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Q: SD, Is it true
that authors are avid readers? Will reading help my writing?
A: Yes and absolutely. Where things like needlepoint allow
you to work with your hands and allow your mind (and mouth) free to participate in other activities, writing and
reading (to a point) does the
complete opposite. I consider (and this
is my opinion) reading to be an absorption activity of the mind that causes
an unconscious need of your hands to turn the next page. This anxious need of
your hands for action also occurs when writing, which is a shared activity (my opinion once again). By these
thoughts of my own the act of reading helps you in many ways. You learn
different styles, pacing, and sentence structure (The Chicago Manual of Style is a must). Through reading you also
become familiar with who you are and what you can contribute in your own way.
For example; have you ever watched a movie (someone had to write the script) and saw things differently or had a different outcome in mind, or wished an actor were seen more or less and if you were in the driver’s seat you would have taken a left then a right? You as the author will be able to do all these wonderful things and so much more. Oh, but no one walks into a class the top student (there are some rare individual and they can get the hell out and let us regular writers put our jealousy aside and get back to work). Just remember that writing is a craft and you have to work on it every day in order to get better at it. There is the memorable quote from Ernest Hemingway that says “The first draft of anything is shit.” Well, what are you waiting for? Go get your shit together. I hope this helps. SD
For example; have you ever watched a movie (someone had to write the script) and saw things differently or had a different outcome in mind, or wished an actor were seen more or less and if you were in the driver’s seat you would have taken a left then a right? You as the author will be able to do all these wonderful things and so much more. Oh, but no one walks into a class the top student (there are some rare individual and they can get the hell out and let us regular writers put our jealousy aside and get back to work). Just remember that writing is a craft and you have to work on it every day in order to get better at it. There is the memorable quote from Ernest Hemingway that says “The first draft of anything is shit.” Well, what are you waiting for? Go get your shit together. I hope this helps. SD
Q: SD, I wrote a
story that doesn’t end happily. Everyone loves the what I had written, but
wants a different ending. (More written),
Why?
A: Most people are
conditioned from a young age to accept happy endings and shun away from the bad
ones. I spoke of this in earlier articles, but it is worth repeating once
again. Everyone loves the bad guy/girl to lose in the end and the good guy/girl
to have a happily ever after ending. Oh, but that wasn’t and still isn’t the
case. Take the original Little Mermaid, numerous Grimm Fairy Tales, and quite a
few Asian novels and anime. In each of these examples the focus is on telling
the best story possible and associate it base premise with actual life lessons
or noble causes. When it comes down to changing your work or not, the final
answer must come from you unless you are more concerned with profits or
following with is assessable to many then only a chosen few. Remember that second guessing yourself is
always the first mistake. I hope this helps. SD
Q: SD, I don’t know
what to do. I like writing, but I’m afraid of letting someone read my stories.
A: Welcome to the wonderful world of… EVERY WRITER IN THE
WORLD! I would be the last one in that extremely long line who doesn’t and
still don’t feel completely comfortable letting someone read what I have
written. I’ve come up with a term called Authors Judgement Complex. This is an
anxiety that we all have, even if it isn’t allowed someone to read our
manuscript. I believe it’s a close, kissing cousin to Performance Anxiety and
can actually manifest itself to a full blown panic attack. I wouldn’t freak out
(pun intended) and there are ways to
work around the fear of rejection to bask in the light of ego food. You can
have family and close (very close)
friends read small portions of your work. You can write under a pen name (that no one knows it’s you but you). You
can bring your work to the internet and hide behind an avatar (but copyright your work PLEASE!). There
are many ways to work around this anxiety, but the important thing is seeing
how selfish you are not to share what you have that could possibly brighten
someone’s (and many) life if only for
a brief moment. This will help.
SD Tracy Harper Contact Form
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