Writing.Com General Discussion

Truth is, an ability to use the written form of our language effectively tends to fall into the same category as an ability to illustrate, an ability to sing, an ability to craft a full-blown plot out of any set-up like Stephen King, or an ability to play golf like Tiger Woods (used to). It really can't be taught. So all learning efforts are really about craft issues: how to cobble together a strong narrative arc; how to engineer convincing conflicts into your characters; how to balance showing and telling; how to develop an idea into a convincing argument and turn it into a decent essay; how to blend research and personal anecdote into a salable magazine article.

You'll probably find nothing of this sort in college writing programs. They will more likely focus on right brain / left brain psychobabble, making certain your output is politically correct and making sure you don't try too hard to be representational. I've known several graduates of such writing workshops and they all assure me that recovery is possible, but it takes lots of effort and many meetings in church basements, before they can become writers.

The best teachers you can find are most likely the published writers you are already reading. Go back and read them again, not as a consumer but as a student. Note how they manage to move characters on and off the stage, how they handle things like foreshadowing, back story, exposition—then steal, steal, steal. No one bats an eye when art students go into a museum to copy the masters and try to match them brushstroke for brushstroke. It's no less effective a technique for writers.

Also, check out a venue specifically dedicated to the craft and business of writing, like Writers Digest. You won't find advice there that might turn you into the next artiste du jour but you'll find plenty of useful nuts and bolts information that will turn your inspiration into salable copy.

And don't be afraid of the term hack. Being a hack writer is somehow considered beneath the dignity of "serious" writers. A hack is simply a writer who works for a deadline and a paycheck. In other words, a working writer. Shakespeare was a hack. So were Hemingway and Fitzgerald.

The thing about craft issues: they're something you really can learn out of a book, and failure to master them tends to look exactly like a lack of talent. So trust fate to take care of the talent part. Work on crafting the best writing you can, whatever the genre.