Think of writing like karate...it's about DISCIPLINE.
Writing, like other forms of art, work or talent, requires discipline. It won't ever be enough that you say to yourself that you are a writer. Only when you write and write with discipline can you call yourself one. Before you can earn a black belt in karate, you have to dedicate yourself, practice and instill discipline in yourself to learn the moves and techniques.
The same goes for writing. Don't just read books. Devour them. Ray Bradbury, author of Zen in the Art of Writing, suggests books of essays, poetry, short stories, novels and even comic strips. Not only does he suggest that you read authors who write the way you hope to write, but "also read those who do not think as you think or write as you want to write, and so be stimulated in directions you might not take for many years." He continues, "don't let the snobbery of others prevent you from reading Kipling, say, while no one else is reading him."
Learn to differentiate between good writing and bad writing. Make time to write. Write even though you're in a bad mood. Put yourself in a routine. Integrate writing into your life. The goal is not to make writing dominate your life, but to make it fit in your life. Julia Cameron, in her book The Right to Write, sums it best: "Rather than being a private affair cordoned off from life as the rest of the world lives it, writing might profitably be seen as an activity best embedded in life, not divorced from it."
Believe that EVERYONE HAS A STORY -- including you.
Extraordinary things happen to ordinary people. As a writer, your job is to capture as many of these things and write them down, weave stories, and create characters that jump out of the pages of your notebook. Don't let anything escape your writer's eye, not even the way the old man tries to subtly pick his nose or the way an old lady fluffs her hair in a diner. What you can't use today, you can use tomorrow. Store these in your memory or jot them down in your notebook.
Jump in the middle of the fray. Be in the circle, not outside it. Don't be content being a mere spectator. Take a bite of everything life dishes out. Ray Bradbury wrote, "Tom Wolfe ate the world and vomited lava. Dickens dined at a different table every hour of his life. Moliere, tasting society, turned to pick up his scalpel, as did Pope and Shaw. Everywhere you look in the literary cosmos, the great ones are busy loving and hating. Have you given up this primary business as obsolete in your own writing? What fun you are missing, then. The fun of anger and disillusion, the fun of loving and being loved, of moving and being moved by this masked ball which dances us from cradle to churchyard. Life is short, misery sure, mortality certain. But on the way, in your work, why not carry those two inflated pig-bladders labeled Zest and Gusto."
Attack writing with PASSION.
The kind of writing you produce will oftentimes reflect the current state of your emotions. Be indifferent and your writing will be indifferent. Be cheerful and watch the words dance across your page.
Whenever you sit down to write, put your heart and soul in it. Write with passion. Write as if you won't live tomorrow. In her book, Writing the Wave, Elizabeth Ayres wrote: "There's one thing your writing must have to be any good at all. It must have you. Your soul, your self, your heart, your guts, your voice -- you must be on that page. In the end, you can't make the magic happen for your reader. You can only allow the miracle of 'being one with' to take place. So dare to be you. Dare to reveal yourself. Be honest, be open, be true...If you are, everything else will fall into place."
Copyright (c) 2004 Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ
About The Author
Shery is the creator of WriteSparks! - a software that generates over 10 *million* Story Sparkers for Writers. Download WriteSparks! Lite for free - http://writesparks.com
tidy up service Northbrook ..Boost Brain Power Through WritingHave you ever noticed what happens... Read More
Ever wonder what an author's life is like? What that... Read More
If you want to be a writer, then you must... Read More
Open any book on 'how to write,' and somewhere you... Read More
Having problems writing? I don't know why. San Francisco Chronicle... Read More
Dave, I just got a contract for a book... Read More
Are you ready to abandon your short stories? Before you... Read More
When you write for international audiences, mainly directly in English,... Read More
If you're targeting an educated, more affluent audience with your... Read More
1. SECRETS TO SUCCESS2. MAKING A POWERFUL FIRST IMPRESSION3. AVOID... Read More
Everyone has a unique story to tell. From explaining business... Read More
Becoming an author is probably a lot easier than you... Read More
Names are important. Names give clues about us, where we... Read More
Creative Writing Tips ?You are plotting the story. You write... Read More
Sit back, and imagine what it feels like to be... Read More
Most writers are familiar with first and third points of... Read More
Have you been guilty of procrastinating on your book project,... Read More
Taming the Book Proposal: The BasicsOh, that most maddening of... Read More
Rejection. This scary word plagues virtually every writer this side... Read More
There are many ways you can generate ideas you can... Read More
You might not need any memoir writing help, per se,... Read More
Writing for the web is very different from writing for... Read More
Freewriting is a release from the prison of rules. It... Read More
Next time you're tempted to use italics for emphasis... STOP!"Why?"... Read More
If you are like most writers, you're constantly searching for... Read More
reliable home cleaners Buffalo Grove ..Great writing transports one vicariously to realms that the reader... Read More
Sit back, and imagine what it feels like to be... Read More
The tiniest things can be so useful when you come... Read More
Reading through a writer's notebook or journal is like discovering... Read More
I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of... Read More
To help build your profile and reputation within a large... Read More
Back in the mid to late 1980s I was a... Read More
Just about every marketer on the Internet claims to be... Read More
Maybe you should write a book! This is not as... Read More
Nike's ad has taken on new meaning for me of... Read More
Creative Writing Tips ?It should.A theme is a one-line explanation... Read More
The creativity of Jaisini is not designed to be preaching... Read More
1. Remember publication is a business; writing is an art.... Read More
How to get a lot of traffic to your website... Read More
If you are reading this article then you probably have... Read More
Everone knows that comedy is mostly about timing. If you... Read More
Sure you can write, but can you write crisp, compelling... Read More
It's 6:00 p.m. You're dead tired, but instead of an... Read More
Bookcoaching clients come to me at different stages of writing... Read More
There's a little known secret we writers like to keep... Read More
As a student of Spanish, my goal was to think... Read More
Creative Writing Tips ?I have said above that if a... Read More
There is a lot of confusion about recommendation letters.Recommendation letters... Read More
Mixing and mingling with industry professionals is an opportunity that... Read More
"You should write a book." For years, I had been... Read More
Writing |