First of all, a disclaimer: I don’t claim to be an expert on the creative writing process. Yes, I’ve had screenplays optioned, books published, magazine articles printed, and all that jazz, but I still consider myself very much a beginner, with a whole lot to learn.
That said, I’ve been wracking my brains since starting this blog, trying to come up with useful writing advice to share. Now, many other writing bloggers – not least of all me old mucker, Tommy - already give advice, and by and large they’re a lot better at it than me.
Rather than just repeat any of the great advice which is already out there, I’m going to give you some writing tips I doubt you’ll find anywhere else. Every one of these mini-lessons will cover something which I think has helped contribute to my past and current writing successes. If you get something useful from any of them, then that’s great. If you think I’m an idiot and my tips are worthless, then that’s okay too. I won’t mind, really.
Anyway, let’s get on with it.
Barry’s Writing Lesson #1: Do a Bungee Jump
Wait, don’t stop reading yet! This is a serious tip, and possibly the single most important piece of advice I’ll give you (which gives you some idea of the standard of the lessons still to come).
Good stories involve conflict, right? I’m telling you nothing new, you’ve heard that a hundred times. The series I’m writing for HarperCollins – INVISIBLE FIENDS – is of the horror genre. In horror stories, people get scared. Really scared. Scared almost to death, in fact.
How do you describe that fear? Do you say “Oooh, they were dead scared”? Or do you talk about the feeling of nausea which grips your protagonist’s stomach? The crashing roar of their own heart, beating in their ears? The headspinning, blood-chilling, sensations of terror which almost overwhelm them as they struggle to face their worst fears?
I know which I’d find more interesting to read.
And how do you get a real, honest insight into that terror? How do you experience it so vividly that you can accurately recreate it on the page? You bungee jump. Or you sing karaoke. Or you let a spider crawl up your arm. You pick something which frightens you, and you do it. Just don’t forget to make a mental note of everything you feel while you are, or you’ll have terrified yourself for nothing!
This doesn’t just apply to horror, either. Jeopardy of some kind or another plays a major part in most stories, so whether your protagonist is scared of leaping out of a plane, asking a girl out on a date, or opening their school exam results, go live out your own fear and you’ll do a much better job of writing about theirs.
Check back soon for Barry’s Writing Lesson #2: Use Public Transport
Despite Baz’s self-effacing intro, this is very good advice indeed. Your readers must empathise with your characters, and your main protagonist in particular. How can you expect them to keep turning the page if they don’t care about what the characters are going through?
Now, unless you can reach back into your memory and pluck out a moment that gave you those same feelings, you can’t accurately describe them. You don’t have to experience the same situation as your characters, but feelings like fear are universal enough to transplant them just about anywhere. The hero in my new books is a werewolf and, while I’ve never stretched and ripped into a snarling, howling monster, I have been in painful situations and even broken bones. I can use that memory to describe how much the transformation hurts my character.
Right, I’ll stop now before this comment becomes longer than the original post. Just remember, dear fellow blog visitor – Barry’s words are wise. You would do well to heed them.
Tommy
Any advice for turning a first draft (all 55,000 words or so) into a publishable second / final manuscript ? That’s the part that’s had ME stumped since the start of this year (and had me turning making short films, writing music, scoring other people’s short films – anything to avoid the start of the re-writing basically) !
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