1. How long did it take you to develop your voice and style? And how can I as a writer develop mine? 2. Also, do you plan your book ahead of time using a certain story structure, or do you just set your fingers in gear and just fly?
Dear Jonathan: It took me many years, and much writing, to develop a personal style. Oddly, one of the best ways to do it is to deliberately imitate another author's style--many other authors, actually, one after the other. By paying such close attention to an author's style, and trying to duplicate it, one learns a great deal about style in general, and begins to evolve one's own.
I plot my books out in advance, first writing a short outline, then a long outline, and then breaking the book down scene by scene. However, this is more of a suggestion than a map: when the story takes off in a direction I haven't predicted, I follow it to find out where it's going.
Every writer writes differently, and the tricks and methods that work for one may not work for the next. The best thing for a beginning writer to do is try them all, and not be afraid to toss the ones that don't work for them, no matter how famous and how respected the writer is who swears by them.
Thanks for the advice. I have done some of that and have found that my writing is better for it; but it is always good to be reminded, and it is good to know that other authors have used the same techniques to improve their craft.
Dear Jonathan: You are quite welcome! My esteemed co-author says there are only two rules for becoming a writer: 1. Sit down. 2. Start writing. But of course we all want, not merely to write, but to be writers that others wish to read (and are not all blessed with innate talent!) And so I go on collecting possibly-useful techniques.
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merlinscribe) wrote2016-05-01 10:41 pm
Writing Craft
(Anonymous) 2016-05-05 02:09 am (UTC)(link)1. How long did it take you to develop your voice and style? And how can I as a writer develop mine?
2. Also, do you plan your book ahead of time using a certain story structure, or do you just set your fingers in gear and just fly?
Jonathan
Re: Writing Craft
I plot my books out in advance, first writing a short outline, then a long outline, and then breaking the book down scene by scene. However, this is more of a suggestion than a map: when the story takes off in a direction I haven't predicted, I follow it to find out where it's going.
Every writer writes differently, and the tricks and methods that work for one may not work for the next. The best thing for a beginning writer to do is try them all, and not be afraid to toss the ones that don't work for them, no matter how famous and how respected the writer is who swears by them.
Re: Writing Craft
(Anonymous) 2016-05-08 02:44 am (UTC)(link)Thanks for the response!
Jonathan
Re: Writing Craft
Best of luck to you!