I’m a huge fan of your work. I write casually, mostly for myself.
Can I ask - How did you develop the ability to write so well? Have you been formally educated in creative writing? I look up to people like you and your work, I worry I will never be able to create anything as beautiful.
Trying to teach myself is extremely difficult so would appreciate any tips you can throw my way 🥹
Hello anon! Thank you for your kind words!
No, I don’t have any sort of degree in writing. I do hold a Master’s in Fine Art (glass sculpture), which did involve a fair amount of writing (the dreaded artist statement, endless applications, etc), but nothing like writing fiction.
My writing used to suck. I say this not as a way to try and sound humble or something equally obnoxious, but because it’s true. And I don’t just mean my writing when I was a tween, which was when I first started posting fanfiction for fun, I mean when I came back to it a decade later. My first fic was baaaaaad. So was the second. And the third. Did I think that at the time? No! But that’s as it should be. I was having fun writing ridiculous stories for an audience of perhaps 5 people, and it was great.
I think fanfiction writing has turned into something where there is now an insane amount of pressure to only post something if it’s good. Please don’t fall into that trap. For one, what’s ‘good’ is completely subjective. Whatever you post is going to be the perfect read for someone. For another, writing flawed stories is a part of the process! Don’t overthink it and just write. Easier said than done, I know, but really. You should be writing fanfiction for the fun of the game, not because you feel the need to create something perfect or even complete for that matter.
As for practical advice other than ‘write a lot’ and ‘read a lot’, I have two things I hope will actually be helpful. One is to - when possible and practical, of course - experience to some degree the things you want to write about most submersibly. Choose settings you’ve been to when you can. Let people you’ve come across in real life inspire your characters. Before you launch into describing something important, really look at the thing first. This is clearly not applicable to many things, but my point is to get as close to the real deal whenever you can, if you can, and it will make writing about whatever that Thing is much easier and better.
The other tidbit of advice I can offer actually comes from my old painting professor, so full credit to Gary for this one. He always said, and I’m paraphrasing here, ‘Make your marks like you’re the most talented, wondrous painter the world has ever seen. Then, when you’ve set your brush down and stepped away to look at your work, critique your marks like you’re the meanest, most judgmental critic in the art world.’ I think this applies to all art forms. Write like you’re the best writer in the world that everyone loves, edit like you’re the worst critic that everyone hates. Or, my very shorthand version: write on wine, edit on coffee.
I hope something in that rambling word vomit was helpful. Oh, one last bit that I’m sure you already know but is nonetheless worth saying over and over again: don’t compare your work to others. I KNOW we all do this despite knowing it will just make us feel like crying our way into a dumpster before closing the lid on it while inside and lighting the entire thing on fire, but whenever you catch yourself doing it, just remind yourself that it’s dumb. Again, art is subjective. You’ll always bring something different to the table, and that something different is going to be exactly what some readers have been searching for.
