Introduction
Write what you know is one of those adages that gets hurled around a lot,. But should writer s really ad
image by Stancu Alexandru via sxc.hu
here to it? Or should it be taken with a grain of salt?
1. Writing what you know means becoming an expert on the subject matter. And can only take you so far before you reach the limits of your knowledge .
2. Writing what you know can be boring. Retreading the same subject matter again and again without a new spin will get old with readers and eventually drive them away.
3. Writing what you don’t know is fun. It allows you to learn new things. And see the subject matter in a new light.
4. Writing what you don’t know can be liberating. Instead of being stuck in the same mode of writing trying new approaches may open up new avenues of creativity.
5. Writing what you don’t know forces you to stop playing it safe and get out of your comfort zone.
Conclusion
Writing what you know, while a good rule of thumb for new writers, ultimately can be stifling , and lead you to stale and lack luster prose. But writing what you don’t know opens up new areas to explore and grow.
Introduction
When I first toyed with the idea of being a writer I cut my teeth on fan fiction and learned a lot in the process. I encourage all new writers to do the same as it will give you experience in characterization, world building, and plotting.
Characterization
Because you’re dealing with another author’s work the task of world building has already been done for you, and all you need to do is keep people in character. This means having the characters act and speak and the same manner as the original author. Get this wrong and you’ll get hounded with calls of ooc (out of character).
While this might seem stifling many fan fiction writers can and do create OCs (Original characters). When done well this leads to new interaction and plot lines, but when done badly it leads to the dreaded Mary Sue/Gary Stu. While the definition varies the common theme of Mary Sue/Gar Stu is that the character is too perfect, often to the point of breaking the rules of the universe they’re inserted into.
World Building
To fix this many writers alter the universe to accommodate their OCs. Theses so called alternative Universe stories can be simple what if scenarios and full on rewrites of the cannon material. When done right these stories explore areas the cannon areas not well known or relationships in a new light.
So called slash fiction and fem slash deals with same sex relationships among male characters and female characters. This offers representation for
LGBTQ readers and opens new plot lines to explore.
Plotting
But what is one to do if you don’t know what to write? Well if you’re lacking inspiration there are many ready made plots to explore, just read other stories or author prompts and you’re set. Or you can come up with our own plot lines and go from there.
Conclusion
Fan fiction provides a ready made world for new writer to play around with characters and plot, and practice honing the skills needed when they transition to original works.
Five Lessons Anime&Manga Can Teach us about Writing
Introduction
image by Stancu Alexandru via sxc.hu
Growing up I was always more into manga(black and white Japanese comic books) and anime than American comic books owing to their larger than life characters and action packed stories like those in Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z and countless other series. While anime can sometimes be stereotyped as being for kids or basement dwelling man-children there are many lessons that can be gleaned from the stories found there in.
The Hook
The best series hook you from the beginning. For example the start of Sailor Moon lays out the basic premise of the series and shows clips from the series so you know what you’re in for. Like wise The first episode of YuYu Hakusho opens with the narrator explaining that the protagonist, 15-year-old Yusuke Urameshi is dead.
This does two things. First it makes the viewer want to know how Yusuke died, and second how the series will progress with the main character dead. Likewise in writing you want to hook the reader early or risk them putting down your book. A good way to do this is to start the story as close to the inciting action as possible.
Another way is to start right in the middle of the action. Another technique is to open with a question or mystery for the reader and reveal things as the story progresses. Whatever approach you take make sure it keeps the reader engaged.
Suspension of Disbelief
The main reason I read manga and watch anime is because of the fantastical stories found within. It provides a nice escape from the everyday grin, but not all series are alike. The best series not only hook you but pull you in to their world by establishing the ground rules from the get go. For example the first episode of Full Metal Alchemist establishes the rules for transmutation and how one goes about performing alchemy.
But it’s not enough just to establish the rues of our world. The also must be consistent and you must have a good reason for breaking the rules that is also logically consistent with the rules of your world. For example the second time Yusuke Urameshi comes back to life it’s because of the demon blood in him which had been laying dormant until that point.
