Irrepressible Wisdom

Our first assignment in Intermediate Creative Writing was to write the most important things we thought a young writer should know. I realize the purpose and value of the exercise as a "go and do likewise" kind of thing as well as a clever diagnostic for our instructor to see what she has to work with, but it still felt a bit disingenuous to write this. I'm a young writer myself, so it's a case of the inexperienced leading the imaginary inept. Still, here it is, and I do believe that it is good advice. The underlying ideas apply to most creative endeavors.

Five Things Every Young Writer Should Know

1.      Read Other Work Critically

“Read, read, read. Read everything -- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master.” -William Faulkner

As a writer your choice of mentors is wide: Vonnegut, Rowling, Shakespeare, Collins, Byron, Dostoyevsky, Cisneros, Burgess, Tolkien, Wallace, Hawthorne and on, the limit of authors and what you may learn from them is set only by the time you can afford to read them. Learning how to ape your betters is the first step toward becoming a great writer, but it is by no means the last.

2.      Know the Rules

“Nothing leads so straight to futility as literary ambitions without systematic knowledge.”

- H.G. Wells

There are many rules in writing. The aspiring writer first learns to “show don’t tell,” and to “write what you know.” More advanced instruction unveils Aristotelian Structure and Chekov’s Gun among dozens of others, and many young writers begin to resent these restrictions.  The rules, however, were not established by the despotic literary elite who happen to have an arbitrary distaste for sentences ending in prepositions, or by some oppressive Orwellian regime hell bent on stifling creativity and artistic expression by demanding all narratives be confined to three acts. The rules are simply methods that have been proven to work. They are not a fence to confine the genius, they are a path to literary success.

3.      Don’t Be Afraid to Break the Rules

“There are no laws for the novel.  There never have been, nor can there ever be.” - Doris Lessing

Notice we call them “rules,” not “laws.” There are times when breaking the rules is more effective than abiding by them. Unsurprisingly, there is no rule for breaking the rules; a writer must rely on his instincts.

4.      Stay Grounded

“They're fancy talkers about themselves, writers. If I had to give young writers advice, I would say don't listen to writers talking about writing or themselves.” - Lillian Hellman

            When writers write about writing, they often expound upon their unmitigated sufferings, along with the sublime virtues of their chosen craft. It helps to remember that writers, at least fiction writers, are professional liars. They will rush to remind you that their lies are intended to reveal even greater truths, which should make you all the more suspicious when you see them trying to speak plainly. Don’t allow them to puff you up and get you high on yourself. They are really just patting themselves on the back. Don’t let them discourage you with their moanings, either. They are just disgruntled employees whining about their job, only their job is to be eloquent so they are exceptionally good at it. All of their self-righteous pontifications and lamentations only serve to distract you from the most important step to becoming a great writer, which is to

5.      Write

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”

 -Stephen King

People that talk about writing, read about writing, or even formally study writing are not necessarily writers. People that write are writers. Becoming good at it is the same process as becoming good at anything else: practice. Write constantly. Write fiction and nonfiction. Write autobiography and the hero’s journey, write poetry and short stories and novels. Practice plot twists, angst, and true love in addition to clever wording, symbolism and palpable settings, and bite off more than you can chew. Great writers fail and fail often, but they keep writing until they finally succeed.