Inspiration

I found that when I was younger, I would wait for moments of inspiration before writing. After all, if I had no ideas, how could I begin a story? The problem is that by thinking in this manner, I prevented myself from writing as much as I should have been.

One thing I learned from seminars on improvisational speaking is that if we are given a random subject and asked to speak about it, the issue is not that we can’t think of anything. We can easily think of something, but since we are going to speak to an audience, we weigh each thought carefully before saying it, rejecting the first few ideas that come to mind. In order to do improvisational speaking well, you have to risk exposing those initial thoughts without fully evaluating how strong they are.

When we fail to write because we’re uninspired or cannot think of anything to write, we’re lying to ourselves. Certainly we could think of something to write, but we dismiss those initial ideas. Our struggle is actually one of fear: the fear of writing something terrible. If we persist in giving in to such self-intimidation, we will never write regularly, and we will never improve upon our craft.

No one learns to walk by taking a step whenever it can be done without falling. Consider any skill for that matter. It certainly wasn’t a great experience for anyone riding with me when I first learned to drive a car, and one time I was so angry at being corrected that I threw a car into park before stopping all the way. Without risking those bad moments, though, I would be unable to drive today.

If you can’t seem to pull out any random thoughts, think about things in your life. What did you do today? How do you feel? Who did you talk to recently? Perhaps you should play some music and write whatever it makes you think about. Surely there is something you can use as a starting ground for a story.

Don’t be afraid to take chances with writing. Use those first thoughts. Think more carefully after you complete the rough draft and rework it into the drafts that follow. If a completed story is bad, it’s still good experience. I’ve written plenty of bad stories, but I’ve learned from them. The worst thing ever is to look back later in life and say, “I had a thought about a certain story once, but it sounded stupid, so I never started it. I wish I had.” Sit down, and start writing now!

The Intelligence of Your Readers

In my early years of writing, I would often insult the intelligence of my readers, giving them every piece of information I possibly could, removing any opportunities for using the imagination. Some things are better left unsaid. There is a balance somewhere between vague and obvious, and I personally know a lot about erring on the side of obvious.

One of my biggest mistakes was what I call Scooby-Dooing the ending. In every episode of that old cartoon, everything tied up neat and pretty. We learned that the janitor dressed up like the jelly ghost in order to scare everyone away from his counterfeiting operation. I never walked away from an episode with questions in my mind, other than possible plot holes or why the team continued to fear these ghosts and monsters when none of them ever turned out to be real. Likewise, the endings of my stories left nothing unanswered, including what characters thought, why they thought it and what they planned to do next. I’m not saying that as writers we should completely ignore any of these ideas because that’s just being lazy with the story (and will likely result in gaps or points of nonsense within the plot). Just don’t unwrap a present at the end that has everything in it.

Another mistake I had was stating the obvious. A friend of mine suggested that I show character emotions rather than giving a straightforward description of a character’s emotional state, and that was a critical thing for me to learn. I often took the easy way out by throwing an adverb after the word “said” to let the readers know how that speaking character felt. By omitting the adverb and describing the character’s body language instead, I now left it up to the reader to decide what was felt.

One final example of my inexperience was the lack of foreshadowing. Things simply happened. Each plot point advanced to the next with perhaps a little mystery left in between if any. There was nothing to consider, no clues to grasp (or if there were clues I made sure the reader saw them as plain as a forest fire). There should be hints of future events within the story and points that make the reader wonder about something that was not fully explained. A story that is constantly in a state of resolve can easily be set aside, a dreadful thought for any writer.

There is a trust relationship between the author and reader. On our part, we need to trust that the readers will grasp the subtle points and follow us where we lead them. We should make their journey exciting, giving them a maze and baiting them in certain directions until they come to the end. We shouldn’t be dragging them along a straight path. What fun is that?

The Importance of Writer's Groups

A number of writers use writing groups to help them advance in their skills. I know of some very talented writers who do not belong to any groups, so my stance is not that this is a necessary requirement for great writing. There are, however, some valid reasons to consider joining or starting a writer’s group.

One benefit to a writer’s group is that you have someone to give you direct feedback about your ideas and stories. I think we tend to go one of two directions as writers: we either feel that our work is great or that it is terrible. A peer critique can help identify which parts of a story are great and which ones truly are terrible. Sometimes we’re blind to this when we read our own stuff.

Another reason to join a group is the opportunity to talk about writing. I don’t know anyone else who writes where I work. My wife and closest friends don’t write either. Without a group, I’m unable to converse with people who understand writing. We can share our triumphs and disasters and be on the same page (no pun intended).

Information sharing is another usefulness to the writing group. No two people know the exact same thing, and when we share news and opportunities with one another, we add to the collective knowledge of the group. There’s a responsibility for each of us to learn something meaningful for the benefit of others, but it’s very rewarding to help someone else.

If anything mentioned seems like something you’re in need of, don’t hesitate. Start looking for a group in your area. Or perhaps an online group would work well. As for finding a group, don’t focus solely on ones specific to the fantasy genre, or you may never find a group. Writing transcends genres, and most groups will likely welcome you regardless of what you write. It’s time to get connected.