For the last month or more I've been thinking about creativity
and the production of stories. I've been
sorting through the maze, looking at the A to B to C steps. Only that doesn't work. There are too many paths and ways to get
there. None of us takes exactly the same
twists and turns, and yet we each learn the same basics . . . at least if we are willing to learn at all.
Along the way we study how to make coherent sentences. It may take some of us longer to master
grammar and punctuation, but gradually even those mystical bits of knowledge
start making sense. We learn about POV
and character creation. We study how
plots fall together to make a good story.
But the truth is all the study in the world will not make
you an author. It is not until you
actually write stories, from start to finish, that you can truly learn how to
create a story and not just pieces of one.
A story is more than perfect sentences strung together. It is more than creating a few good
characters and putting them in a scene.
A story is a thing that lives in your head and which you must translate
to the paper using the imperfect tool of words.
The first stories you write are not going to be as good as the later
ones because, like any art, you will get better with practice. It may take you a long time to find all the
keys and bring all the knowledge you've collected together, but you can do it
if you keep at the work.
This doesn't mean you don't need to learn the other parts as
well, of course. I have assumed that
every person who pursues the art of writing knows that learning the basics of
grammar is the basis on which all storytelling rests. I point them to some of my favorite helpful
books like Grammatically Correct by Stilman (ISBN: 0-89879-776-4). You need to
know those rules like you need to know how to boil water before you can learn
to cook pasta. They are the foundation
of the work, but they won't make the meal.
Grammar rules alone cannot teach you how to create the stories you want
to tell. Sometimes a person learns to do
both at the same time. Many start
writing stories long before they have figured out complex sentences or the
esoteric art of semicolons. Often you
will go back and make corrections to older work as you learn to write
better.
Unfortunately, sometimes people think the rules of grammar
and punctuation are all they need know and forget that creativity does not
always conform even to those rules. They
focus on the rules and will write and rewrite little pieces of work looking for
the perfection (and eventually may start changing words just to change them,
rather than to make them better) , and never get to the heart of the story, let
alone to the ending.
This doesn't mean people shouldn't linger over their work,
testing ways to make a line better and a paragraph more striking. Whether you do so in the first draft or in
later editing doesn't matter. The amount
of time you take to finish the story doesn’t matter . . . as long as you
actually finish.
The way I write will not work for you. However, if you are someone who continually
starts work and never finishes your stories, then it's time you start looking
at a new plan. There are things you need
to realize:
1.
Writing
is an art form, and like any other art, it takes practice. You can do pieces and snippets to get a
general feel for putting a few words together, but until you write an entire
story, you are not going to learn how to get from the start to the finish.
2.
You cannot expect your first work to be
perfect. However, writers have the
wonderful tool called The First Draft. Accept
it and you'll free yourself from the worries of perfection. You can go back and rework your story as much
as it needs. Don't use 'perfection' as an excuse not to finish the first draft.
3.
There is no excuse not to learn grammar,
punctuation and spelling. You cannot
expect others to make those corrections for you. These tools are an important
part of writing, but they are not the entire picture. If they were, you could learn to write novels
in high school English class and never have to study anything else.
4.
You do not need to write every day. Many authors do because they love writing,
but it's not necessary to become an author.
You don't have to write a lot of
words, either. You only have to focus on
learning to write well and completing your story. By the same token, don't dismiss goals and
challenges. These can be a way to nudge
you into writing if that's what you need.
We all get complacent and take easy answers when we can, but sometimes a
push makes the brain work a bit harder.
This is a good thing to happen. A
brain working harder provides more possible answers rather than the easy ones. With that in mind, sometimes experiment and
try different writing habits.
5.
It may be that you are at a level where you just
haven't learned how to take the next steps to completing a story. That's different from continually stalling
and not trying to go any farther. If you
are willing to go on, you will learn what you need to know. However, there are far too many people who
tell me they always make it X number of words (or chapters) and the story
dies. Not once or twice but dozens of
times and more. They are not trying to
go beyond that point. They're making the same mistakes each time and not attempting
to see how to get around that dead end.
Are you playing with the idea of writing a story, but you
stop yourself from finishing your work, using whatever excuse you can so you don't
go on?
Stop playing. Figure
out how to write the full story. Study what
you have written and learn now to make it better. Then do another story and another. You can do it because thousands of others
have done so before you and thousand others will continue to write stories from
start to finish. Some of those manuscripts will be so fantastically wonderful
that the stories will astound you -- but those won't be any of your works until
you write them, start to finish.
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