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1. \u00a0WRITE!<\/strong><\/p>\n What makes you a writer? \u00a0Writing makes you a writer. \u00a0Being a writer says nothing about how good you are, how prolific you are, whether you are published or not. \u00a0When you write you are a writer. \u00a0When you don’t, you aren’t. \u00a0So practice your craft and proudly call yourself a writer.<\/p>\n 2. \u00a0You are only as good as your own talent. \u00a0GET OVER IT!<\/strong><\/p>\n You have a gift. \u00a0Maybe its a grand one and maybe you wish you could exchange it. \u00a0But you can’t. \u00a0It’s your gift and its only as good as it is. \u00a0Sure, you can learn technique and structure and vocabulary, but you can’t be any better than you have the capacity to be. \u00a0So grow up, deal with it and write fiercely.<\/p>\n 3. \u00a0Don’t try to be Shakespeare; he didn’t!<\/strong><\/p>\n Every human being has a unique set of experiences so every writer has a unique perspective\u00a0and a unique voice. \u00a0Don’t try to copy someone’s style or subject matter or message. \u00a0Tell us what you<\/em> think, what you<\/em> feel, what you<\/em> see. \u00a0There is a place in the universe for every individual mind. \u00a0If you try to copy the shape of someone else’s spirit, that place will have already been taken. \u00a0Be yourself and your place in the grand scheme of things is waiting.<\/p>\n 4. \u00a0Write from your\u00a0passionate self<\/strong><\/p>\n We all wear a mask to protect us from hurt in the world. \u00a0It also blocks the light of our vision. \u00a0As children, we quickly learn which behaviors are praised and which are punished. We learn to act other than we really feel to maximize our experience. \u00a0In time,we buy into that mask, believing it is who we really are. \u00a0But the mask evens out the peaks and troughs of our passion, leaving us afraid to explore the depths of our passion and reveal our true selves in words. \u00a0To speak with a clarion voice, you must shatter the mask, discover your actual self, and thrust it into the world.<\/p>\n 5. \u00a0Be a Story Weaver – NOT a Story Mechanic!<\/strong><\/p>\n Structure is important but not at the expense of passion. \u00a0No one reads a book or goes to a movie to experience a great structure. \u00a0Authors come to a story\u00a0to express their passions and readers and audience members come to ignite their own. \u00a0While structure is the carrier wave upon which passion is transmitted, without the passion, it’s just noise. \u00a0Conversely, passion without structure can be full of sound and fury yet signifying nothing. So find the proper balance. \u00a0Let passion be your captain and structure be your guide.<\/p>\n 6. \u00a0Let your Muse run wild.<\/strong><\/p>\n The easiest way to give yourself writer’s block is to bridle your Muse by trying to come up with ideas. \u00a0Your Muse is always coming up with ideas – just not the ones you want. \u00a0If you\u00a0try to limit the kind of material you will accept from her, she’ll shut up entirely. \u00a0So let your Muse run free. \u00a0When she gives you an hysterical moment with a polka-dot elephant while writing \u00a0a serious death scene, consider including it, perhaps as an hallucination. \u00a0Give it a try, it might liven up your death scene! \u00a0And after you’ve written it, if it doesn’t work, then save it in a file for later use. \u00a0It may seem like a waste of time, but your Muse will know she has been treated with respect, and will likely now give you just the idea you need.<\/p>\n 7. \u00a0Don’t\u00a0be a slave to convention<\/strong><\/p>\n Beginning writers often look to other successful stories to learn how things ought to work. \u00a0But so do all the other beginning writers. \u00a0A book editor, agent, or script reader sees hundreds of manuscripts every year, all made up of the same pieces and hitting the same marks. \u00a0You’ll never get noticed in that crowd. \u00a0If you want your work to be discovered, break format, shake it up, do something different. \u00a0Make your sheriff 8 years old, make your two lovers twins, set your gothic romance underwater. \u00a0You’ll never be noticed if you don’t stand out.<\/p>\n 8. \u00a0Be your own critic without being critical<\/strong><\/p>\n Write something. \u00a0Do it now. \u00a0Now look at it not as an author, but as a reader or audience and ask questions about it. \u00a0For example, I write, “It was dawn in the small western town.” Now I ask: 1. What time of year was it? \u00a02. What state? \u00a03. Is it a ghost town? \u00a04. How many people live there? \u00a05. \u00a0Is everything all right in the town? \u00a06. What year is it. \u00a0Then let your Muse come up with as many answers for each question as possible. \u00a0Example: 6. What year \u00a0is it? A. 1885 \u00a0B. Present Day \u00a0C. 2050 \u00a0D. After the apocalypse. \u00a0Then repeat: D. After the Apocalypse. \u00a01.\u00a0What kind of apocalypse? \u00a02. \u00a0How many people died? 3. \u00a0How long ago was the disaster, and so on. \u00a0By alternating between critical analysis and creative Musings, you will quickly work out details about your story’s world, who’s in it, what happens to them and what it all means.<\/p>\n 9. \u00a0Avoid the Genre Trap<\/strong><\/p>\n Too many beginning writers see genres as checklists of elements and progressions they must touch, like checkpoints in a race. \u00a0But a genre is not a box in which to write. \u00a0It is a grab bag from which to pull only those components you are truly excited to include in your story. \u00a0Every story has a unique personality, you build it chapter by chapter or scene by scene with every genre choice you make. \u00a0By drawing on aspects of many different genres and combining those pieces together, you can fashion an experience for your readers or audience unlike any other.<\/p>\n 10. \u00a0WRITE!<\/strong><\/p>\n No matter what your natural ability, you will never approach your potential without exercise. \u00a0Jot down every idea. \u00a0Carry it as far as you can before it runs out of steam. \u00a0Do it again, and again: as many different ideas as far as you can take them. \u00a0Write nonsense words. \u00a0Write your concept of a villain’s shopping list for the supermarket (they have to eat, don’t they?) Write about anything. \u00a0Write about nothing! \u00a0But don’t stop, not now, not ever. \u00a0You\u00a0are<\/em> a writer aren’t you? \u00a0Then for God’s sake, WRITE!<\/p>\n Melanie Anne Phillips This article was drawn from
Creator, StoryWeaver<\/p>\n\n\n
StoryWeaver Writing Software<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
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