Here are some of my answers to written questions from students this past week….
(Yes, as always--just the answers—no questions).
(Yes, as always--just the answers—no questions).
- This is one of those things in writing you have to discover for yourself—what works for you, and what doesn't.
- And what works for you now might not work later, as your life goes through different stages....
- Time works best for me, since I have so little of it.
- Some days are better than other days. There are days when your brain is dialed in and the words come almost effortlessly.
- Characters need to earn the happy ending.
- (Of course, what a happy ending consists of is highly subjective. What's "happy" for one reader might come off as "prison" for another!)
- Life gets in the way of art, sometimes.
- Keep trying different things until you find what's right for you.
- I'd recommend reading good, critical biographies of writers you like. You can safely cancel them if they turn out to be jerks.
- Maybe see yourself as the true role model.
- The real problem is in life trajectories….
- Everyone has to deal with the internal editor. But—the internal editor is always wrong!
- It's possible to accept that your first draft is terrible and keep moving on, because the real work comes through in revision. So just keep moving forward.
- Remember, ALL TEXTS ARE FLAWED.
- I'm not so sure I have a passion for writing—rather, maybe, I have a passion for understanding the world I live in, and storytelling is how I accomplish the understanding...sort of.....
- My first memory of thinking about writing was in Fall 1969, reading Tolkien where they’re going up into the Misty Mountains and thinking "I could never write something like this." (Still true, btw).
- Advice to me in the past: find a way to get over/around shyness and depression.
- It's a weasel word, like all other weasel words.
- Is it a problem?
- I missed four days in June and three days in February. Other than that, I've written every day this year. But I'm in a different place in my life than you are.
- You're young—you have time to meander.
- It's good to write every day but you shouldn't feel pressure.
- (Always good, btw, to keep a writing log. I have a simple excel spreadsheet to keep track of words written per day on various projects).
- Long works are always intimidating! Every day I think--omg how will I write 100,000 words!
- But you know what? A page a day is a book a year.
- Slow and steady really does win the race, without burnout.
- Telling a story visually and verbally are different things.
- I don't know if it's better or worse, but it's something you can do.
- I think 1st person/past is easiest, because it sort of mirrors how we (or most people) think.
- But 3rd certainly has value. 2nd is mostly writers showing off*, but it can be fun....
- *this is a joke, in case you're writing 2nd person stories! Really, go be your 2nd person self!
- Just the usual imagery, language, and genius!
- But poems rely on a more intense language
- I don't know how page numbers/story titles/author names can get left off a submission, but they do get left off—a lot. Sad!
- A voice that sounds like a person talking.
- Anything done well is fine by me!
- I once answered this question by saying that prose writers think straight ahead, while poets think sideways.
- That doesn't help much, does it?
- Poetry generally has more emotion in it because there are fewer places to hide. That can be scary!
- You should be as specific as possible.
- It's just empty words.
- You make a statement—then take the statement another step.
- This...I do not know.
- Read the stories we've looked at so far this semester.
- Listen to yourself talk—listen for the punctuation in your words. It's there. Listen for the pauses.
- Everyone has a different rhythm. Your characters should probably have different rhythms, too.
- It's not that hard. Like everything else it will come with practice.
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