I’m a slow learner. I don’t mean that I’m stupid-slow, I mean that I have to process things for a while before they sink in. Also, I need to learn things in layers, building upon what I know, kind of like when you update a computer program. It doesn’t wipe out the one you have, it just adds to it, so presumably (unless it’s Microsoft Vista), it works even better.
From Day One as a writer, my strength was in my voice. I don’t keep anything I don’t need, so I do not have a collection of old rejection letters, but if I did, I could show you that most of them said things like, “Nice voice. No plot.” Okay, they weren’t that blunt, but that’s what they amounted to.
About five years ago, I developed a reading program called The Need To Read. So far, it’s just been for me, but I do hope to teach some workshops on how writers can learn to write from reading. Anyway, the two main things I learned from reading, aside from all the things that are overdone in YA, are how a story is structured, and pacing. These were my weaknesses. I’d like to tell you that once I learned them, I was good to go, but the truth is, I pretty much only learned them well enough to write myself a book that an agent and an editor could see potential in.
During the editing process, the structure and the pacing of Restoring Harmony was basically torn apart and put back together again – by me, but with my editor’s excellent guidance. I think now, I have a much better idea of how to structure a novel. One can hope anyway!
So, now that I have this knowledge, what is the next writing upgrade I need to work on? I’m not sure what exactly, but I do know that there’s something out there for me to learn next. After reading this lovely essay about studying with Annie Dillard (brought to my attention by Moonrat) I am thinking a lot about the intricacies of storytelling, as opposed to the broad structure. I’m thinking about the fine brush strokes and not just the hard lines.
Until now, I have relied strictly on instinct. I think it has served me well, and I don’t intend to make any major changes that might damage my voice (after all, it’s the one thing that has worked for me all along), but it does interest me to hear how successful writers like Annie Dillard approach the craft writing.
What books on craft do you like?
Instinct does seemed to have served you very well 🙂
I liked On Writing by Stephen King (the only King book I’ve read!) and Novel Metamorphosis.
I love “Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to edit yourself into print,” by Renni Browne & Dave King. “Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style,” by Virginia Tufte, is another great one, though incredibly in-depth.
I am currently enjoying Gail Carson Levine’s “Writing Magic.” This seems to be a more basic guide and would be particularly helpful for young people who are interested in writing, though I’m also loving it and finding it very useful (does that mean I don’t consider myself a young person?). Another guide I turn to goes by the name of Joelle Anthony… 🙂