5 WRITING TIPS FROM LAINI TAYLOR
I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was a small child, but I
was thirty-five before I finished my first novel, because I have issues with
perfectionism. It took me a long time to learn to finish what I start, and I’ve
developed a lot of tools and tricks for keeping myself moving forward through a
story when a big slice of my brain wants nothing so much as to stop and rewrite
everything I’ve already written. It can be exhausting, but the upside is that I
love to revise. The main thing I’ve learned is that we all have to learn to
work with—and appreciate—the brain we’ve been given, and not waste time wishing
things were easier.
1. Know what you
love. Try imagining the book that would light your heart and mind on fire
if you came across it in a bookstore—the one that would quicken your pulse and
keep you up all night reading. What would it be? Details, details: when, where,
what, who? Think it up, imagine it fully, then bring it forth. That’s the book
you should be writing.
2. Never sit staring at a blank page or screen.
If you find yourself stuck, write. Write about the scene you’re trying to write. Writing about is easier than writing, and chances are, it will give
you your way in. You could try listing ten things that might happen next, or do
a timed freewrite—fast, non-precious forward momentum; you don’t even have to
read it afterward, but it might give you ideas. Try anything and everything.
Never fall still, and don’t be lazy.
3. Eliminate
distractions. Eliminate internet access. Find/create a place and time where
you won’t be bothered. Noise-canceling headphones are great.
Hotel-writing-sprees are even better if you can make that happen every once and
a while: total dedicated writing time. During my second draft pass on my last
book I made 20,000 words happen in a week, which is practically supernatural
for me, and it would never have been possible without three nights in a hotel
in my own city. It’s an incredible splurge, and a huge liberation, and you
might just deserve it!
4. Get your
characters talking. Dialogue is the place that books are most alive and
forge the most direct connection with readers. It is also where we as writers
discover our characters and allow them to become real. Get them talking. Don’t
be precious. Write dialogues. Cultivate the attitude that every word you write
need not end up in the book. Some things are just exercises, part of the process
of discovery. Be willing to do more work than will show. The end result is all
that matters. Be huge and generous and fearless.
5. Be an
unstoppable force. Write with an imaginary machete strapped to your thigh.
This is not wishy-washy, polite, drinking-tea-with-your-pinkie-sticking-out
stuff. It’s who you want to be, your most powerful self. Write your books.
Finish them, then make them better. Find the way. No one will make this dream
come true for you but you.
Laini Taylor is a New York Times Best-Selling Author. Her book Days
of Blood & Starlight (the follow-up to the equally outstanding Daughter
of Smoke and Bone) is filled with dazzling writing, not to mention fantasy,
suspense, and a page-turning story. You can find her on her blog here.
No comments:
Post a Comment