:

Don't Expect Miracles


The writing of fiction is very deceptive. Like riding a bicycle, it looks easy until you try it. But whereas the bicycle gives you quick and painful proof that riding it isn't quite as easy as it appeared, writing is more subtle; your very first story may look good to you -even though it's almost certainly unpublishable on later reflection.

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I can relate to this. I look back on the first few things I wrote and think, "Ugh, I actually wrote that crap?" And I haven't really written all that much (even less that's actually posted) and have only been doing it for a year or so.

Amen....

And in trying to write, we begin to learn.


These threads have been most useful, McKenna. Thank you so much for posting them.


-dizzy

The first thing i ever wrote was about 8 yrs ago. It started out a short piece on an old memory but ended up being some 287 pages....

I filed it away and started to write short stories... most of which still end up to long according to a lot of people..

recently i got in a slump and decided to go back and edit the book as I call it.... my God what a mess.... short choppy sentences, bad grammar, bad spelling, bad everything.... But the funny thing is that it still reads well and makes sense....

I took a copy of the original and the revised copy to a friend and asked which they liked best.... they like the original and when i asked why, they responded... it feels more real.....

Now i am confused.....

Paitence, patience, patience.

Very sound advice. My experience with writing is that miracles do happen. Or rather, it can look that way, which is why I guess people that function like me might think that becoming a better writer is not about hard work. It's kind of like the payoff in a slot machine. Development in short bursts. Write, write, write and write some more without progress or development, and then suddely, you write that one piece that is a level better than the last 20 attempts, one that has facilitated and finally understood a new writing device or technique. Then it's back to writing patiently until the next breakthrough.

I'm fortunate enough to have had a novel published at my young age. But I've written daily since I was eight, and when I look at my current writing and compare it with more experienced authors, I still feel like a little child. It's trite, juvenile and poorly structured. I realise that I will only ever get there if I do what they do: Write until my fingers bleed, and be patience about it.

Good series, McKenna. I can't seem to find the book you mentioned in the first thread. Who is the author?

erise said:

It's kind of like the payoff in a slot machine. Development in short bursts. Write, write, write and write some more without progress or development, and then suddely, you write that one piece that is a level better than the last 20 attempts, one that has facilitated and finally understood a new writing device or technique. Then it's back to writing patiently until the next breakthrough.

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Oy does this sound painfully familiar.

erise said:

Good series, McKenna. I can't seem to find the book you mentioned in the first thread. Who is the author?

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Jack M. Bickham

ISBN is 0-89879-821-3

McKenna said:

Jack M. Bickham

ISBN is 0-89879-821-3

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Thanks!

I always expect miracles at everything I do and regularly day-dream about someone finally 'getting' me. But it doesn't affect how much work I know I have to do (or how lucky I have to get even then).

I'm not exactly sure whether being 'better than most' is a good or bad feeling to have. Whether that makes me lazy or strive harder. I suspect the former.

However, these are feelings after I finish a piece or survey something I've posted, whilst writing it's just a plough job that I really enjoy and never noticing the first three rules that I'm breaking until re-reading.

McKenna said:

Oy does this sound painfully familiar.

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Yeah, doesn't it? I get fooled by it every time, thinking I just opened the gates of heaven, and that divine inspiration and abilities will come pouring in.

The truth is, we're sifting for nuggets, slowly building a fortune.

One thing that had me fooled was that when trying to write poems, I once went from dull, trite, chiché filled dogerrel to actually understanding what poetry is about in a matter of hours. It was a lucky strike, a gold nugget ephiphany the size of a steamroller in comparison with my progress steps writing prose. It didn't make me a genius, I still have a vast ocean of things to learn, but it gave me a solid platform to continue improving. Ever since, I've been expecting the same thing to happen in other areas, only recently coming to terms with that it won't.

gauchecritic said:

I always expect miracles at everything I do and regularly day-dream about someone finally 'getting' me. But it doesn't affect how much work I know I have to do (or how lucky I have to get even then).

I'm not exactly sure whether being 'better than most' is a good or bad feeling to have. Whether that makes me lazy or strive harder. I suspect the former.

However, these are feelings after I finish a piece or survey something I've posted, whilst writing it's just a plough job that I really enjoy and never noticing the first three rules that I'm breaking until re-reading.

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I was born without the British humor gene.

I think all of us hope for someone to "get" us. It's a rare thing indeed.

Don't expect miracles, huh? I guess my diploma from the Lourdes Correspondence Course for Erotic Writing is probably useless then.

~bumping this for Luc~

Big time agree. And even when you think you've got it all nailed down in a little box, you gotta remember you're still not there. You can't stop growing as a writer even if you're our Holy Father, Ray Bradbury.

