The Art and Craft of Writing

February 15, 2015

Three ways to learn to write:

As all good authors will tell you there is no such thing as the right way to write fiction. There are rules that you are supposed to follow in order to convey your story in the best possible manner to your reader. The art cannot be learnt but the craft can. For example, no one can teach you to write a novel. A story is original and must come out of the author’s head. This is a combination of art, imagination and talent. But one can be shown the rules of writing, the craft.

Creative Writing Courses:

When I first started writing, I believed that creative writing cannot be taught. Therefore I shied away from writing courses and how-to books. I learnt much later that although I had bags of imagination, the craft failed me. I had a good story but I didn’t know the rules. Breaking too many rules can cause your beautiful story to crumble.

So, faced with a blank page and a blank screen but a heart filled with desire to write, most wanna-be writers do the sensible thing and go on a writing course.

The added bonus is you will come away with a network of like-minded people who will sustain you through years of writing your dream novel, coping with writer’s block, rejections and sharing the highs and lows of getting positive feedback or success in competitions.

So if you are unsure of where to start, then take a writing course (there are excellent ones online or go to your local college). An MA in Creative Writing is a prestigious qualification to have as it requires some writing experience and a degree of talent. Some agents will only consider an author with a creative writing qualification. There are shorter and cheaper courses. A good place to start is with the Arvon foundation in UK. They offer intensive one week courses where workshops are led by published authors.

But fear not, if your story is good enough, it will speak for itself. If they don’t like the story, a qualification isn’t going to swing it.

Read other authors:

The route I took to learning my craft is to read. I had been a passionate reader for as long as I can remember. I devoured Enid Blyton books as a child. At the age of fourteen I was given a copy of The Outsider by Albert Camus. This book changed my life. Almost overnight, I made the enormous leap from children’s literature to adult books dealing with existentialism, a concept I vaguely understood. The protagonist, a person who did not show remorse for a murder and was therefore subjected to the death penalty, fascinated me. Could a hero in a story be guilty of cold blooded murder? Over the years my opinion on the subject has changed from understanding the ‘outsider’ to condemning him for his actions.

But most importantly I was to have my first lesson in writing. Learning from other authors is invaluable to a writer. Before I started my writing journey I mostly read the works of dead authors. So I had to make a conscious decision to read contemporary authors and this was easy as works of Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, Jhumpa Lahiri, Annie Proulx, Ian McEwan and many others fell into my hands. Joining a book group is a wonderful way to read and share. It’s like a large foccacio stuffed with olives and cheese that you can tear and share with other readers.

It is important to know your market. What is popular? What is selling?

Above all, good writing should inspire you and make you feel ‘I want to write like that.’

Read books on Writing:

The third way is to read books on writing. The more you read, the better informed you will be of what agents and publishers are looking for. Most of these books are written by people who have done that journey and have realised their dreams through hard work, determination and courage to continue despite rejections.

Follow all three methods if you like. Success comes to those who are prepared to work hard. The market is tough and if you don’t land yourself an agent self-publishing is a viable option.