Contrast this with Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach, who whenever it looks like he’ll die something always happens to save his butt. It happens so much throughout the series that it’s known by fans as plotkai and is one of the reasons I stopped reading it.
Readers can only stretch this disbelief so far before they through up their hands in frustration. Which is where your plot comes in.
Plot
Without an engaging plot to keep readers interested people will put down your book. A prime example of this for me was with the manga series bleach. I stopped reading it because it kept recycling the same plot line over and over again, namely that the protagonist would lose his soul reaper powers and in the process of regaining them would get a new ability, only for it to become obsolete once his soul reaper powers were back.
No matter your genre your plot must have an internally consistent logic. For example one the main plot points of Dragon Ball Z is you can’t wish something beyond the power of the eternal dragon like bringing back someone to life who’s already been brought back from the dead. This plot point leads the Z warrior to planet Namek where their dragon balls have no such restriction.
Characters
The people you populate your story with can make or break your book.It’s not enough to have interesting characters they must be well rounded as well. An example of this is Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z. In the beginning he starts of as a a villain but through the series slowly becomes an antihero culminating in his sacrifice to destroy the evil Majin Buu.
Compare Vegeta with Goku, the main character, and their differences couldn’t be more obvious. Goku is one dimensional and at no point goes through a crisis of consciousness or ever questions his reason for fighting, he is the same happy go-lucky goody two-shoes at the end of the series as at the beginning and is ultimately a boring character. And being boring is the last thing you want your characters to be. Give them real flaws, wants and needs, and let them struggle before reaching their goals. But characters and plot alone are not enough to keep people reading your work.
Pacing
Dragon Ball Z is infamous for dragging out fights, especially the fight between Freiza and Goku on Namek which lasted for 30 plus episodes. One problem many new writers have is they get bogged down in the backstory and bore the reader before he/she even gets to the meat of the story. A simple solution is to let readers get to know the protagonist before delving into the back story. Another is omit scenes that don’t move the plot forward and keep things going by upping the stakes with your characters.
But nonstop action will wear thin with readers so be sure to pause the action to allow bot the readers and protagonist to take a breather, and also to build tension for the next lot point.
Conclusion
There are many lessons we can learn from anime and manga, but the takeaway here is to balance plot, characters, pacing, and suspension of disbelief so as to craft a engaging read.
Why do I write? Good question. I write because first and foremost I love words and the English language owing to my father reading to me at a young age and growing up seeing him always with his face in a book.
As a child I’d read the dictionary for fun and had thoughts of becoming a linguist. During middle school I fell in love with Greek, Norse, and Egyptian mythology and practically lived at the library.
I also write because I want to be heard. When I was six my vocal cords were accidental severed while I was in a coma and since then I’ve had difficulty speaking. Once shy, since discovering writing the world has opened up to me and given me the confidence to speak out on what I see wrong with the world and work to change it.
If I had to pick the main reason I write is because I want to let other people out there know they are not alone, and not to give up on life no matter how difficult it becomes.
image by Stancu Alexandru via sxc.hu
So why do you write? Leave your answer in the comments section and be sure to check out my about page.
telling in your work. Too much show and you’ll bore your readers; too much telling and your readers wont care about our characters. Ultimately it comes down to your choices when to deploy one or another and not to.
Right now I’m struggling with how much to show versus bogging down the story line and how much to tell to get the plot moving again. there’s an art to writing when it comes to balancing out things and in the end it comes down to your choices as an author.
For me one area I show too much is in dialogue. I love words and can write pages of back and forth exchanges between the characters. Now while I like them the reader wouldn’t necessarily like them, so I’m trying to rein in this tendency of my and summarize where appropriate to keep the flow going while building tension, characterization, and advancing the plot.
An area where I don’t show enough is in describing locations and what the characters are wearing. It usually slips my mind because I don’t care what someone is wearing, but what they’re doing or saying, but I know my readers care about these thing so I try to incorporate them when I remember to.
Another area I struggle with is in the passage of time. In my current WIP time has a way of slipping passed me. When I’m in the thick of it time becomes secondary to the plot until I come up for air so to speak. I know it will be something I have to deal with in the rewrite, but I’m not too concerned about it.
