What I learned at Hollins this Summer
I'm home! Now comes time to unpack both my suitcases and mind (the contents of the latter will be filed, below).
Here are the most important things I learned this summer:
1) To read like a writer.
I've heard "If you want to write, you must read" over and over again, but I know that reading just for the sake of reading isn't what this means. Now, I've finally learned what exactly I should be doing when I "read like a writer." My teacher, Alexandria LaFaye, taught us how to deconstruct texts much like one might deconstruct magic tricks, to see what techniques and bits of craft came together to create the effective illusion. For example, now I know that if I'm having trouble with voice, I can just analyze several books that have strong voice (such as Laurie Halse Anderson's books) and then see what's making everything ring true (Do the metaphors reflect the narrator's reality, how much of the narrator's action/reaction does the audience experience, what degree of attitude and response do we see, etc). I feel like I have a better vocabulary now for the craft part of writing as opposed to just the literary analysis vocab I had, before. Alexandria is trying to find a publisher for her book on Forms Analysis, and if and when she does I will highly recommend her book as the unpublished MS she gave us was amazing! I'll be eternally grateful for her generosity. Until then, Alexandria recommends Francine Prose's book, _Reading like a Writer_. I haven't read this, yet. If anyone has, would you mind sharing your thoughts?
2) I'm a "voice driven" writer.
I always thought I was a plot-driven writer, but my writing tutorial instructor realized this wasn't true and, voila!-- Everything clicked. I always knew that I had to have the plot pull me through a book, but now I know that it's voice that creates that plot for me. I can't believe I never realized this, before. This has made my life so much easier! We concluded there are several types of authors: Character-driven, plot-driven, voice-driven, and ego-driven (<-- authors who want their pretty writing to show first and foremost, instead of letting it fade seamlessly into the story). I'm sure there are other aspects that drive writers, but I think it's good to identify what it is that pulls you because for me, now that I know to focus on voice, everything else is just falling into place. This also explains why I've had so much trouble with GLG. I planned out the plot for it, originally, but the MC is so far removed from my own reality that I've had a really hard time getting an authentic voice for her.
3) It's okay for good writing to be slow and seemingly unproductive.
My writing tutorial teacher completely re-writes every single draft each time she revises a book (sometimes 6 or more times!). I remember reading in Cindy Lord's journal that she re-wrote RULES. I've always tried to be efficient with writing, carefully poring over every word and sentence with hopes I wouldn't have to spend too much time revising. This summer, though, I took the big risk and completely re-wrote the first 15-20 pages of a novel I'd just started which I knew was good, but not great. My tutorial classmates and I were both shocked by the difference. It seems counter-intuitive to want to throw out so much good writing at the risk of the new stuff not being as good, but I think sometimes you have to have faith that you have improved from the process of writing that first draft, and your new skills and insight will make the second one much better than it could have ever originally been. You have to have faith in yourself. You have to take the time it takes to find the truth of the story. Once you have these two things, your new draft can't help but be better. And this means that your first drafts *can* have permission to be messy (I never was good at this) and that, in a sense, they must be. Furthermore, now I feel like it's okay to write many unpublished books as I find myself as a writer. I never saw this as essential, before, but now I know that I will have more and more ideas, and it's silly to get stuck on any one of them if my new skills could be better used for a new story.
I must admit, I'm a little scared about whether I'll be able to keep up a good pace this year. Work is hounding me already and the Fall semester hasn't even started. I am going to try to hold myself to just a page a day. This past year was extremely unproductive, and I think a large part of why is that I didn't want to sit down without writing a solid chunk; without feeling "productive." Since I never really could do enough to feel adequate, I hardly did anything. Now, I feel like I need to re-frame to smaller goals that fit in my life better. Surely, I can manage a page a day. I just have to get to where I can do it even if I don't have the writing mindset and to where I'm comfortable even if that page is craptastic; where I feel good just for having it *done.* I think once I can get to that place the pages will be good, but I need to be okay with it even if they aren't. One advantage I have is that two of my very talented tutorial-mates have agreed to be in an online critique group with me. I know this is a wonderful opportunity and I hope we can keep each other accountable. If any of you have managed an online critique group or have been in one, I'd appreciate any advice you have!
