Have You Bought Into These Writing Myths?
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There is an image most people carry of the artist (think Van Gough’s self-portrait, the one with his ear bandaged), working in solitude in a barren garret in a dark corner of the city. Everyday is a struggle. He continually walks between moments of brilliance and moments of insanity. It’s a romantic image, I suppose. Built around the belief that an artist must suffer for his art.
This applies not only to the painter, mind you, but also to the actor, the dancer, the photographer, the writer. We all must suffer for our art.
But image and reality are often two different things. Writing, for example, does not have to be a torturous process of endurance and pain. In fact, it should be the opposite; it should be liberating … joyous … enlightening. Why else would you want to invest so much of yourself in it?
So let’s take a look at some other common writing myths.
This first is one you hear all the time: you have to write something original.
There’s only one thing in the world that can make your work original. That’s you. Because that’s all you have to bring to the table as a writer. Who you are. Your history. Your experiences. Your family. Your beliefs.
When a publisher says he wants something original, he’s saying he wants something fresh, something that reflects you the writer. He wants your voice, your honesty. The world already has Stephen King and Mary Higgins Clark and John Grisham. It doesn’t need their clones.
Our second writing myth is actually a combination of myths. Here’s the rule: never begin a sentence with ‘and’ or ‘but.’ Or another rule: never use fragments. Or never use run-on sentences. Or never write a single-sentence paragraph. These are all the etched in concrete rules of your English teacher. They have no place in creative writing. When you’re telling a story, the story is what matters. Save all the picky little rules for your English class.
Our third writing myth: write about what you know. If you only write what you know about, you’re going to run out of ideas relatively soon. Instead, write about what interests you. If a subject or concept sparks your imagination but you don’t know everything you’ll need for your story, you can always learn. In fact, you’ll be motivated to learn simply because you’re interested in the subject. Don’t write only about what you know, write about what excites you!
Our final writing myth: the slower you write, the more time you spend tweaking each and every word, the better your writing will be.
The catch here is simple: there’s a time and place for writing, and there’s a time and place for editing. Don’t confuse the two.
When you combine your writing with your editing (two very different tasks), you rarely do either one justice. And if one or the other suffers, it’ll likely be your writing. When you start listening to the editor on your shoulder and fretting over each and every word choice, you quickly lose sight of the big picture … your story. It’s far more important in the writing stage to know if your scenes are working, and if you characters are being true to their nature, and if your story is moving forward.
The truth is this: your writing will always be better when you write in the moment. Remember when you were a child? When you could spend hours building a sand castle or playing catch or flying a kite? Those were moments when nothing else in the world existed because you were completely absorbed in the activity. Write with that same captivation, as if each scene were unfolding right before your eyes, and you’ll find your writing will not only be vivid and powerful, it will flow faster than you ever imagined possible.
Writing does not have to be a torturous, exacting process. Allow yourself to have fun with it. You’ll be a better writer for the effort.
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