Ultimately it gets easier with practice to balance them but not without putting in daily writing goals.
What are your dreams as a writer? Do you want to be a New York Times Best seller, hook an agent, or land a contract with one of the big five publishers? The truth is you’ll have to work to turn your dreams into reality, no matter what they may be.
There are thousands of other writers out there you’re competing with and you have to be willing to sacrifice for your dreams. What are you going to do to separate yourself from the others out there?
Will you get up an hour earlier to write, or get in another hundred words before calling it a night? Are you willing to risk failure to reach greatness, or will you let your fears cause you to play it safe?
The truth is you could be the best writer in the world, but if no one reads your work then what’s the point. You have to be in it for the long haul. You have to write everyday to find your voice and build a platform for your work.
Yes rejection sucks, but it’s how you deal with it that determines what type of writer you are. You can either get all butt hurt, or let your ego go, develop a thick skin and move on.
It would be remiss if I didn’t kiss your clitoris.
I would abhor if you ignore my knock on your back door.
With a glance and wink I ask: do you think per chance
I may partake of your clambake?
Would you think it crass to mention
How I wanna tap that ass?
Would you be struck mute if I asked for a toot on the ole skin flute?
Would you deem it uncouth and give me the boot
If I asked to shoot above where you poop?
Would it make your head droop
Or knock you for loop to hear I like it rough?
If you’re so inclined, smack my behind.
Or is that out of line?
As I kiss my way up your spine
And listen to you huff and puff,
Don’t whine.
I know it’s not enough.
As I dine at your buffet
And drink another cup
of your muff
Know this:
You’re mine.
How many times have you started a piece but never finished it? If you’re like me then it’s probably a lot. It’s the fear of not being good enough that paralyzes us, but unless we risk failure we won’t reach new plateaus.
Writing like anything else takes practice. We must always push ourselves to new heights and go beyond our limits to reach greatness. It’s not simply good enough to do the bare minimum. We must shoot for perfection each time we write, and not get complacent in our work. That being said we mustn’t use this as an excuse so that we don’t write anything at all either.
Likewise we mustn’t let our quest for perfection sidetrack us from shipping our work. There comes a point when we must let the world see our work and this can be scary if we aren’t ready mentally for rejection. But we needn’t concern ourselves with what others think because that is outside of our control, so keep things in perspective.
We must experiment with new forms and genres, to grow our craft in new and exciting ways. To try new subject matters and write outside our knowledge base. We must be ready to approach these new topics in fun and unique ways. Sure we won’t succeed at everything we try, but that’s a risk we must take.
At times it will seem like a struggle but in the end it’s worth it when you create something that resonates with a lot of people. You must be willing to go outside your comfort zone and try new things with your work. You can’t let your preconceived notions cloud you from thinking in new and better ways.
We must be willing to take in the new and cast out the old where appropriate.
We must be willing to work our writing muscles in new ways to elevate our craft to the next level and the next beyond that. This means we must write everyday, no excuses, and try new things with words. If you normally write in first person point of view try third person, or vise versa.
If you generally write in one genre try another. If you write about one subject matter try a new angle, or a new subject all together. If you write mainly nonfiction try your hand at a short story, and if you usually write fiction switch to creative nonfiction. Only then can we be satisfied with our work.
Yes the hours will be long and the work hard, but this is the price we must pay for going beyond the average and making work that engages readers, and makes them question what it means to be human.
Your job as a writer is to add your verse to the poetry of life, and you can’t do that if you’re not going beyond the mediocre because you’re afraid of failing.We have to move beyond our fears and let the sky be our limit. Fear never goes away, it just gets easier to deal with in time, with practice.
What are your dreams as a writer? Do you want to be a New York Times Best Seller, hook an agent, or land a contract with one of the big five publishers? The truth is you’ll have to work to turn your dreams into reality, no matter what they may be.
There are thousands of other writers out there you’re competing with and you have to be willing to sacrifice for your dreams. What are you going to do to separate yourself from the others out there?
Will you get up an hour earlier to write, or get in another hundred words before calling it a night? Are you willing to risk failure to reach greatness, or will you let your fears cause you to play it safe?
