In the time since my mother passed, I have changed a lot. This last year I have been doing a lot more reading than writing. Normally I like to explore different aspects of myself, and I suppose that has been changed, or colored rather by grief, grief that I still haven't been able to truly express.
I haven't cried since mom passed, but I know its coming. Every time I want to pick up the phone and cant, every time I have a great conversation with one of my siblings.. as well as other drama that has filtered/is filtering through my life right now.
No instead of writing I have been reading. And that has lead to me doing some thinking. I'm analytical, and every time I read something it becomes part of the greater scheme of who I am as a writer. They say if you want to write you should read everything you can get your hands on.. and well I have read over 200 books so far this year. I may save the last 4 months of the year to again go after perfecting my relationship with the written word.
There are rules in place for writers, everyone who has ever wanted to write has heard them. Though in the five years that I have been writing here I cant remember if I have ever discussed them with you.
Rule No. 1: Show and Tell.
This is controlling the language that you use in relating your story.
Telling: 'He was angry.'
Showing: 'Tension radiated from him in waves, his jaw clenched, his eyes narrowed, breathing through his nose like a penned bull.'
There is a time and place. Showing is evocative, which is why Third person stories are so much easier for a reader to fall into. When you write in the First person, you are doing a lot more telling than you are showing. Find that balance.
Rule No. 2: Don’t go searching for a subject, let your subject find you.
This sounds trite, artsy, and frustrating. The whole waiting for a muse sort of ordeal. This is why writers are always reading, why we go see plays and movies, why we watch documentaries and love magazines. Remember, some of the best books out there are just retelling a story we have all heard a million times. Romeo and Juliet anyone? Cinderella? Beauty and the Beast? Hamlet?
These are the steps. Maybe you have always wanted too write, but could never find anything worth writing about, nothing original enough, nothing flashy enough.
Your subject finds you. It happens when you are at the bar or getting lunch with friends and out of the blue a question will flutter through your brain like a fairy. "Did you ever wonder what........" or "What if...." In fact those two questions are the foundation for every Science Fiction or Fantasy book out there. (This is why writers always have a notebook and pen with them. Gotta catch those ideas fresh, and run with them. IMMEDIATELY start asking your W questions.
Even if it stays on that bit of scratch paper for a decade, once you write it down, you are much less likely to forget about it completely.
Rule No. 3: Write what you know. Know what you write.
This one is the big evil, the one that I, and many of my peers grimaced about. What the hell? Most read this as "draw from real life, use your experiences, your dreams." and that is true, you should do all of that.
It also means that you should be confident in the absolute nature of what you are penning into existence, if you want to go outside your comfort zone, then do. But always do your research, you don't have to be a scientist to write science fiction, or a soldier to tell war stories. Most and by most I mean to say at least 80% of your writing should be about the human experience. Now that other twenty percent? That's math, physics, the day to day running of an army, geography, military structure, legal and medical jargon, etc.
If you are writing all swords and sorcery, then first you should learn something about swords, and figure out the minutia of what drives magic in your universe. Get the lore straight before you put the story together and keep those inconsistencies that break reader immersion eliminated before they happen.
Rule No. 4: Be concise. Never use three words when one will do the job.
Prolixity is a seldom addressed criminal act for writers, and should be treated with the same care as Plagiarism. Now its fine to be wordy in a rough draft, sometimes you don't want to stop writing long enough to check a word or look up something in a thesaurus, that is also why its the rough, its also why a rough draft is usually 20 to 30% larger than the final edition.
Rule No. 5: Always Write. Not always Right.
Keep a diary, never leave the house without a notebook. Record everything.
Its straight forward enough.
There are Diaries for everything, and you should have at least two. Dream Diaries, Daily Journals, Spiritual observations and studies. Sketch books...
Rule No. 6: Write between the lines.
Its what isn't said that's important. What you leave out, those empty spaces that allow readers to connect the dots, to interpret the message beyond whats written is important. As a writer you drop the line and lure in the water to hook your readers, and in a lot of cases, its not what you write that hooks them, its what you didn't.
I personally love poetry, which is all about reading between the lines, which is why people respond with "That's deep" when they hear a haiku.
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