Just your annual reminder that youāre awesome and I love your work! Also Iāve been wondering how you learned how to write, are you self taught? Itās always kind of been a dream of mine to one day write a book but I donāt really know where to start. Iāve been watching YouTube videos about story structure to start out. I just really like your style and would love to hear any tips ā¤ļø
Hey again! I love getting these <3 Thank you! I learned to write by reading mostly. I was an avid reader as a child and teenager. I read anything I could get my hands on. I snuck and read things on my parents bookshelf. When we were given those reading textbooks in school, I would read the entire thing back to front just for fun. Around 9 or 10, I started carrying notebooks around and writing little stories or scenes. I started several manuscripts and then I discovered fanfic and went crazy. Haha. So I guess I'm self taught. I took a few classes later on, but I think the main thing was all that reading and practice growing up.
My best advice is to read a lot if you don't already. Not just fic--published books too. Especially published books if you're looking to improve because they've been ruthlessly edited. They'll help you to get an idea of how to keep the narrative tight and how to properly structure a narrative. Fanfics are great, but because they are often done on the fly and don't get more than 1 or 2 once overs editing wise, they tend to meander a lot-- sometimes collapsing in the middle. So read published books for a better idea of how to structure a story.
When you read, read purposefully. Maybe highlight and jot down things that you like, things you don't like and why. Try to vary your reading with genres and different styles- old and new.
And have fun when you write. One thing that I notice is that, if you are not having fun or engrossed in your writing, chances are, your reader is feeling the same. If a scene feels like forcing tape from a janky dispenser, you probably need to go back a few paragraphs and change your approach. Whether that means adjusting the setting, adding more conflict, summarizing instead of showing (show and not tell does not always apply), or even cutting something that doesn't serve the story.
As for resources that have helped, I really liked 'Save the Cat! Writes a Novel' by Blake Snyder for structure. As for youtube channels, I watch a few, but off the top of my head, I like Bookfox and Abbie Emmons. They have some helpful advice and I like that Abbie Emmons often goes over example edits from queries she receives.
Don't get stuck in the writing advice hole though. You'll be there forever. It's a sneaky form of procrastination. You really just want to write. Practice. Practice. Practice. It's okay if some of it sucks. I write crappy first (and sometimes second) drafts all the time, but I need that foundation to build something better.
Oh and last tip: DO NOT WRITE AND EDIT AT THE SAME TIME. That has been one of the biggest things for me and took me a long time to learn. I believe writing and editing take two separate states of mind. They don't belong together and it's the easiest way to get stuck.
So you can outline, sure, but when you sit down to write your first draft, just get the words out. Don't worry about researching too much. Don't go back to edit. Leave notes in the brackets for that. Then, during a completely separate session at a later time, put your editing cap on. Go back in and reread/take care of all the research/placeholders in the brackets. It makes life a lot easier.
Anyway, I hope this helped! If you want to share, I'd be happy to take a look at your work too :)
