A Writer's Love

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Fear. It can stop us dead in our tracks, make us sweat and cause questions about our abilities to rise and defeat us. There’s a terror that stalks little writers, stopping them in their tracks. Their little fingers freeze on the keyboard and the questions rise up from the desks like the zombies from Dawn of the Dead. It’s the dread that the reader will not understand what the character is doing or why. Stephen King talks about this deadly menace in his book ON WRITING. He states:

I’ve been pretty good about avoiding the passive tense, but I’ve spilled out my share of adverbs in my time, including some (it shames me to say it) dialogue attribution. . . . when I do it, it’s usually for the same reason any writer does it; because I am afraid the reader won’t understand me if I don’t. I’m convinced that fear is the root of all bad writing. . . . If, however, one is working under deadline . . .that fear may be intense. Dumbo got airborne with the help of a magic feather; you may feel the urge to grasp a passive verb or one of those nasty adverbs for the same reason. Just remember before you do that Dumbo didn’t need the feather; the magic was in him. Page 127.

I’ve experienced fear in my own writing world. What if the reader can’t ‘see’ what the character is doing? What if the reader gets lost, or worse, what if he or she thinks I’m a bad writer? The demon sits our shoulder, saying, you’re so stupid, you’re so dumb. It happens to every writer across the board. What if the reader just doesn’t ‘get it?’


So let’s face this fear and take it apart. What if your beta reader cocks her head and says, I don’t get it. Why is he doing this? Our first instinct is to explain. Well, this is what he’s doing, blah, blah, blah. She nods her head and says, ok. Then she moves on. That’s when that little demon climbs up on your shoulder and says, you’re so stupid, you’re so dumb. You can’t write. You’re a failure. Then he follows with a solution. Be clearer next time, in fact, be so blasted clear that you can see your own reflection. So instead of trying to show the scene or weave the information into the scene, the poor little writer resorts to telling and narration. There! Is that clear enough for ya? The paralyzing panic of “I can never be like Stephen King or James Patterson” strangles the little writer, holding him hostage. Stephen King says this fear is what causes bad writing. The paranoia that if I try to explore my writing world or if I try something different, the reader won’t get it, I’ll look stupid which equates to failure. A bad writer. Step away from the keyboard, cowboy.


But are you really a failure? Or are you just frightened of the unknown? That vast land known as writing? Or is it as simple as a lack of knowledge? Writing is an art form like painting, playing an instrument, sculpting, etc. The more you know about how writing works and how to manipulate the words, the more you get to ‘play’, the more you get to explore, the better you will write and a better ‘world’ you’ll create. That’s where the learning comes in. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with taking writing classes, examining novels, asking questions, or studying ‘how-to-write’ books. Writers from before the time of Plato studied writing techniques and each others’ works and never once did the Muse walk away and never has a writer lost her writing ‘creativity’ by studying. That’s a lie from the pits of hell. If studying writing techniques stifled our creativity, then professional writers wouldn’t have classes and conventions would shut down. Publishers would flinch at writing books and encourage their clients to run from them. Writing books and classes would cease to exist.


So how do we get past the fear? By practice and studying. Take your favorite novel apart, grab a highlighting pen and highlight the showing, the telling, the dialogue, etc. Compare what the professional writer did as oppose to what you are doing. Notice the Prof writer doesn’t say,

Harry worked at the factory for the last thirty years. He hated the long hours and the smell. It was hot and sticky in the factory. His grandfather worked in the factory for all of his life as did his father. Now it was expected for him to work there also. He looked at his future with dread.

UGH!! Make my eye balls bleed. If that isn’t crystal clear, then I don’t what is. Instead, weave the above info into the story through scenes, dialogue, showing, etc. so that the reader ‘sees’ that Harry has worked there for thirty years and that he hates it. Use this info as thread and create a tapestry instead of a danger to eyes.


Instead of telling the reader that Bridget is a snob, use syntax (the way a person speaks) to show her character. Have you ever read a book and you could tell from the character’s speech, thoughts, actions and inner dialogue that she was either a snob, a pushover, misguided, etc.? Have you ever read the book THE BOOK OF RUTH by Jane Hamilton? Jane never once says, Ruth is misguided by the lack of love she received from her mom and her father left years ago, making her a lost girl. This destroyed a part of Ruth, making her long for love from anyone, even a drug induced loser. No, instead Jane weaves the information into the story, creating a sick warped character that makes the reader want to reach out and rescue her. And instead of telling the reader Ruth had a limited education, the reader picks this up through Ruth’s speech patterns. No long words, just very simple depressing language called syntax.


I recently read James Patterson’s KISS THE GIRLS and was amazed at how he changed POV from one chapter to the next. But it wasn’t just from the character to another, it was from third person limited, to third person omniscient, to first person, to narrator. He jumped like a frog from one patty to the next yet it was as smooth as ice. Some writers shudder, thinking I can’t do that. Really?? You can’t? Why not? Because it’s scary?? Different? Not what you’re used to doing? Sometimes as writers we have to do scary things that seem over our heads. It’s sort of like riding a bike. It seems terrifying at first, but once you learn it, it becomes ‘natural’. It’s the same with writing. Don’t be your own worst enemy. Weaving the information about your character into the story through showing, scenes, dialogue, inner dialogue, syntax, inner struggles, etc. can become natural and easy. It’s just a matter of seeing how the pros did it, then copy and adapt to your style. There really isn’t anything ‘new’ in the writing world, just the same techniques copied and adapted over and over again. It isn’t impossible to learn and yes, I’m of the camp that believes a writer can learn to write well. It takes practice, confidence, lots of learning/reading and experimenting. So next time you stare at the screen and the demon sits on your shoulder telling you how stupid you are, just flick him off and experiment. You might be surprised at what you are capable of doing.


And please remember, FEAR is nothing more than False Reality Appearing Real.


Here’s an added bonus: Homework. Yeah, I know, I’m mean. Take this paragraph:

Harry worked at the factory for the last thirty years. He hated the long hours and the smell. It was hot and sticky in the factory. His grandfather worked in the factory for all of his life as did his father. Now it was expected for him to work there also. He looked at his future with dread.

Now push your fear aside and write a 1500 word or less short story showing how Harry hates his job at the factory, without using any of the above sentences. Use all your writing ‘tools’ and see what you can do. Flush the fear now the toilet, wave good-bye to it and see what you can do. IF you want to post it, you can. If not, that’s ok also.