Topic 102: Advice

[Brandi_R]

Writers are often inundated with advice. It’s in the classroom, at writers’ groups, in on-line forums, and fills shelves of books. It comes from authors, editors, readers, and friends both dear and distant. Often, this kind of feedback is welcomed and can be wildly productive. It’s almost always well intentioned. Still, not all of it is useful. Some of it is downright destructive.

Joseph Geha puts advice in perspective in his short article “Thumbs” in a delightful book, Rules of Thumb: “The simple truth right in front of you is this: If you want to be a writer, you need to do two things. You need to read. And you need to write. That’s all. The rest is just advice.”

As writers, we have to wade through this advice and pick and choose what to follow. This isn’t always an easy process, particularly when you’re new to the craft and not feeling terribly confident in the first place.

One bit of that has lingered with me comes from Frederick Barthelme’s short article “The Thirty-Nine Steps: A Story Writing Primer” from the wonderful book Rules of Thumb :

8. Remember: Many things have happened that, to the untrained eye, appear interesting.

It’s simple and straightforward and I find it drifts to mind often when I’m writing early drafts and working out issues of action. Reconsidering what’s compelling about the action in my story helps give me focus.

So, what bits of advice have opened up a new understanding for you, helped frame your approach as a writer, or otherwise changed your outlook on writing or the writers’ life? Also, what bits of advice have (or had the potential to) send you astray? What advise did you dismiss? In hindsight, was it a good choice?

[books4life48]

The best advice people give me is when they tell me that my poems/stories relate to them or their friends or their  life. To me, that's the key that keeps me writing. The fact that people can read my poems/stories and say "Hey. This sounds like me or my life." etc. etc. It may not be advice to some people but, it is to me. It helps me write more relateable stuff. B)

[Flowering]

I read somewhere to write about your feelings first. I liked that, because its so easy to do that first.

[Capuchin]

Good advice (for me) -- 

Isaac Asimov said to start a new story by taking a sheet of good paper, carbon paper, and a second sheet, roll it all into the typewriter, set the margins, and begin writing as if it's what you're going to send to the editor. It won't be, but it's important that you feel that what you're writing is important, and you want to get it right the first time.

George Scithers (an editor) wrote: "A story receives the amount of attention it demands." In other words, if your first paragraph draws in the reader and the story doesn't let them go until it's over, it'll get read. If it starts weak and meanders towards some vague point, it's going to get passed over.

Someone whose name I can't remember (she was a green-eyed redhead with a knack for making men feel like foolish little boys but was a sucker for someone who could match her one-for-one drinking white russians during a mean game of chess), once tossed a manuscript across a table and told the writer to "cook it" before submitting it for crits from the group.

When asked to explain, she said (as best I can remember it): "Imagine a friend got a new cookbook and asked you to sample one of the recipes. They then put in front of you a raw lamb chop, a pile of unshelled peas, and a cold pat of butter covered in spices. 'All the elements are there,' they might say. 'I just want to get your opinion before I go to the trouble of cooking it.' That's what you've given us here --because you couldn't be bothered to spell and punctuate properly or use any kind of recognizable grammar, we're supposed to imagine a luscious meal while gnawing on raw meat."

That 'advice' helped my writing because it makes me more aware of the people who will be reading a story. Although I've always been a bit retentive about the technical side anyway, ever since then I've found myself picturing someone sitting across from me reading the story for the first time. If/when I imagine they had to stop to figure out what a phrase or sentence means, I look to see if I can polish or recast it.

Bad advice (for me) --

You must outline.

You must know the ending before you begin.

You must write in drafts.

etc. etc. etc.

For me, those are absolutely terrible pieces of advice. If I know the whole story before I start, I see no reason to write it down. And the very idea of "washing garbage" (as William Goldman called rewriting drafts) would keep me from writing anything ever again.

[LindaEducation]

That writing is rewriting,and more rewriting, you must write every day.  My junior college professor was really picky on our intros.  He would sometimes say my intros were a bit un-interesting (ie boring) but always seemed to love my endings.  He always gave me pretty good grades.  and often used my papers as examples to some of the other students.  I still have some of my papers from that class even though it has been many years. I sometimes look to those to get ideas, and to see why he liked certain things, and also why he disliked things I wrote.  He publishes stories in our local newspaper and I like his style of writing.  I hope to be as good as a writer as he is.

