Writing Resources

Eminently Sage and Pithy Advice Regarding Writing Fiction

In the Mind: the Art of Writing

• In his poem “In the Neolithic Age” Kipling said it best: “There are nine and sixty ways / Of writing tribal lays / And every single one of them is right!” (This quote has been re-quoted and mis-quoted over the years, so there are even several ways of saying how Kipling ever said this.)
  • There are infinite ways to present a generic story: writers are only limited by their imagination.
  • Conversely, there are only so many ways to present a specific story; the art is for the writer to do it creatively.
    • Each story also has its own way of being written.
    • Don’t get trapped into trying to write every story in the same way.
  • However, the only true way to write your story is your way.
    • Discovering that way is the hardest yet most rewarding task of any writer
    • Writing is the only path of discovering that way.
  • All the preceding means that trying to copy another writer’s way of writing will ultimately be pointless.
• There are no new stories, only new ways to present and make use of old stories.
  • Any new story already been done, just not in this particular manner. It is the writer’s job to present it as new.
    • For instance, the movie “Top Gun” is another variation on the monomyth of the Hero’s Journey which is typified by “The Odyssey”.
  • If all else fails, do what the professionals do: steal from the best. Just remember to file off the serial numbers.
• Show, don’t tell. Build the image of the scene in the mind of the reader.
  • Use descriptions to show non-verbal communication. Describe how the character is acting as opposed to just telling how they are acting.
  • Involve more than just the sense of sight or sound in the descriptions.
  • Use dual-purpose (direct and implied) descriptions: make your words do double duty.
    • Implied descriptions involve the reader by having them work through the implications to arrive at the desired conclusion.
• Respect your characters: after all, they are in part a part of you.
  • Learn to listen to the internal voices of your characters. Occasionally, they can surprise you!
  • Use the power of the character’s mental voice in selecting the proper words and language for them.
  • Recognize that the antagonist characters in your story are the protagonists in their own story.