The truth is you could be the best writer in the world, but if no one reads your work then what’s the point. You have to be in it for the long haul. You have to write everyday to find your voice and build a platform for your work.
Yes rejection sucks, but it’s how you deal with it that determines what type of writer you are. You can either get all butt hurt, or let your ego go, develop a thick skin and move on.
It’s rare to be good at new things, but we must try anyways or we may never discover new talents. Take writing for example. I did well in English class, but never thought I could be a writer because I didn’t think I was good enough. Truth be told I did have some talent, but I was far from being a professional. It was only when I committed to writing everyday that I started to see an improvement.
I used to think I could only write when the mood was perfect and I was inspired, but I have since learned that you have to show up and produce regardless of how you feel because that’s the only things will get done. Like Stephen King said, the secret to writing is sitting in your chair and not getting up until you’ve written something, even if it’s terrible.
Where I was once stymied by the blank page I now relish the challenge because I focus on getting the words down and worry about getting them “perfect” in the rewrite. Like Chandler Bolt says, done is better than perfect.
The truth is I used to agonize over every word choice and sentence structure choice so much it stopped the flow of my thoughts. I’ve since learned you have to write without letting your inner editor get in the way. You have to get it in your head that not everything you write will be good. Accept this and move on, for that is the only way you’ll get better.
Moreover, I’ve also learned you have to risk failure if you want to shoot for greatness. With my current work in progress there is so much I want to say with the work and so many issues I want to cover that sometimes the pressure to “get it right” is overwhelming and I don’t write out of fear of failing. But I’m learning you have to let that fear go and write anyways.
If you let your fears win then you’ll never complete that blog post, book, or whatever you’re working on. I’m not going to lie, sometimes it will be hard to get the words out, but you have to try anyways, because it is only when we stop that we fail. So soldier on because no matter how bad a piece might be you can always make it better. Because the rewrite is where the magic happens.
Great writing, like anything else in life doesn’t come easy. You have to go beyond your limits to reach new ground. This means putting in hundreds of hours and still not getting it right if you’re shooting for greatness. It means rewriting and rewriting until you’ve come as close to perfection as you can.
Yes it’ll be hard work, but it’s worth it if you want to create something extraordinary. It’s easy to become complacent and just do the bare minimum. This is how mediocrity creeps in, and you must constantly be on guard against it.
Sure failure is an ever present danger, but you have to risk it if you want to create a lasting impact on the world. Even if it kills you. It’s all or nothing, there can be no in between. You have to write every day, especially when things get hard, otherwise you’ll stagnate.
At the beginning it will be a struggle to put words to the page, but you’ll get better at it in time. Give yourself permission to fail and then try again. For it is only through perseverance that you will achieve your goal.
One of the difficulties of being a QUILTBAG writer is that you’re writing for a community that encompasses a wide range of people. For this reason it can be hard to include everyone’s experiences and trials.
It can be overwhelming to get things right for every reader. If you have a sex scene one person will complain about too much sex, another will complain about there not being enough sex. Have a feminine gay character and you’ll get complaints of being stereotypical from one reader, and compliments from another.
You can drive yourself crazy trying to please everyone, or you can focus on one person while writing: your ideal reader. I’ve found once you define who your audience is it goes a long ways to alleviate these concerns. Yes be true to your readers’ experiences, but don’t pander to them.
Your job as a writer is not just to entertain, but to inspire. When people read your work you want them to leave ready to take on the world and know they matter.
Remember your primary job is to tell a good story.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Invictus by William Ernest Henley
It has been several months since I last posted to this blog. I’ve been putting off this post for some time. I’ve started this blog for the wrong reasons and now realize in order to resonate with others I have to first write for the love of writing and then for myself.
In order to grow I must change the them of this blog. I’ll try to post at least once a week from now and go from there. The focus of this blog will center on science and geek culture with and a QUILBAG point of view. I’ll still write the occasional political rant but that is not the overall theme going forward.
If you have any thoughts on how you’d like to see this blog change feel free to post your ideas in the comments section.
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Introduction
