Literature is a broad subject, and for those who have delved in and attempted to study it or even create literary works of their own, it can be very rigorous.
Poets, novelists, and creative writers of all skill levels know the struggle of writer’s block and how difficult it can sometimes be to overcome. However, I’ve learned over time that there are many helpful ways to get yourself in the mindset to produce something worth reading.
By understanding the author’s creative choices as you read, you can learn the small things that make for great writing to adopt into your own pieces, such as how the author transitions sentences, how they begin new chapters and paragraphs, and so on.
Making sure you’re engaging with different genres of literature (or even taking in various mediums, like movies and television shows) also helps keep your perspective fresh, and can help you adopt stylistic aspects of some genres into others.
For example, you might read a short story and find the way the author forms the narrative quite appealing, and decide to adopt that same kind of narrative into your poetry and creative nonfiction.
Watching videos of distinguished, published authors talk about their process will definitely help you wire your way of thinking, and ideas will start to roll in. For example, I enjoy writing psychological horrors and thrillers, so I might watch talks done by authors such as Stephen King, David Baldacci, or Thomas Harris, since these are the writers I’m trying to emulate.
When you watch videos of authors you’re looking to learn from, you can begin to understand what makes these genres unique from the writer’s perspective, rather than trying to learn things from the writing alone. You pick up more information this way.
The most important thing is to set out the logistics of your piece before you start writing it. When you do that, you’ll already know your premise, characters, and how to set up the foundations of your story. Think about writing an essay; when you go in without a plan for how it’s going to go, does it turn out as great as you wanted it to be? Probably not.
When I first got into creative writing, I decided I was going to write a series of short stories set in ancient Japan, with the plots revolving a lot around this setting. Unfortunately, I didn’t plan my bases in terms of side characters and I didn’t educate myself on social customs and traditions set in ancient Japan. When I sat down and started typing, I couldn’t even get past the first couple sentences since I did not know what to write.
Writing in any creative form is a long and arduous process, and cutting corners always shows. It can feel boring sometimes and the temptation to quit will always be there.
But that is part of the process. Ensuring you set out to write something you enjoy—rather than perhaps something you feel obligated to write because you feel it will have an easier time getting published—will help alleviate some of the monotony that can come with working on the same piece for a while.
The grind of being a successful writer is a long, tedious, and oftentimes boring or unfortunate one. Take the example of J.K. Rowling, the renowned (albeit infamous) author of the Harry Potter series. She was named the first billionaire author by Forbes in 2004, but before that is the story of her life in poverty, riddled with hardships and the risk of homelessness.
If you’re struggling in your journey to become a great writer, that’s OK. A willingness to struggle through your work is a major characteristic of a good author. There’s no such thing as smooth sailing or cutting corners if you want to excel in this field.
Featured graphic by Pascale Malenfant.
