What I'm Listening To: 21st Century Breakdown-Green Day
I came across a writer that I think is fabulous and I really want my website to be as cool as hers. Plus, she's a veteran of the profession that I want to get into (journalism). Her name is Alexis Grant. In one of her most recent blog posts, she mentioned that she had just read Stephen King's memoir on writing. I should definitely plan to read it. I'm going to mention a few things that she said she learned about the craft from King because I think that it will be useful to everyone, whether you write horror, thriller, or not.
~ When you start writing, it’s okay not to know how the book will read when you finish. Start with an idea — a situation, King calls it — and uncover the story like a fossil. Symbolism in particular should not be plotted; if something is meant to be symbolic, he says, you’ll notice when you revise and polish till it shines.
“Once your basic story is on paper,” he writes, “you need to think about what it means and enrich your following drafts with your conclusions.”
While he’s talking primarily about fiction, this advice also can apply to nonfiction. Ideas, themes and realizations can become clearer through the writing process.
~ Think about your story as a What If? What if a girl was running away from home but then encountered mobsters on a subway? What would happen?
~ 2nd draft = 1st draft – 10 percent. The revision process is brutal. In revising Nostalgia, I have found that I've had to cut even more than 10%.
~ It can’t hurt to hear certain advice a second, third, fourth time. Don’t use adverbs. To write well, read a lot. Write every day. Description is a matter of how-to and how-much-to; don’t overdo it. King’s explanations of why these rules apply, as well as his specific examples, were helpful.
Here are some excerpts of the book.
Really good advice from Alexis Grant. I still haven't gotten around to doing the final run through of Nostalgia because I'm doing some final prepwork on my website instead. Also, I tried to take at least some downtime so that I wouldn't go completely crazy.
Lastly, agents Janet Reid and Holly Root were having a hilarious banter ever over their twitter accounts the other day. It's nice to see agents joke around with each other. It was also funny when Janet was twittering about the ridiculous queries she was getting and how she was trying to relax a little bit over Christmas. Good Janet, you deserve it. I'm always so thankful for the advice that they give.