Okay, I am done unpacking my head, for now. :-)
Here are the most important things I learned this summer:
1) To read like a writer.
I've heard "If you want to write, you must read" over and over again, but I know that reading just for the sake of reading isn't what this means. Now, I've finally learned what exactly I should be doing when I "read like a writer." My teacher, Alexandria LaFaye, taught us how to deconstruct texts much like one might deconstruct magic tricks, to see what techniques and bits of craft came together to create the effective illusion. For example, now I know that if I'm having trouble with voice, I can just analyze several books that have strong voice (such as Laurie Halse Anderson's books) and then see what's making everything ring true (Do the metaphors reflect the narrator's reality, how much of the narrator's action/reaction does the audience experience, what degree of attitude and response do we see, etc). I feel like I have a better vocabulary now for the craft part of writing as opposed to just the literary analysis vocab I had, before. Alexandria is trying to find a publisher for her book on Forms Analysis, and if and when she does I will highly recommend her book as the unpublished MS she gave us was amazing! I'll be eternally grateful for her generosity. Until then, Alexandria recommends Francine Prose's book, _Reading like a Writer_. I haven't read this, yet. If anyone has, would you mind sharing your thoughts?
2) I'm a "voice driven" writer.
I always thought I was a plot-driven writer, but my writing tutorial instructor realized this wasn't true and, voila!-- Everything clicked. I always knew that I had to have the plot pull me through a book, but now I know that it's voice that creates that plot for me. I can't believe I never realized this, before. This has made my life so much easier! We concluded there are several types of authors: Character-driven, plot-driven, voice-driven, and ego-driven (<-- authors who want their pretty writing to show first and foremost, instead of letting it fade seamlessly into the story). I'm sure there are other aspects that drive writers, but I think it's good to identify what it is that pulls you because for me, now that I know to focus on voice, everything else is just falling into place. This also explains why I've had so much trouble with GLG. I planned out the plot for it, originally, but the MC is so far removed from my own reality that I've had a really hard time getting an authentic voice for her.
3) It's okay for good writing to be slow and seemingly unproductive.
My writing tutorial teacher completely re-writes every single draft each time she revises a book (sometimes 6 or more times!). I remember reading in Cindy Lord's journal that she re-wrote RULES. I've always tried to be efficient with writing, carefully poring over every word and sentence with hopes I wouldn't have to spend too much time revising. This summer, though, I took the big risk and completely re-wrote the first 15-20 pages of a novel I'd just started which I knew was good, but not great. My tutorial classmates and I were both shocked by the difference. It seems counter-intuitive to want to throw out so much good writing at the risk of the new stuff not being as good, but I think sometimes you have to have faith that you have improved from the process of writing that first draft, and your new skills and insight will make the second one much better than it could have ever originally been. You have to have faith in yourself. You have to take the time it takes to find the truth of the story. Once you have these two things, your new draft can't help but be better. And this means that your first drafts *can* have permission to be messy (I never was good at this) and that, in a sense, they must be. Furthermore, now I feel like it's okay to write many unpublished books as I find myself as a writer. I never saw this as essential, before, but now I know that I will have more and more ideas, and it's silly to get stuck on any one of them if my new skills could be better used for a new story.
I must admit, I'm a little scared about whether I'll be able to keep up a good pace this year. Work is hounding me already and the Fall semester hasn't even started. I am going to try to hold myself to just a page a day. This past year was extremely unproductive, and I think a large part of why is that I didn't want to sit down without writing a solid chunk; without feeling "productive." Since I never really could do enough to feel adequate, I hardly did anything. Now, I feel like I need to re-frame to smaller goals that fit in my life better. Surely, I can manage a page a day. I just have to get to where I can do it even if I don't have the writing mindset and to where I'm comfortable even if that page is craptastic; where I feel good just for having it *done.* I think once I can get to that place the pages will be good, but I need to be okay with it even if they aren't. One advantage I have is that two of my very talented tutorial-mates have agreed to be in an online critique group with me. I know this is a wonderful opportunity and I hope we can keep each other accountable. If any of you have managed an online critique group or have been in one, I'd appreciate any advice you have!
Okay, I am done unpacking my head, for now. :-)