The following are the five best
pieces of advice to do with writing that I have come across. Obviously there
are many excellent tips out there and how useful they are depends on the kind of writer you
wish to be, but these are the ones that made a big difference to me and seemed
to make the most sense.
1. “What does a character want? What happens when they don’t get it?”
- David Mamet
I had a tendency to have
characters sit about shooting the breeze when I first started writing. The idea
I could write Tarantinoesque dialogue was very beguiling, but it never seemed
to go anywhere. It was only after I put the focus on what the characters
wanted and put those things out of reach, that things started working. It made a big difference. Really big. There are still times when I work in a bit
of banter, but now it’s very much the last thing I think of, not the first.
2. Action reveals character.
I’m not sure
who said this originally, probably a lot of people. You could even say it was
The Bible (By their deeds, you shall know them). I heard it in a talk by a Star Trek writer (DS9 if you were
wondering). He explained that no matter what the problem in an episode,
shooting aliens or fixing the warp drive, each character behaved in a them-specific
way that showed the viewer what kind of person they were. For the writers that
was the only purpose of creating the problem in the first place.
3. Always finish the draft.
This piece of advice was given to
me by a screenwriter, although you can find it pretty much everywhere, so I don’t
think he came up with it. I like to blast through quickly and do numerous drafts, some people prefer to fiddle
as they go along and have it pretty polished by the end of draft number one, but how you get to the finish line isn't the issue, just that you get there. While it’s often suggested a writer is someone who writes, I would suggest a
writer is someone who writes all the way to the end. Yes, it’s often difficult
and obvious that you’re writing crap. Doesn’t matter. Complete crap you can
work with. Incomplete crap is worthless.
4. Writing Is Rewriting
Occasionally, I come across an
aspiring writer who loves writing... the first draft. After that they lose
interest. They resist making changes, they may even resent you suggesting any,
and they’re very quick to assume you just don’t appreciate their genre/style/genius.
Personally, having worked on pieces over months and sometimes even years, and
seen both the change on the page and the change in the faces of the people I’ve
shown both before and after versions, anyone who doesn’t revel in the revision
process, and hunger for people to criticise their work and criticise it hard,
well, I have no idea what those people are doing. Wasting time?
5. Easily the finest—both in its meaning and its execution—most succinct
and self-evident piece of advice I’ve ever read, courtesy of Gary Provost:
This sentence has five words.
Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together
become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring.
The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety.
Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing
sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And
I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader
is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence
that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll
of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is
important.
If you found this post useful please give it a retweet. Cheers.
47 comments:
I will be sure to complete my crap from now on. Thanks for the advice. :)
"Complete crap you can work with. Incomplete crap is worthless."
Love it. That's the exact attitude that got me to finish my last chapter. I just had to accept that what I was writing wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, but I had to finish it anyway or I wasn't going to get anywhere.
yes, yes, yes, and yes! To all of the points above. Excellent advice - I tend to go rushing ahead and then go back and fiddle a bit, but that's just my (sometimes odd) way of working. Yes, finish the damn thing (I'm telling myself that right now). Thank you!
Action reveals character - excellent! And I don't think I could put more than two five word sentences together if I tried.
Funny that you mention Tarantino, because I've been thinking about a lot of his stuff (mainly True Romance) recently in regards to my WIP. I'm not great at the witty banter, but I want to improve on imaginatively bloody scenes!
I just stumbled across your blog, and love the advice. Thanks for sharing!
@Brent-maybe i should get t-shirts made.
@Sarah-next draft is always going to be the good one.
@susan-cheers and you're welcome.
@Alex-a man of many words?
@Ted-he does like the blookdy stuff.
@Rachel-glad to have you here.
I agree with your list, as I have found the very same ideas to be the most important, to me.
Good collection there, thanks. I shall carry them in my bag of magic tricks ;-]
@fairchild-excellent, you can back me up when the fighting starts.
@Ruby-a bag of magic tricks would probably make writing a lot easier.
great advice. Writing is certainly rewriting. I know I wouldn't be content with just one rewrite on my manuscripts:)
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
@nutschell-me neither.
Love that last bit by Provost.
Oh, and this needs to be on a t-shirt or a mug for writers or something -"how you get to the finish line isn't the issue, just that you get there...it’s often difficult and obvious that you’re writing crap. Doesn’t matter. Complete crap you can work with. Incomplete crap is worthless."
@Madeline-they'll be ready for Christmas!
Sentences can have rhythm. I've always felt that :)
Tarantino and Palahniuk both write great dialogue, but it's very hard for mere mortals to emulate, so your advice is by far superior!!
I got into the habit, with one (unpublished) novel of redrafting the first 5 chapters... they are the most over-worked chapters in my collection, and the rest of the novel is a bit pants - hence 'unpublished'!
One of my favorites was always: The character must always want something, even if it's only a glass of water.
@Ken-yes, language is a form of music, or music is a form of language. One or the other. Or maybe both.
@Annalisa-no point putting up the wallpaper before you've finished building the wall.
@Bryan-of course Vonnegut would then send his character to Jupiter to get the water. So it goes.
Excellent advice. Definitely the top five in my book as well. Thanks for sharing.
I love #5. How better to get the point across than to see it first hand.
I love this: "a writer is someone who writes all the way to the end" Probably because it's my main problem but it really grabbed my attention. Great advice!
I am actually looking forward to revisions for a change. Excellent list.
Very inspiring! Especially interesting is the one about varying sentence length. Sometimes a long sentence is an intimidating thing to a writer.
Love this! Especially #5. Very helpful and true!
@Mary Ann-my pleasure.
@Clarissa-if only all advice was that way.
@wordy-hope it helps.
@mshatch-cheers.
@Wodke-true.
@Jackie-glad you liked it.
I saw a t-shirt that said "Even if it's crap, just it on the page."
These are right on target. Thanks.
Nice to read this post. Good reminders. "Action reveals character" - simple but so important! A book can have the most thrilling plot on paper but if the characters are flat it won't really matter will it?
@LD-Welcome.
@Nick-"simple but so important" story of my life.
I love that factoid from Star Trek! Now I want to go back and watch some episodes and see how they do that..
Amazing! Color me convinced.
@Margo-like anyone needs an excuse to watch old Star Trek episodes. Make it so!
@Rusty-what is that colour, like an orangey brown?
This is good, with a few items bordering on excellent!
Wow, this was an amazing list.
Amazing list. Write all the way to the end is what I believe in.
Finishing the draft is the hard one for me.
......dhole
I love number 5. What a great paragraph to show the true meaning of the tip, which could easily have been said in three words: vary sentence length.
@jason-thanks very much
@MC-cheers.
@Rachna-me too.
@donna-grit your teeth and go for it!
@Masquerade-it is an impressive way to do it.
Is that a picture of Jesus?
@Michael-No, Jesus has a beard.
Those are great pieces of advice. I like this "For the writers that was the only purpose of creating the problem in the first place."
Each story begins with a problem...
Excellent advice, Especially #s 4 and 5!
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