There are some common misconceptions about
writing. As I beginning writer I often clung to the ideas I had heard
popularized in order to make myself feel more like a professional. Perhaps you
do that too, maybe without even realizing it. Because these myths threaten to
ruin the joy of writing, allow me to debunk of few of them.
Myth
#1: You should not listen to music when you are writing.
Some really fabulous authors cannot listen to
anything when they write. These people often like empty rooms and forbid
interruptions. They may even wear earplugs. If that is you, then cling to this
standard! However, if you are the type who likes to write at the local coffee
shop or who finds yourself dreaming up plotlines when you are hanging out with
friends, it is unlikely that you actually have problems listening to music. In
fact, music may inspire you.
Personally, a coffee shop teeming with life and
some good music have the potential to spur creativity to life on a day when it
otherwise would have seemed dead. I tend to listen to music I know by heart or
wordless albums. I encounter times when I need a still house and some rainfall
by which to fine-tune a section of my book. Usually, however, I find myself
around people, checking Facebook in between paragraphs, and listening to music
while I write. I engage with life in order to keep life in my writing. Do not
be afraid to do the same types of things. There is no one correct way to write.
Myth
#2: There is shame in online research.
A lot of people—usually non-authors—will tell
you that to use Google or Wikipedia as the primary source of research for your
novel is cheating. Excuse me, people who say this, exactly where did you do
your research for college and/or high school papers? Did you go to Paris when you
had to write a one page paper on the French Revolution? Or did the library and
the Internet serve as valid means of research?
Here is the grain of truth in the lie: hands on
research is always better. When describing how it feels to ride a horse you
will be better served by experience than research, but in a one paragraph
description of a city or an event in history, Wikipedia is your best friend. It
offers concise, useful information that can be gleaned in a moment instead of
in weeks of travel and thousands of dollars of expense. It is a flawed notion
to believe that all Internet research is inherently weak. Do what hands on
research you can. It broadens your perspective on life. Yet also do as much
Internet research as you can.
Myth
#3: The key to good writing is good
reading.
This would be the truth if it were phrased, “A key to good writing is good reading,”
for reading is absolutely essential to the writer. Let it also be noted that it
is not enough to have read books. You
need to be reading books. At times when life gets busy and I have exhausted my literature
budget I ignore this principle. Without fail, my creativity stifles and my
writing skill decreases. Always read.
So where does the myth come in? Being a reader
does not—sadly—make you writer. Some raw talent, good habits, and a whole lot
of practice make you a writer. The good habits include—but are not limited to—1)
plenty of reading, 2) consistent writing in a variety of genres, and 3)
allowing feedback of your writing.
Myth
#4: You have to make a living to be a real author.
This is a terrible standard to try to live up
to. Like a curse it slowly pecks away at creativity, inspiration, confidence, and
originality as the writer desperately tries to find a way to make a living off
the craft they used to love. There is no surer way to make joy perish than to
demand an income off a career that should, by all rights, take years and years
to build. My friends, money is not the obvious reaction to good writing. Most
authors are not famous until long after they are dead. If our only hope was
money this would be very depressing, but—instead—we should love writing enough
to do it even without an income. If money comes, hurray! If it does not, we are
still real authors, with valid things to say and real talent with which to say
them. Set your sights not on dollar signs but on increasing your skill in order
to impact the world around you. That is what makes you a real author.
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