Myths About Writing
Jul 2, 2023 19:38:07 GMT -6
Post by Sundrinker on Jul 2, 2023 19:38:07 GMT -6
What are some myths, false ideas, etc, you had about writing? Basically anything you learned from your experience that shed some light on your process. It could be about any step of the process, from inception to publishing.
I used to think that writing was boring. Or rather, I thought it was supposed to be boring. My attempt at the Noir contest last year was my first attempt at anything serious. When I gave it my first shot, I hated what came out and got discouraged. (The length was another issue, but anyway.) I dropped out of the contest with some lame excuse.
As I read the entries, I was surprised that, well, I was enjoying them. I only ever read manga for entertainment. Focusing on reading just one page of a novel was too much for my ADHD brain.
One part that really struck me was in FoxxGlove's entry.
I thought: "Wow, that's actually fun." It was not some solemn, formal-sounding sentence that I thought good writing was supposed to be. It then dawned on me that writing and reading aren't boring. It was just all those crappy novels I had to read over the years in school that made me hate literature. I further realized that the reason I hated my story was that subconsciously I was recreating all those books I hated.
I started my story from scratch. That time I was decided on writing something I would enjoy reading. I ended up with what is now Brie Noir and I'm quite satisfied with the result.
So, what about you guys? What false ideas you had that turned out to be untrue?
I used to think that writing was boring. Or rather, I thought it was supposed to be boring. My attempt at the Noir contest last year was my first attempt at anything serious. When I gave it my first shot, I hated what came out and got discouraged. (The length was another issue, but anyway.) I dropped out of the contest with some lame excuse.
As I read the entries, I was surprised that, well, I was enjoying them. I only ever read manga for entertainment. Focusing on reading just one page of a novel was too much for my ADHD brain.
One part that really struck me was in FoxxGlove's entry.
...tip-tap-tapping typewriter keys...
I thought: "Wow, that's actually fun." It was not some solemn, formal-sounding sentence that I thought good writing was supposed to be. It then dawned on me that writing and reading aren't boring. It was just all those crappy novels I had to read over the years in school that made me hate literature. I further realized that the reason I hated my story was that subconsciously I was recreating all those books I hated.
I started my story from scratch. That time I was decided on writing something I would enjoy reading. I ended up with what is now Brie Noir and I'm quite satisfied with the result.
So, what about you guys? What false ideas you had that turned out to be untrue?
Listen to your brain, rest when it demands rest, refuel by reading, do some physical activity that feeds blood and oxygen to that tired imagination. 
Much better is the advice, "Write what you WANT to know," then go out and learn about it. I mean, if we stuck to writing what we know, there would be zero stories about dragons, about magic, about alien species, etc. We KNOW (hopefully) internal human experience, growth, collapse, suffering, triumph, love. We write about those things because they are ingrained in us. But how dull if those human experiences only ever took place in a flat or a coffee shop or a vehicle stuck in rush hour traffic. We read because we want the extraordinary to help us escape all that mundane daily crap we know too much about. Blech. 
You add them to your profile as you do them around the forum.
