7 Tricks to Write More with Less Willpower
You want to write more. Of course you do. That’s only natural. You’d like to finish that novel (or those three novels!). You’d like to write on your blog more than once a week, and do more guest posting. As you get deeper into writing, it seems like there’s always more to write.
You get an idea for a new book to write at least once a week.
You want to start a blog. You DO start a blog. Then, you get ideas to start three more!
People hear you’re a writer and ask you to write articles, newsletters, and blog posts for them.
The problem is after you get done with work or taking care of the kids, writing is the last thing you want to do. You can’t even muster the willpower to read a book, let alone write one. So you turn on the TV, put your feet up, and promise yourself, “I’ll write tomorrow.”
Eventually, you see through your petty promises and wonder, “Maybe this writing thing just isn’t for me. Maybe I’m not a writer after all.”
Three Tips to Write Like Kurt Vonnegut
Count me as one of those people who think that the unfortunately late Kurt Vonnegut is a modern reincarnation of Mark Twain. His books and short stories are littered with barbed, humorous, and wickedly honest advice about the process of writing. Perhaps my favorite piece of wisdom that he bestows is this: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.
Of course, then he goes on to use one at the end of that same book, making the point that Rules only take us so far, even good rules. Without any further ado, my three favorite rules from Kurt Vonnegut. So it goes….
Why You Should Read Peer Fiction
In my creative writing classes in college, probably the most productive exercise is when we spent the class reading each other’s pieces. Reading the work of your peers causes you to ask two very important questions:
- How can I write as well as that girl, because I really like her writing?
- How can I avoid writing like that guy, because I really don’t like his writing?
Reading the work of your peers teaches you to write. It shows you what you like about other people’s work and what you don’t like. You can read published authors too, you can read the classics, but there’s something about reading an in process draft of your peers that helps you see behind the veil of writing at the underlying framework beneath.
The Dramatic Question and Suspense in Fiction
The dramatic question is probably the single most important element in an entertaining story. Even if you are a terrible writer, if you can use the dramatic question effectively, people will read your work. The dramatic question lies at the heart of suspense, and, as my father-in-law told me recently, the rewards for writers who do suspense well are disproportionate to all other writing skills. The dramatic question is why Twilight is selling millions of copies and the average literary fiction novel is lucky to sell a few thousand.
