Writers Should Be Readers, Too

I made a visit to my local library today. Whenever I enter, I feel a sense of peace and joy. In fact, the library feels like my second home and has since I learned to read all those years ago. 

When I started writing, I learned the importance of also being a reader. Yes, a writer should read many books about the craft, but it's also important to read what others have written. Novels. How-To books, History, Home Decor, Travel and more. With our writer's mind, we note more in the books we read than others might. 

Even if subconsciously, we take note of the way dialogue is presented, the method the author uses to bring a character to life, how the writer creates tension, the use of sensory details, the beauty of language and so much more. Perhaps, as writers, we are more aware of these kinds of things. If not, we should be. 

If you're a mystery writer, should you only read mystery books? Should a romance writer immerse herself in nothing but romantic books? Should a travel writer ignore books that bring history to life? Of course not! No matter the genre we write, we should be wide read, expanding our horizons. We'll still pick up bits and pieces about our craft as we read.

More than once, when I have read an especially lovely sentence of paragraph, I stop and read it again to savor those beautiful words. My admiration for the writer goes up a notch or two, and I wish I could write like that. 

Read not only books but newspapers and magazines, online newsletters. You learn, you enjoy, and you also pick up tips on how to write, even if that is not your original purpose. It's a very nice side-effect. 

As writers, I hope we don't fall into the trap of watching tv and movies but seldom pick up a book to read. Some of each is fine. Find a balance that works for you. Be a writer and be a reader. 
 

Writers and Achievement

Today's poster gives us food for thought. Consider the number of years you have been writing. Is it 5, 10, 15- 30? Are you the same writer today that you were when you were a newbie writer filled with dreams and desires to be the best writer ever? 

I hope you're a better writer now than when you started. No matter what we pursue, we should grow as our experience increases. Athletes are much the same. The more they pursue their sport, the better most become at it. Of course, they have coaches to help them make progress. Writers are on their own, although we do have workshops and conferences to attend to help us become better writers.

It's something we probably don't think about too often. How many times have you actually asked yourself "Am I a better writer now than when I started writing?' In your heart, you know the answer, but you don't give it a great deal of thought. 

An interesting exercise for you to consider is to go back through your files to some of your earliest writing efforts. Read through each one entirely. I did this recently when I was looking for something and ran across a folder with some of my very earliest writing. What a surprise it was. I realized immediately that I have made a lot of progress in my writing life since those early days. A few stories appeared to have potential, but I knew they needed to be rewritten using the knowledge I've gained over these many years. In fact, I'm quite enthused about one in particular. 

Take some time to consider what you have achieved in your writing life. You should be a better writer on this end of the spectrum. As our poster says, be proud of what you have achieved. 

 

Are You a Last-Minute Writer?

 Today's poster made me laugh. I think there are two groups of people. Those who plan way ahead and get things done early and those who wait until the last minute. If a poll was taken, I wonder which group would be the largest. 

There are things that are best done at the last minute, well, maybe not the very last but close. When company is coming, you don't want to dust and clean floors a week ahead. You'd only need to do it all over again the day before your company is due. If you're going to serve a cake on Sunday, don't make it the preceding Sunday. Not gonna taste very fresh.

My son was a last-minute kind of student. He always got it done but seldom ahead of time. There are people who work best under pressure. They might have to stay up late the night before an assignment is due, but that's their choice.

What about writers? Yes, there are two groups of these people, as well. One group notes a deadline to submit a piece of writing and has it ready way ahead of that date. Others wait until the last minute and get their submission written and sent. Pros and cons to both.

The writers who work well ahead of deadlines have one real benefit. There is more time for editing and revision, so they are going to be sending a polished piece of writing. They also don't have the Worry Pixie riding on their shoulder. Some contests take only X number of entries, so the early bird can rest assured that theirs will be among that number. Those who work ahead have peace of mind.

What about those last-minute writers? They run just the opposite of the other group. That Worry Pixie has a permanent spot on their shoulder. They probably get the piece ready by the deadline, but there is little time left for editing and revision, so they are probably not sending their best work. They could be the 1012th entry for a contest that accepts only 1000 entries. There are writers who find they do their best writing when under pressure. 

Each writer probably learns which way works best for them. If working ahead is best, he/she should stay with that method. If doing a slam-bang job at the last-minute produces results, then go for it. We're all different. Some of us like the peace of mind that working ahead allows, while others thrive on doing a bang-up job at the last minute. 

It's your choice as to which way you choose to work, which way produces the best results for you, which way brings satisfaction and good results. 

Writing About Love

 What better time to write about love than during Valentine celebration week. Look at all the choices you have. There's boy-girl romantic love, the love of family members, the love of certain foods, love of your country, and many others. 

There are even different kinds of love in each of those mentioned. The boy-girl/man-woman kind of love can produce sizzling, sexy stories, or the simple coming of age love stories. Or even the quiet love stories of those in a longtime marriage. 

Parents love their children and vice-versa. Siblings, even though bickering at times usually love one another. I didn't realize how much I loved my three younger brothers until two of them passed away. 

If you love specific foods, you can probably write a love story about whatever it happens to be. Or a poem--An Ode to ...! 