And patience is highly key. Especially when you do seek publication. I have been playing the fantasy/sci-fi story roulette for awhile now. Sometimes I get lucky, more often than not I don't. I have a wall now decorated entirely in rejection letters. On top of that, these rejection letters oft have year long wait times between them. That's waiting an entire year to find out that my work ain't good enough at the time. Without patience or humility a writer will find himself on the end of a hemp rope very quickly.

And those wait times are the perfect place to grow as a writer and keep working and creating. To try new things and to just write for the sake of writing.

So yeah, autobiographical tangent aside, i agree completely that practice and patience are key. Plus they're fun. Writing as much as we can is what we live for, right?

*bump*

I joined Literotica in July 2002.

By the end of that month I had posted 4 poems and 9 stories, several of which were fairly long.

I should rewrite all those stories because they were the start of a series. I'd have to do a lot to change them to fit with how I write now. I prefer to leave them alone. They reflect me as I was as a writer then.

Seven years later? I think I write better. I know I can do even better than now.

Whether I will improve?

I don't know.

Og

I make it a point to learn something every day and learn something important once a month. In July I finally learned how to plot correctly all the time. In August I tackle description, and now have a good fundamental understanding of what description does for the story....dialogue serves the same function as description. In September I'll work on narrative.

Liar said:

Yeah, doesn't it? I get fooled by it every time, thinking I just opened the gates of heaven, and that divine inspiration and abilities will come pouring in.

The truth is, we're sifting for nuggets, slowly building a fortune.

One thing that had me fooled was that when trying to write poems, I once went from dull, trite, chiché filled dogerrel to actually understanding what poetry is about in a matter of hours. It was a lucky strike, a gold nugget ephiphany the size of a steamroller in comparison with my progress steps writing prose. It didn't make me a genius, I still have a vast ocean of things to learn, but it gave me a solid platform to continue improving. Ever since, I've been expecting the same thing to happen in other areas, only recently coming to terms with that it won't.

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So true.

Thanks to the OP. An insightful list, I guess we as writers know, but often forget.

Thanks for bumping the thread.

It's a lesson I need to learn. I get so frustrated with my writing, and so disappointed that my struggle often yields what appears to be little in return. But the story, the words, keep calling me back. Or maybe the compulsion isi merely a catalyst for finally dealing with myself. When I set out to try to write a simple cookie cutter romance, just to see if I could, I never expected it to become an exercise in self-growth, in dealing with my inner demons of self-worth and lack of confidence or something that I would become compelled to do. In the middle of the head-game I have to remember it's all growth.

Writing is putting black letters onto a white background. But there's nothing black or white about it.

LOL! Yeah. Right. Of course, I believe this lesson is true. But I have to rant for a moment about it...you can post it, over and over again. But it's a lesson that the very people who need to learn it, won't learn. Newbies will never believe that they're not going to become automatic writers or that it's going to take years. And in some ways, I guess they have to believe that. If they didn't, they might not keep writing.

They won't believe it and/or can't believe it for two reasons:

(1) Because unlike with a doctor, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. You don't write for five years, get a diploma and start putting out novels. You write. You get rejected. You write. Get rejected. You write. Get published a little. Write. Maybe get published...or not. Write...

You can write a book. Five books, ten books. You can get one published...and not get another published for seven years. Meanwhile, you can have a friend who has a five book deal, yet they're at the same level you are. If you honestly knew this was the way it was going to be, you'd run from writing instead of to it. So. All writers have to start out delusional and remain delusional to a certain extent.

(2) And the second reason no one who need to learn this lesson will ever learn it: Shit keeps getting published, and shit keeps ending up on the best sellers list and shit keeps getting huge fans.

So long as some 19 years old writer's first ever book ends up being touted, so long as someone's first ever children's book ends up selling millions and making him/her millions, so long as someone's amazingly bad spy novel, shockingly dreadful horror tale, ridiculous love story or self-published fantasy hits the zeitgeist and, no matter how awful the writing, no matter how untalented and new the author, hits it big....This lesson will never, ever, ever be learned. Because unlike being a doctor who can't get a license or be doctor without those five years, anyone can call themselves a writer. And any writing can be published online, self-published, or picked up by a reputable publisher for any number of reasons. And if a single, brand, new writer's first, awful book is out there and popular, it puts the lie to this lesson.

So I don't know if this is a truism. It is and it isn't. But even if we could prove it was true, we'd never make it stick. Just sayin'

3113

All you illuminate is true. There are legions of editors who rejected best-selling masterpieces for crap that sold well because of sufficient hype. The marketing people have it all figured out.

To me its like making a scrap patch-work quilt; you'll never get what its worth, but simply doing it is a reward because something lovely now exists where it didnt exist before.

Wow. I was just applying the thread to the general desire to be a better writer.