The softer side of how to write

Sometimes all the rules just get in the way

The Snarky Editor comes out to play when she discovers egregious and often hilarious errors in published books. But The Snarky Editor has a softer and more helpful side as well, the side that’s known as Leigh Michaels.

Pretty much every writer has an entire shelf full of books about How to Write. Books full of suggestions and methods and even rules about how to put words on the page. How to create a story.

Three act structure. Turning points. Hero’s journey. Write scenes and then string them together. Write from page one straight to the end. Outline. Use a timeline. Write a full synopsis.

And so on. There’s a lot of advice out there, and much of it conflicts with the other advice that’s out there.

The truth is, W. Somerset Maughm was right when he said, “There are three rules for writing a successful novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”

Some methods work for some authors. Other methods work for other authors. Sometimes one method works for a while, and then the author needs to take a different approach. (This happens in other fields, too. There’s a reason why major league baseball teams keep batting coaches on staff.)

But let’s get to the point of this discussion. All the talk about HOW to write a book can have a chilling effect on actually ... you know ... writing the book. So keep in mind a couple of things:

1. The most important goal is to get the words on the page. Just write the story -- however it comes out of you. You can always make the story better later, but you can't edit a blank page.

2. The words will need to be improved later. It's a rare author — and almost never a new author — who can produce a story in the first pass that's truly ready for readers.

We don't expect to play a concerto the first time we pick up a violin. We don't expect to win a tournament the first time we hold a tennis racquet. We don't expect to achieve perfect form on all the yoga positions the first time we take a class.

And yet we have this thing inside us that says, I’ve written it once and that should be enough.

Getting past that — being willing to step back, take another hard look, and revise — is one of the main ways that successful authors are different from people who want to write.

What do you think? Share your thoughts, your experience, your examples, your questions. Is there a topic you’d like to see addressed?

The Snarky Editor’s Softer Side is represented weekly by author / editor / teacher / writing coach Leigh Michaels, commenting on random topics of interest to writers and readers. Leigh is the award-winning author of more than 100 books. (The Snarky Editor herself mainly comes out to play when she discovers egregious and often hilarious errors in published books.)

To find out more, check out https://leighmichaels.com

#snarkyeditor #everybodyneedsaneditor #writingtips