“You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.” Stephen King from On Writing
When students ask me for advice about writing for a living, I begin by asking them a question. “Do you write every day, even if you don’t have to?”
If the student responds yes, then I tell them, you are already a writer. No matter what I tell you, if you have a passion to write, you should try to improve your skills in every way possible and keep writing.
To be a good writer, you should practice all types of writing. This means excelling in writing for school and for enjoyment. Writing is not easy if you are doing it for a living. Like anything else at a professional level, it is hard work. But it does have it’s rewards if you love what you do. If you are disciplined enough to try and improve in writing you don’t necessarily enjoy, then you have the endurance to do even better at writing something you enjoy.
In order to write well, you should read just as much. In his book, On Writing, Stephen King states, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.” By reading a lot of classic books, the writer begins to see how plots are written differently. Elements such as setting, character, conflict, and themes emerge and help the reader understand the importance of incorporating the best samples of those elements in their writing style. These are lessons learned from middle school through college.
The next question I ask of a writing student who likes to write is: “Do you write because you want to be a famous writer someday?”
Many will respond, “yes”. It makes me wince because I once felt the same way. As I aged, I realized that less than one percent of writers make money writing books, and less than that actually achieve recognizable fame publishing books. Most will share that going through today’s publishing world has a lot of frustrations. I try to encourage the young writer by encouraging smaller more achievable goals that can increase their skills, experience a few setbacks, and pay some bills. There are many professions that give a great deal of experiences that can be used to create fascinating stories. While those skills are growing, I give the following advice about a career path in writing.
- Read as much as you write.
- Emulate styles of writing and genres you enjoy.
- Join writing groups outside of school.
- Join academic writing groups (journalism, newspaper, yearbook).
- Go to college and major in something that helps you manage your career (business, computer & graphic design, publishing, or contract law).
- Investigate professions that depend on good writers and aim for those.
I have told the student to read more, write more, and practice. The last basic advice next to practice all forms of writing is to write what makes you happy, and practice it daily. Practice how to cut, edit, rework, read, and rewrite your stuff again and again. Use criticism from others as a challenge to improve. If a piece of work still doesn’t seem right, put it in a drawer for a few days or weeks and write something else for a while. When your brain is ready to look at it again, start at the beginning and read it through without stopping. Mark spots you want to revisit, but do not make any notes that will stop the reading process. Never throw it away, but don’t be scared to shove it in a drawer. I have stories filed away I may never publish, but revisit once in a while that spawn other ideas for stories. Not everything you write is gold. In fact, you will write a lot of garbage if you write often. However, begin able to recognize and appreciate your garbage takes time. Writing well and analyzing texts are important skills for most practiced professions.
Most of the famous writers today are doctors, lawyers, politicians, teachers, or other financially secure professionals. Their education helps them meet people who can help their writing careers advance, and gives them a firm financial ability to fund some of their writing aspirations. Limiting your career to sitting and writing does not give you much life experience to write about. Traveling, meeting a lot of interesting people, and communicating with others who have had exciting experiences are invaluable to a writer’s notebook of ideas for writing.
There is no limit of written dreams on shelves from authors who never “made it”, and I try to explain to students of writing that it is a hard road if you write entirely to become famous. Instead, write because you like doing it. If you get paid for writing, that is just a happy bonus. There are always more words to write, but know when it’s time to say the end–until tomorrow.
sherrystruthtofiction 