I've been of the opinion for quite sometime that one should only define themselves as a writer if, in fact, they write... and regularly. This does not excuse my lack of a November and December 2009 posts, but I must confess I found myself overwhelmed with the end-of-the-semester flurry of exams, term papers, projects, fiction revisions, work, preparing for vacation, and other lifestyle changes (we got a dog, for instance).
Anyway, I'll just assume I'm forgiven. Onward then.
A friend and fellow writer asked me, recently, how my previous semester went, in terms of fiction critiques/workshopping, etc., and in summarizing it for him, I was struck by a few thoughts that I should probably share.
First, everyone who has workshopped fiction or had their fiction workshopped has likely realized that you cannot please everyone (and, in some cases, anyone). I was thinking about how one person might assert that a particular story speaks deeply about some social situation, while another person reading the same story might think of it as being hackneyed. How does one respond to polar criticism?
They think of it as opposing breezes. A breeze is nice, sure, and it may cool you or warm you temporarily, but breezes are only trickles of air. Breezes don't fill your sails. The winds, though, can catch those wide canvasses and can take you magnificent places... and no one man makes the wind. Also, if they wind isn't heading where you want, you can draw those sails back in and weather the storm... or just see where the winds take them, knowing that it is not necessarily the end of the journey.
There comes a point at which a writer must detach themselves from the academic umbilical cord and set out on their own journey toward realizing their fiction, honing it, and refining their skills. Ultimately, each writer must steer their own ship and find their own winds. The basic skills remain the sturdy foundations (and sometimes they require a return and re-examination), and there is certainly a constant learning process and growing process, but the journey is individual. I know mine has borne no resemblance to any other I've heard of.
Now, here's a broad, sweeping statement about art.
My opinion has always trended toward "technique" being the defining line between "art" and "expressed creative energy." This is why I don't typically appreciate Jackson Pollock work.
So, applying this model to writing, learning to create impressions deliberately, to alter moods with skill, to frame and craft everything as a function of your hand guiding the material rather than some external force influencing the ebb and flow of the fiction, or no force at all directing the lay of the words... these are the factors of the writing craft that will, at some point, bring a writer's skills into a new place, or into a new realm of refinement.
I've found a few books (oh no reading!!) specifically about the craft of writing that have been really useful in pointing toward the ultimate move toward deliberate creation.
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Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft (Burroway, Stuckey-French, Stuckey-French)
This particular text has exceptional notes about sculpting fiction into something more refined, and makes a number of important points on the brick-and-mortar of the craft as well. Lovely in the book is the inclusion of specific examples from a number of stalwarts of Fiction. Though it is a "text book" in the traditional sense, I would say that it is well worth a read by any writer/author aspiring to be published.
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Making Shapely Fiction (Stern)
This text is a fantastic tool for writers at varied points along their journey. I keep it around as a reference text, for that is how it approaches the craft of fiction, at least in one section - it takes common fiction terminologies and defines them in such a way that the definitions simultaneously provide direct information to the uninitiated while lending inspiration to the already informed. There are exercises which are useful as well, a general treatise on the process of writing, and considerations of common snags that writers have experienced. Again, a good reference for beginners or for seasoned scribes looking for a "back to basics" type of inspiration.
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Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One & Never Lets Them Go (Edgerton)
Though I must confess that I have never read this book from cover to cover, I have personally picked up a number of good tips from it on beginnings, which, in terms of getting published, are so very damned important. Is it an essential text for everyone? Not necessarily, but if you have trouble building front-end hammers, you may find something of use here.
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Of course, there are so many texts out there that proclaim they are an essential reference for the aspiring writer, but one might be wise to carefully select the texts to which they pay heed... even these ones I've listed can be overbearing to the writer who has yet to develop a personal direction. Read lightly, in other words, and love those tips that you find that sing to your spirit.
Remember, also, that the best education comes from simply doing the thing... write, submit, share, participate. Don't forget to read books by other authors, and read broadly (get out of your "genre"), and consider what you've read, and don't feel compelled to like every novel, short story, or poem you come across.
Also, there is so much more.
