Writing Tip #1 - Read

A writer should be a reader. That's a simple fact, but it is true.

Reading good novels, stories and articles will help your style, especially if you read a lot and a variety of genres. You'll start to notice little things that you might not have noticed otherwise, like a specific wording that means something, while a slightly different wording could mean something else.

This mental exercise can also help you with genre for your novel. If you read books in the genre that you're writing in, you'll start to notice trends, or guidelines for that specific genre of book. For example, a romance novel is expected to at least have a first kiss, and in a dystopian, it's generally accepted that the hero (or heroine) shouldn't be permanently maimed over the course of the book. (This led to a rewrite on my part because Katelynn originally had her nose broken)

When you read lots of books, you'll find that your writing style starts to mature and get better over time. I don't even want to see the first stories I wrote, because they were just so bad. That's partly because I wrote almost every day for five years and part because I read almost as much. And not short books, or books I've read a thousand times (though there were a few of those). I read books that challenged me, that made me work to understand them. Books like George Orwell's Animal Farm, or Tolkein's Lord of the Rings. Reading books that challenge you will not only help you to mature as a writer, but you will also find that your thinking matures.

Last but not least, a writer should be a reader because that gives them a perfect opportunity to see what the competition is doing and then they know how to do the opposite, because going along with the crowd never led to anything good.

 

This is a rather short post, but I feel no guilt. Come back next week for writing tip number 2, which will probably end up being longer. It’s a juicy topic.

    

Planner or pantser?

First of all, I feel like I should apologize for not posting. Life got away from me for a bit there, but that's no excuse. All right, on to the post.

I know, I know. Pantser is a bit of a disturbing word, and you might not know what it means at first glance. Put simply, a pantser is someone who doesn't really plan out their stories ahead of time, and basically lets the characters decide and go where their characters go. Planners are the opposite. They carefully go over every single plot point of their novel and plan every scene.

It can really help your writing if you know which you are, because planners will find themselves unable to write like a pantser, and vice versa.

I am a pantser, rather proudly. My characters have minds of their own and usually just climb over the flimsy plot fences I put them in. All I know before I write the story is the ending, and that my job is to make sure the characters get to that ending at all costs. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. An advantage is that if I want to change something spontaneously (like throw in some major twist or a big reveal) because there is a perfect opportunity to do it, I can and don't have to worry about throwing off any plans or plots that I had. Another advantage is that I am always surprised by my characters. For example, in Unidentified, I knew what the ending was going to be, and I knew the general setting. Not planning out every character and scene allowed me to discover my characters, and my characters weren't confined to ideas that I'd had about them earlier. This allowed Levi and Sophie to play a much larger role than they were supposed to, and even to steal the stage as main characters in the second book. (Yes, there is a second book. It's currently in the editing stage).

Of course, there are also disadvantages to pantsing, the main one being that it is VERY easy to lose the plot. I've found myself mired in the inescapable mud of side quests, when the only solution is a rewrite. Believe me, that sucks.

Planning has advantages in that you don't lose the plot and you also know everything there could possibly be to know about your character, the world they live in and the plot. (Although I've never understood the use of knowing what my medieval knight's favorite modern breakfast cereal is). Obviously, this can mean a more consistent story overall and a straightforward story line.

The main disadvantage of planning is the advantage of pantsing, that you can't really have an unplanned plot twist without having to revisit your outline and deciding if it's worth throwing away however much planning there is after the twist. 

I can't really speak to how planning works because I don't tend to do it. Usually, I find that if I map out too much of the plot before writing, I lose the magic of actually writing the story itself in the mire of the outlines and character sketching. That said, I do have an enormous map hanging on my wall with cultures and countries and conflicts, simply for convenience for my fantasy stories. There are lots of planning resources online, as everyone seems to have a different way to plan their stories. Just find the way that works best for you.

That's the end of today's post, but I do have a question for anyone who might happen to read this. If I were to start a podcast for teenage writers (and other writers too. I don't discriminate) what should be in it? Content-wise, I mean. I'd welcome any suggestions you might have.

Thank you, and hopefully I'll post again before August. 😉