When we feel deeply about our country, we can surely write an essay about out patriotism. You might write an essay about the love and joy gardening gives you. Or quilting or writing or painting!

Your 'love stories' can be warm and fuzzy, or they might be funny, or deeply serious. As writers, we are in charge of what kind of story to write. On a Monday, you might feel like writing a serious love story, but on Wednesday, you might be in the mood for a funny tale. 

As I've said about so many things in our writing world, 'It's your choice.' Isn't that wonderful? You're not meant to heed rules and regulations about what you write. 

I wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day. Give some thought about what you can write about this annual day of love, cupids, chocolates, and flowers. Or about some other kind of love as written above. Wear a big smile as you write about someone or something you love!

Finishing What You Write

 

Starting a new writing project is fun, inspiring, and even exhilarating. We've taken a bit of an idea and began enlarging on it, bringing it to a fuller thought than when that snippet came to us. Writers who write by the seat of their pants, often referred to as 'pantser's, enjoy seeing where the original thoughts will lead them. 

But what about finishing what you started? Most writers have a number of unfinished stories, essays, and poems in their files. Why? Isn't the idea of writing to start and then finish so we can then jump into the submission process? 

There are a few reasons that writers abandon a writing project. One is fear that, once completed, you're going to have to do something with what you've written, and maybe you're a bit worried about finding a place that will publish your work, concerned about the whole submission process. Another fear is that maybe your idea didn't turn out as well as you'd hoped. 

Another problem can be that you get stuck in the middle of what you're writing and don't know where to go next. In fiction, maybe you've set up a problem for the hero, but you have no idea how to get him out of it. So, it's easier to quit, telling yourself you can work on it later. If it's a personal essay, you start with an experience that you've had, but you don't know how to bring it to the point where you've learned something along the way. 

There's always the problem that you didn't have time to finish. With the busy lives we lead, time sometimes becomes our biggest enemy. Maybe you started writing a story but had to set it aside because of family or work obligations that seem to go on and on for way too long. There sits your unfinished story, not completed only because you haven't had time to work on it. 

Sometimes, you don't finish a writing project because you don't like the way it's turning out. More than once, I've thought to myself--'This is pure drivel.' and I either throw the partially written piece away or put it in a file. We shouldn't throw our work away; put it in a file and go back to it someday. Time away can give you new perspectives when you do look at it later, sometimes much later. 

Yes, there are myriad reasons we don't finish some of the writing projects we start. It's not a crime. Maybe this wasn't the right time to finish the story idea you had that at first seemed so great. It's alright to have unfinished writing in your files. The important thing is to go back now and then and look at them. Six months later, you might have a better idea how to finish what you had started. Pull out that poem that you stashed before ever doing any editing or revising. 

Finish what you start is good advice, but you don't have to finish in one fell swoop. 

Writers--Learn to Cut Your Precious Words

 

Today's post is a repeat regarding cutting words. Such a necessary but difficult thing for writers to do. 

Two posters suggest cutting words. ...cut it to the bone Stephen King tells us. The anonymous author of the second quote tells us we are going to have to delete much of our first draft. He/she says that is when we know we are a writer, but it might take us a long time to accept that.

Or maybe you don't agree with what these two quotes tell us. Maybe you are averse to cutting words or deleting entire sections of something to which you gave time and effort. You love some of the phrases or you are extremely proud of the way a certain section turned out. Cut? No way! 

I think this is when our ego and our talent as a writer get tangled. Those words we write are precious. We wouldn't take one of our children and toss them out, would we? That's how some writers feel about cutting parts of the story or deleting unnecessary words. They end up with wordy, dreary writing.

The cutting process will leave you with a much stronger piece of writing. If you edit with an objective eye--keyword here being objective--you can find areas that may be lovely prose but add nothing to the story itself. Or the essay or poem--whatever you are writing. 

In my first online writers' group, our moderator was a fine writer and a tough taskmaster. She was hard on all the members over one bad practice or another but she broke many of us of bad habits. One of those was being too wordy. She would cut huge chunks of a submission. That often hurt the writer but she always added a valid reason for what she suggested. Some people only needed unnecessary words cut but with others, it was entire paragraphs or even sections. I always read the critiques that this woman gave to other writers because I learned a great deal by doing so. As time went by, I could see that her suggestions on cutting were very beneficial. 

Here's a little problem with slashing our words. We're writers. We're word people. We love words and phrases and sentences. We don't want to get rid of any of it. Still, one of today's quotes suggest we are not real writers if we cannot make peace within as we slash, dice and slice some of what we've written. I know that, when I do this, I end up with a stronger piece of writing. 

Some of us tend to be redundant. We repeat the same idea with different words within the same paragraph. Part of the reason we tend to do that is to make sure the reader 'gets it.' Give your reader a little more credit for being able to 'get it' with only one try. When you edit your work, look for those areas where you have repeated yourself in some way and cut until you have made the point with one sentence. 

A fine poet in my online group frequently suggests cutting a lot out of a poem that has been subbed. That old less is more comes into play here. When she tells me to cut something, I pay close attention because I know she is a gifted poet and sees more than the average person. 

Don't be concerned with those many words you end up cutting. Put them away in your mental file box to use again someday. Those precious words aren't gone forever.