I may not be a published author (yet) but I do believe that I know what it is to be a great writer and how to be one.
There are a lot of creative writing courses and programmes that one can sign up for but I personally believe ( from slim experience) that these courses try and tell you how to be creative.
Which is seriously not encouraging at all nor fulfilling. Creativity is all about being free of boundaries and pragmatics, expressing yourself, your thoughts and your worldly outlook. Why are we telling people how to be creative?
To be a writer, a good one at least you're going to have to step away from that, you're finally free. Pop a bottle of wine (preferably not around me, it doesn't taste very good) and enjoy the ride or whatnot.
I need to feel
Being a writer is about empathy. For all the lives you will never live, for all the lives you are yet to write - Charis (me)
When reading a book, while listening to someone's poems, I like to feel exactly what the character/author is feeling. Especially with fictional characters, I want to feel as if these characters aren't just made up. I want to be able to read them as if they could be real people, real people to love, to hate and everything in between. You don't necessarily have to method act to have this effect in your writing, but you'll have to understand your characters. You'll have to think of the everyday things that they would like or dislike, their beliefs, and their passions as these tiny details and big structural aspects add so much to who these characters are.
I want to feel their heart being crushed as they are rejected by the person they love, from a position that they desired. I want to feel the wave of joy that washes over them when they are spending time with the people that make them happy. The list can go on and on, personally, I am a big believer in character-driven stories even if your book is plot-driven characters are the ones living in your world, they are the ones who are a part of the plot.
I personally don't think you can have one without the other.
So please make sure that you are close to your characters.
Plan!
I mean you don't have to...
But I personally think it makes the writing process a lot easier, think about your book as writing an interesting essay. It's a lot easier to plan the essay before you write it instead of constantly having to think of a new point on the spot. In this case, a plot point, have your main message sorted and then think about the big scenes that you want to add throughout the story.
It doesn't have to be too detailed, plans always end up changing new additions and subtractions are made. That's normal, don't become too attached to the plan.
Everyone has their own idea of how to write and at the end of the day you should do what suits you! You don't need to take an expensive writing course for someone else to impose their own practices onto you.
This is just a suggestion.
Inspiration
Get inspired by other authors, everything is inspired by something else. Obviously don't copy and paste other people's work, that would be theft. But in the early planning stages it is natural for your manuscript to be barren, once you begin to build on your world and characters, your work should begin to gain its own image and individuality.
Balance
Being a great writer is all about being able to balance out all of these elements and more. I think being a writer can be very difficult as sometimes it feels as if you have several different lives, living inside of you. That's not meant to sound worrying, I promise you I don't belong in an asylum *insert awkward laugh*.
The point is you have got messy, if you get a spark then don't let it go, let it burn you up with hope, passion and inspiration. The balancing act will come with time.
I hope you enjoyed this upload, I'm really excited about this university semester. I remember starting this blog while I was still in sixth form, it's crazy to see how far things have come. Thank you to the people who have recently subscribed! I have started to come up with exclusive content just for you.
If you don't want to miss out, SUBSCRIBE it's free :)
See you next time!
Comments