[tiffany57]

Well, advice can mean many diffrent things, but to me it means honesty and saying/writing excatly what is on YOUR mind.  Truth is everything. (sometimes, most of the time)

[H-Butterfield]

I love to hear people's opinions on my work and to hear their advice. I really enjoy sifting through what is useful to me and what is junk. The best advice I ever heard was from a friend of mine. I was telling her about an idea which was bothering me and she told me to go write it and work it out. My worst advice was someone telling me I should write every single day to be a true writer. I work in bursts of feverish writing, that's just my process.

HB

[Brandi_R]

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books4life48 wrote:

The best advice people give me is when they tell me that my poems/stories relate to them or their friends or their  life. To me, that's the key that keeps me writing. The fact that people can read my poems/stories and say "Hey. This sounds like me or my life." etc. etc. It may not be advice to some people but, it is to me. It helps me write more relateable stuff. B)

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Connecting with readers in that way can be such a powerful experience. I could see where that would be a great motivator.

[Brandi_R]

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Flowering wrote:

I read somewhere to write about your feelings first. I liked that, because its so easy to do that first.

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What a wonderful way to free yourself from the "first page jitters" that can come with starting something new and coping with the blank page.

[books4life48]

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Brandi_R wrote:

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books4life48 wrote:

The best advice people give me is when they tell me that my poems/stories relate to them or their friends or their  life. To me, that's the key that keeps me writing. The fact that people can read my poems/stories and say "Hey. This sounds like me or my life." etc. etc. It may not be advice to some people but, it is to me. It helps me write more relateable stuff. B)

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Connecting with readers in that way can be such a powerful experience. I could see where that would be a great motivator.

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                   It is a great motivator and I hope a lot of people think so too.

[Brandi_R]

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Capuchin wrote:

 . . . When asked to explain, she said (as best I can remember it): "Imagine a friend got a new cookbook and asked you to sample one of the recipes. They then put in front of you a raw lamb chop, a pile of unshelled peas, and a cold pat of butter covered in spices. 'All the elements are there,' they might say. 'I just want to get your opinion before I go to the trouble of cooking it.' That's what you've given us here --because you couldn't be bothered to spell and punctuate properly or use any kind of recognizable grammar, we're supposed to imagine a luscious meal while gnawing on raw meat."

That 'advice' helped my writing because it makes me more aware of the people who will be reading a story. Although I've always been a bit retentive about the technical side anyway, ever since then I've found myself picturing someone sitting across from me reading the story for the first time. If/when I imagine they had to stop to figure out what a phrase or sentence means, I look to see if I can polish or recast it. . .

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Wonderful anecdote to share here! The comparison of a manuscript to the ingredients of a meal is interesting. In addition to the issue of grammar and craft, it makes me think of the piece that’s so early in the drafting stage that potential is hard to gauge. I think a lot of people interested in writing get caught in this “uncooked” place early in their journey into writing, too. They want to hear they’ve got what it takes before they invest in it, but that can’t be known until the work happens.

[Brandi_R]

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LindaEducation wrote:

That writing is rewriting,and more rewriting, you must write every day.  My junior college professor was really picky on our intros.  He would sometimes say my intros were a bit un-interesting (ie boring) but always seemed to love my endings.  He always gave me pretty good grades.  and often used my papers as examples to some of the other students.  I still have some of my papers from that class even though it has been many years. I sometimes look to those to get ideas, and to see why he liked certain things, and also why he disliked things I wrote.  He publishes stories in our local newspaper and I like his style of writing.  I hope to be as good as a writer as he is.

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Teachers you connect with can have a real lasting impact. The words of one writer who was instrumental in my own learning still echo in my mind as I write.

Writing is rewriting . . . yes, yes, yes!

[Brandi_R]

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tiffany57 wrote:

Well, advice can mean many diffrent things, but to me it means honesty and saying/writing excatly what is on YOUR mind.  Truth is everything. (sometimes, most of the time)

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Staying true to yourself and your vision . . . a good truth to follow.

[Brandi_R]

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H-Butterfield wrote:

I love to hear people's opinions on my work and to hear their advice. I really enjoy sifting through what is useful to me and what is junk. The best advice I ever heard was from a friend of mine. I was telling her about an idea which was bothering me and she told me to go write it and work it out. My worst advice was someone telling me I should write every single day to be a true writer. I work in bursts of feverish writing, that's just my process.

HB

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Oh, I like your friend's advice to just write through the problem. I use that bit of wisdom in my own work often.

[Capuchin]

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tiffany57 wrote:

Truth is everything. (sometimes, most of the time)

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One of my favorite books on fiction writing is Telling Lies for Fun and Profit by Lawrence Block.