Writing Advice

“Did you really write this?” my teacher said. He held my story in his hand, pinning it from the bottom with his finger and thumb. I nod. “I swear.” “I hope you’re not lying and someone else wrote it for you,” he says as he hands it to me. I grab it and see the grade on the top of the paper, a 100% followed by a comment, literally the words he just said. *** This is probably a weird story to bring up because it’s a back-handed compliment, but the comment meant a lot to me. Why? Because it wasn’t blind praise, which I think it’s extremely dangerous. Throughout my life, some of the people close to me praised me a lot, especially when it came to my writing. They’d say things like, “you’re talented” or “your work is the best thing I’ve ever read.” It makes sense to […]

Blind Praise

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The writer, a rare and unusual creature, sits at their desk. They stare at a blank page, the tip of their thumb on their lips. They’re ready to write, but something’s wrong. It’s as if the idea well, that magical place where stories come from, has dried. The void on the computer pulses a blinding white, sending the writer into a catatonic state. A few minutes later, the writer collapses and passes out on the floor from despair. In some cases, the writers will sing along to “The Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel (I like the Disturbed cover though). So, that dumb thing aside, I want to bring up the quote I used the other day and I’m going to twist it positively this time around. “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work” – Stephen King (I’m going […]

The Writing Ritual

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If I had to choose one of my favorite parts of writing, I would pick revision. No, I’m not being sarcastic. It that may sound surprising since writers usually hate revision, but it really is my favorite part of the process. And, I think, the main reason is because I separate revision from editing, which I think is essential in the process. Take any writing course and you’ll hear it: revision is not editing, and editing is not revision. And I really do mean any writing course. They say it in freshman composition courses in college, and they say it in graduate creative writing courses. The main idea is simple. Editing is fixing grammar and style, pretty much anything that does not change the story. That’s why you can pay people to edit work. They won’t actually change the story. At least, a good editor will not change the story. […]

The Writing Process – Revision

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