Week 12 Story Lab: Advice to Writers
For this week's story lab, I decided to explore the Advice to Writers website. It was really neat to see advice from established writers and see their different perspectives come through the advice they wrote to aspiring authors. Below are a few that particularly stood out to me.
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut's advice was simple. "Make your characters want something right away." I think this advice is almost deceptively simple. It seems so obvious that characters should have a motivation, but how many stories really begin with the character's desire? So many stories start with the setting, or some other scene setter, but I think Vonnegut's advice to jump right to what matters and talk about what the character wants really helps frame how to write better and with more impact.
Anne Dillard
Another piece of advice that I thought was deceptively simple but really helpful was Anne Dillard's advice to forget about process. I especially like the sentence, "The path is not the work." I know I definitely get attached to my first draft because of how much work I've put into it, but the Dillard's advice makes it easier to let go of first drafts and move on to something better, since she frames the first draft as just the path to the final work.
Alexander McCall Smith
The last piece of advice that I found particularly interesting was Alexander McCall Smith's advice to not worry so much about your first novel. Smith says that a writer's first novel usually is more of a therapeutic process that helps them deal with their own personal issues, rather than be a vehicle for a story. I think this is a really interesting concept and I definitely can see this happening to me. Often times the things I imagine myself writing a novel about are just extensions of my personal conflicts and problems, and I can definitely see how that could inhibit a clear mind and the ability to focus on the good of the story. Luckily, the news isn't all bad. Although Smith says to just scrap the first novel, he says that writers should immediately move onto their second novel, since it will usually be much better!
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut's advice was simple. "Make your characters want something right away." I think this advice is almost deceptively simple. It seems so obvious that characters should have a motivation, but how many stories really begin with the character's desire? So many stories start with the setting, or some other scene setter, but I think Vonnegut's advice to jump right to what matters and talk about what the character wants really helps frame how to write better and with more impact.
Anne Dillard
Another piece of advice that I thought was deceptively simple but really helpful was Anne Dillard's advice to forget about process. I especially like the sentence, "The path is not the work." I know I definitely get attached to my first draft because of how much work I've put into it, but the Dillard's advice makes it easier to let go of first drafts and move on to something better, since she frames the first draft as just the path to the final work.
Alexander McCall Smith
The last piece of advice that I found particularly interesting was Alexander McCall Smith's advice to not worry so much about your first novel. Smith says that a writer's first novel usually is more of a therapeutic process that helps them deal with their own personal issues, rather than be a vehicle for a story. I think this is a really interesting concept and I definitely can see this happening to me. Often times the things I imagine myself writing a novel about are just extensions of my personal conflicts and problems, and I can definitely see how that could inhibit a clear mind and the ability to focus on the good of the story. Luckily, the news isn't all bad. Although Smith says to just scrap the first novel, he says that writers should immediately move onto their second novel, since it will usually be much better!
Life may be a journey, but the path isn't the story!
(Image source: Raw Pixel)
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