It Takes Time To Become A Good Writer

I saw a quote by a science fiction writer that was a bit blunt but also right on the money. 

"You don't start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it's good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That's why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence." 
                                                                                                --Octavia E. Butler

Have you ever pulled out some of your earliest pieces of writing and read them? I've done it and was aghast at what I had written. My early work had beginner flashing throughout in neon lights. Yes, just as Ms. Butler says, I thought that it was pretty good. I may have been the only one to think so. Editors surely didn't. I managed to find a few websites that accepted stories and essays to publish for no pay.

At the time, I was thrilled to be published. Even so, I knew that these were places where amateurs could see their work in print. Did I get praise from readers? Quite often I did but most of them were not the kind of critics I needed at the time. I wanted more.

Did I start writing better when the Writing Fairy tapped me with her wand? Nope. I wrote better when I pursued my craft on a daily basis. I persisted and tried to be patient. That second part was the hardest.

I read the work of other writers, not only in books but short stories and essays. The more I read, the better understanding I had of what good writing should be.

I wrote better when I read books and articles about writing. I picked up information about POV (point of view), voice, theme, sensory detail, writing with emotion, tenses and more. Little by little, I applied those things to my own writing.

I think that my writing improved dramatically when I joined an online writing group. It was a good one and there was no application process to be approved. Had there been, I probably would never have been accepted in the group. The moderator was a tough cookie. She slashed through our work like a swashbuckling pirate wielding a sword. Some writers dropped out of the group because they had trouble accepting criticism from her and the other writers. I quickly adopted the attitude that I was in the group to learn and to improve my writing. I knew that Kate was trying to help us do that. To this day, I am grateful to her. She disbanded the group very suddenly and appeared to drop off the edge of the earth.

I was devastated as were a few other serious writers in the group. One emailed me and invited me to another group that she was active in. She indicated she was only asking a small number of the members to switch. That was many years ago--maybe 16-18 and I'm still a part of that online writing group. The fair and honest critiques I received on my submissions helped me grow as a writer. I'm still working at improving my work and I shall probably continue until the day I can write no more. I also found that reading the critiques of other writers afforded another opportunity for me to learn something myself.

I found the keyword in Ms Butler's quote to be 'gradually' because it's so very true. Our writing does not go from drivel on Monday to excellent on Friday. We learn a little at a time and we improve bit by bit over weeks, months and more.

A good number of years ago, I wrote a novel for middle-grade kids. I had some interest from a couple editors but nothing ever came of it. I subbed it to my writing group and they were encouraging and gave some good advice on how to make it better. It's been gathering dust in my files for too long. Lately, I've had a yen to pull it out and start rewriting it. Maybe the time wasn't right when I first wrote it. Perhaps I needed to let it rest before rewriting (but surely not for as long as it has been!).

How about you? Do you have some writing that you finished in your early days of writing? Something that you might rewrite and come up with a far better piece? 

Look Back At Beginnings

Those who read this blog are in various stages of their writing life. I know people like John Grisham do not read my bits and pieces here at Writer Granny's World, but there are many beginners and intermediate level writers who do.

Think back to the very beginning of your writing days. Were you like the little guy in the poster--looking out at that big baseball stadium and field, clutching you writing tools and dreaming about making it big one day? We all have big dreams when we start down a new path. We play the What if...? game and see an image of our picture above an interview on the literary page of our Sunday newspaper. Or being interviewed on a TV show after our first novel broke sales records and received outstanding reviews.

We all have hopes and dreams of where this writing world will take us. Go back to those beginning days again and ask yourself these questions:

• What goals did you set?
• How many did you achieve?
• How long did it take?
• Where were you published first?
• Was it for pay or a freebie?
• Has your writing improved since the early days?
• In what way is your writing better now?
• Have you regressed or made progress?
• Are you as passionate about your writing now as then?
• Did you work at educating yourself as a writer?
• Have you attended conferences to spend time with other writers?
• Do you submit to higher-paying markets now?

All of us cannot claim being an expert in the writing field but, hopefully, we can say that we are a much better writer now than when we first started. Even so, we still feel a little depressed when we aren't farther along than in our plan. Writers don't always progress in leaps and bounds. It's more often done in small steps, sometimes so small that we don't realize that we are moving upward. That's why it would be worth your time today to look back at those beginning days and see where you're at now.

Whenever I run across something I wrote years ago, I read it and mentally edit as I go. I know now that it could have been so much better but I wrote whatever it was at a time when I was feeling my way and learning on the go. I know that I am a better writer today and I hope that, five years from now, I'll be beyond where I am now. Grow as you go might be a good motto.

And yes--experts in anything were all beginners at one time, just like you and me.

The Wannabe Writer's Son

iter Granny's World by Nancy Julien Kopp

My Writing World withTips and Encouragement for Writers

A repeat post while I'm away from home.

Every writer was once a wannabe writer singing that song over and over. I wannabe a writer, oh Lordy, how I wannabe a writer! It's pretty easy to want that status but actually going after it is a different story.

I wanted to be a writer for the vast majority of my life, but I did little to make it happen. I gave myself one excuse after another. They were all pretty valid reasons--at least, I thought they were. Working while attending college left precious little time to pursue my desire. Next came marriage, still teaching and running a household for two. Still wanted to write but....  In a few years, I had quit teaching but was a stay at home mom to two children and helping my husband in his career by handling the social end of things connected to his job. Even so, I did take time to do other things I enjoyed. I played Bridge, read a lot, quilted baby quilts for a hospital gift shop, was a hospital volunteer. But I didn't try writing. I still thought about it but something held me back. It wasn't until we landed in a new community as empty nesters and where it was hard to make friends that I finally pursued my longtime desire.

Guess what? I wish with all my heart that I'd done so years and years sooner. But that's beyond happening so no use fretting now.

If you're a wannabe writer, don't give yourself a string of excuses like I did. Part of the reason we do that is fear. What if I am a terrible writer? I can almost guarantee that you will not be an award winning writer right from the git-go. It's a rare person who can achieve such a status. You won't become a good writer until you spend endless amounts of time writing. Almost every writer I know cringes a bit when he/she looks back at their early efforts. New writers generally commit all the no-no things possible. They overwrite, they are redundant, they forget the sensory details, they tell too much, they forget the use of dialogue--all kinds of things that they correct little by little as their writing life progresses.

I like the end of the quote above It's that easy, and that hard. I've found that most worthwhile things don't come easy. You have to work at it and maybe you need to work at it for a very long time. The important thing is that you must start. Yep, sit yourself down at the keyboard and put one word after another until you find a stopping place. Not gonna be a masterpiece, but it will be something you wrote. Progress! You don't need to show it to anyone unless you want to. You don't need to ask for a critique unless you want to grow as a writer. You don't need to do it again unless you really mean the words of the wannabe writer song.