Coming to the end of my third novel now and it got me all thoughtful about what I’ve learned so far. I’m far from actually liking my work, much less thinking I’ve got anything worthwhile to impart, but I thought it’d be interesting to throw out what’s worked for me and what hasn’t. This is all a bit of a lonely hobby to get into really, and sometimes it’s nice to hear from people struggling through it and what got them out of sticky spots. Anyhow, I think this stuff works for any creative endeavor, not just writing.
So:
1. Yo, stop trying to sound smart, yeah? No really. It comes from insecurity and it’s totally understandable but stop it; people will dislike your work by default when they see it. I developed the habit of backing up my work to email accounts when I was in my teens, and Christ on a bike, it’s been interesting to rediscover some of my old stuff in my twenties now. I reread a ‘short story’ (that’s giving it too much credit to start with) from when I must have been about fourteen or so and just cringed the whole way through. It just reeked of oh fickle audience! Look at what a verbose little genius I am! No. No no no. Stop it. Read any even moderately successful writer – ignoring a few anomalous exceptions – and you’ll notice that they all write concisely. They use obscure or difficult language when they have to, not because they can. Just write clearly. It’s the story you’re trying to convey. The medium is complimentary.
2. Everyone thinks they suck (and the opposite simultaneously). There are few writers out there with self-esteem, but it was pretty relieving to realise that almost all creative types are usually insecure about their work and ability. Conversely though they love it too. I’ll give you an example. I spent 6 months in Taiwan furiously writing a novel I’d had in my head for about 3 years. I was lonelier than I’d ever been, but it felt good just to cut myself off and work on something that hard. I finished it, I edited it, I sent it out to agents. No one bit; no surprise there. Though I was pretty insecure about my ability as a writer, I assumed that having spent 6 months (!!!) on something must make it brilliant. I’d sweated over that thing. I used every waking moment to daydream about the characters. I’d spent Friday nights on it while my housemates went out drinking, for the love of Yahweh. It had to be good. Cut to about 6 months later. I thought I might try editing it again, patch it up. I heaved that sucker out of the drawer looking forward to getting back into the world I’d built. And it sucked. I don’t mean it had a few holes. I mean it was a literary plane crash. Plot? What’s that? Character development? Pfffffft. It was abysmal. Take time away from whatever it is you’ve been pouring yourself into and come back to it. If it’s still good, you’re onto a winner. Just because you’re suffering over something doesn’t mean it’s going to be great by default. However, on the flip side, everyone that’s ever done anything decent in literature was extremely critical of themselves for the most part. It goes with the territory. I’m always slightly uneasy around people who assert that they’re a great writer/artist from the outset.
3. I’ll loosely quote Neil Gaiman on this one. When someone tells you something doesn’t work, they’re almost always right. When someone tells you how to fix it, they’re almost always wrong. The majority of your readers aren’t going to be writers. They’re not looking at it technically. They’re just reading it for enjoyment. If they aren’t enjoying it or –worse – if it’s boring them, something’s gone wrong. That’s okay, everything sucks at first. However, about four seconds later they’re going to make a suggestion. Take it on board but for the love of god add a pinch of salt to it. Expressing dissatisfaction is easy; fixing it usually takes a bit of knowhow.Criticism is a medicine that tastes disgusting but will ultimately cure all your wores if you get good at taking it. You should take it. It's good for you. Yum. Critilicious.
4. Distract your lower-brain. This one might just be specific for me, but I use it too much not to throw out there. I reckon it works for all creative problems. Stuck? Miserable? Dead-ended? Ace, perfect time to go for a run/bike ride/kayak ride/martial arts session. I have no idea why it works, but exercise sees to distract the reptilian lower brain bits, all the ‘no! I’ll never finish this book!’ and ‘this creativity stuff is fun, but let’s play starcraft for 11 and a half hours straight instead’ thoughts. There’s something about somewhat-stressful exercise that just opens you up. Opens me up, anyway. I’m fairly confident it works for everyone. I could go all speculative here and try and tie it to our evolutionary origins, but for now I’ll just leave it at: go and run about a bit if you’re stuck.
5. Ignore the jaded and bitter. They’ve been around forever they’re two a penny. It’s easy to feel like you’ve screwed up and spend all your time belittling other people’s efforts. Just acknowledge it and move on. As I said, anyone that ever did anything of creative worth thought it sucked while they were working on it. They easily could’ve listened to the naysayers and given up too. They didn’t. Don’t do that either.
So, those are my 2 cents. I'd be curious to hear yours too.
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