I’ve been reading a lot of writing books recently. This is both a good thing and a bad thing.
Why? you ask. Let me explain.
First the good. The good thing about reading books about the craft of writing is that I’m learning a lot. Since I’ve been reading so many lately, some things from book to book are the same, but in general, it’s been kind cool to see different author’s or editor’s opinions and ideas for good writing. They all address various things.
One I read, Creating Character Emotions by Ann Hood, is, obviously, about fresh perspectives on writing various emotions. Hood covers a ton of emotions in the book, almost anything you can think of. And most of them in unexpected ways. Reading through it made me really think about how I’m showing my character’s emotions throughout my book.
I’ve always known that showing realistic emotion is something of a struggle for me. It’s not that I’m an unemotional person. I actually have all the same emotions as pretty much everybody else in the human race. My problem is that I have spent most of my life suppressing those emotions. I worked so that people wouldn’t know when I was upset, or jealous, or sad, or even happy or excited. The Hubby always complains about how I don’t act happy or excited or surprised about anything. And I don’t, generally. Oh sure, I’ll get a little giddy, or a little silly, when I’m in a good mood. But generally, I keep my emotions very controlled.
One I read, Creating Character Emotions by Ann Hood, is, obviously, about fresh perspectives on writing various emotions. Hood covers a ton of emotions in the book, almost anything you can think of. And most of them in unexpected ways. Reading through it made me really think about how I’m showing my character’s emotions throughout my book.
I’ve always known that showing realistic emotion is something of a struggle for me. It’s not that I’m an unemotional person. I actually have all the same emotions as pretty much everybody else in the human race. My problem is that I have spent most of my life suppressing those emotions. I worked so that people wouldn’t know when I was upset, or jealous, or sad, or even happy or excited. The Hubby always complains about how I don’t act happy or excited or surprised about anything. And I don’t, generally. Oh sure, I’ll get a little giddy, or a little silly, when I’m in a good mood. But generally, I keep my emotions very controlled.
Of course, this means that I struggle with actually writing out emotions for my characters. I keep having to remind myself that they are not me. They have to get excited or mad or angry and they have to show it, somehow. Even if showing it is in a minute way. So I’ve been working on doing that and not falling into clichés. That’s where Hood’s book came in handy. It showed me new ways to think about familiar emotions. Something I am very grateful for.
Another one that I read was the Writer’s Little Helper by Jim Smith. That was an interesting read. Basically it was a bunch of little tools and ideas all put down into one book. Every couple of pages addressed something different in a writer’s craft. It was a good read, and certainly something handy to keep around, but it led to some major self doubt, and thus the bad of reading writing books.
So, I’m not a terribly confident person, especially when it comes to my writing. Don’t get me wrong. I can fake confidence in almost every other area of my life. In some areas, I actually am confident. But when it comes to my writing, I am one of the least confident, most self conscious people there is. Of course, that’s probably true of most writers. If it were I doubt there would be so many books out about writing to help writers. Part of the goals for these books has to be giving writers confidence in their writing. “If I follow all these rules, pay close attention to the conventions, and learn when to go with them or when to break away from them, who can help but love my writing?” we think (or at least I do).
But then you actually start reading those conventions, those rules, those ideals, and for me it’s almost like getting hit in the stomach with a dowel rod. (Yes, this has in fact happened to me. Ask me how I spent my childhood sometime.) I see those rules and think, “I didn’t do that,” or “Did I do that? Did I unconsciously follow this rule?” I’m overcome with the sudden need to go back to my WIP is tear it apart, shred it into the tiniest pieces, just to make sure I have followed the sage wisdom of all of these people who must know better than me. They have been published after all. They have to know what they’re talking about.
I am not saying that they don’t. Don’t think that. I am sure that they do. What I am saying though, is my natural tendency to think the worst of my writing seems to become strongest right after I read one of these books. It gets a little tiring actually. And depressing. How can I ever hope to follow all these rules? Especially because most of them seem to apply more heavily to genres that I don’t have any intention of ever writing.
So what’s a girl to do?
Keep writing and keep reading. After thinking about this for a while, I figured the best thing for me to do is to just keep writing and reading. I want to learn all that I can. I want to be the best writer and storyteller I can be. And to do that, I’ve got to keep practicing and keep reading about writing and reading the types of books I plan to write. But I also have to remember not to let the shortcomings get me down. That’s why I’m reading the books in the first place. To learn where I need to improve. And hopefully, I’ll also discover some places that I’ve actually done a few things right.
So that’s my big long spiel on my writing books.
Oh and in case you were wondering, I’m currently ready The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass. So far I really like it. It’s expand my mind, which is what I was hoping for.
I also happen to be halfway through my by-hand edits of the fifth draft of my novel. I’m really excited about how fast it’s going. I can’t wait to start the polishing again.
