— Mark Paxson
Audrey Driscoll just posted to her blog about the differences between “writer brain” and “editor brain.” It prompted me to write this post, which I’ve been pondering for a couple of weeks.
Awhile back, somebody tweeted something about writers who don’t think they’re good writers. I replied that has pretty much been my constant mental battle. I’ll never consider myself a good writer.
I’m just a writer. Because I just write.
Here are some things I see other writers talk about that I don’t do, or don’t think about while I’m writing. But first, a reminder. I’m a pantser of the truest sort. I come up with an idea, typically a scene, or a situation for a character, and then start writing. Which leads to a few things.
I don’t outline. I don’t do character sketches or character interviews. I don’t have a board on my wall where I keep track of things, or what some may do in terms of a mood board. I don’t come up with playlists to listen to while I write. I do nothing to create a physical environment to write a specific story. I just write.
While I write, I don’t consciously think about character development. Or plot development. I start with the idea and go from scene to scene. I don’t think about a three act structure or that a precipitating incident must occur by a certain point in the story. (Which is actually concerning me in my current effort because I spend thousands of words getting the main character to the setting at which all of the drama will occur.). I just write.
A co-worker asked me this week to review a draft brochure she had written. She wanted me to help her identify where she could convert passive sentences to active. I had to tell her that I really don’t know the difference between the two. That concept doesn’t even register while I’m writing. To help her, I had to Google ‘active v. passive’ and learn what the difference is. Same too with show, don’t tell. I think I know this a little bit better, but it still is something that I simply don’t think about while I’m writing. I just write.
Nor do I really think of either of those things while editing. Which is another thing I don’t really do. I don’t do any developmental editing on my writing. I don’t do line editing (I’m not even sure what that is, except what it sounds like … reading a story line by painful line.) What I do is edit as I go, but it’s mostly just finding typos, fixing some word choices, and that type of thing. And also, finding inconsistencies that have to be fixed. Beyond that, however, I don’t do much. And after I type ‘The End,’ I do a read through and tweak a few things here and there and that’s it.
The local writers group I belong to is putting on a workshop in a few months. The title is Crafting Compelling Characters. Based on my approach to writing, I can’t imagine how this works. I add details about characters as I go, without any real forethought or planning. Oh, Hannah and Alexander have finally arrived at the lighthouse, 17,000 words into the story. Let’s show a little more about how they are each reacting to arriving on the rock, and let’s reveal a little more about Solomon Thrice, who will be the bad guy. But none of it is really done consciously in my mind as “character development.” It’s just a part of the story and how to get from Point A to Point B to Point C. As I said, I just write.
(Edited to add: Also, I didn’t start writing as I left the womb. Nor did I start writing as a child, a teenager, or a young adult. In fact, I hated writing for much of that time. I only started writing fiction when I was almost 40 years old. I wonder if the lack of writing at an earlier age helped or hindered me now.)
I have absolutely no doubt there are many other things good writers do that I don’t do, or think about. I’m curious … what are the things you do to try to improve your writing to achieve th level of being a good writer? What are the things you don’t do that you think could help?
Writers Supporting Writers 
An interesting post. I write completely differently to you. I always have the end and the beginning before I start. I consciously develop the characteristics I want in various characters as I go along. I have my stories developmentally edited by an experienced person I enjoy working with and I do a lot of rewriting based on her advice.
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We all approach creative efforts differently, which is as it should be.
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That’s right. What works for us is very individual 💕
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I need to have a good idea of an ending to write toward, but only plan the next scene. Some scenes write themselves and must be fitted in later. I spend a lot of time thinking about the characters before I start writing; those thoughts must shape the prose once I get to that stage.
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I write in strict order as the story unfolds but I know a lot of writers that write scenes piecemeal. I say, go with what works for you. Writing a book is hard 💛
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I write in order as well. Sometimes when I’ve got stuck, I’ve thought of writing a scene that I know will be in the story at a later point, but I rarely do that.
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It’s probably a factor of how the writers brain works. We are all different.
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You are right about that, Robbie!
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We’re very alike, in terms of not doing mood boards, plots, plans, outlines, character interviews, playlists: like you, I just write, developing an idea I’ve had. We differ at the editing end, in that I studied English grammar and know about active vs passive etc–plus I did a bit of sub-editing training, although I disagree with a lot of what goes on in that. We all do what works for us. Good luck with yours. 🙂
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Like you, when I write a first draft, I just pants my way through. Then I leave it – for ages. When I go back to it, the good bits jump out at me, and it’s a real thrill – I think, did I really write that? The bad bits jump out as well, but after leaving it for a while I can generally see what needs cutting and what needs reworking. When I’ve done that, I leave it for ages again. Then I go back, cut and rework some more. I go through this process several times over until I’m happy with it. I LOVE editing my work, it’s like sculpting a statue from a rough block of stone. I wouldn’t consider paying someone else to do something I enjoy doing so much. But that’s just me.
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I enjoy the editing and polishing stage too, Annabelle. The hard part for me is completing that first draft.
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I think that one of the reasons I edit so little after completing something is that getting to the point where I can type “The End,” takes so much time and effort, I’m completely done with the thing.
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Same here! Sometimes the first draft is like pulling teeth.
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I just don’t think I’m capable of that level of editing. I did with my first novel. Several times. But since then, not so much.
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I think you must do some of that stuff without realizing it or applying the commonly used labels to it. My theory is that those terms and the idea of story structure come from scholarly analysis of published works and from those who do a lot of editing, i.e., editors. 😃
Writers can benefit from those insights, but we don’t all work the same way.
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I do think there is something to be said for some level of natural ability to do some of these things without consciously thinking about them. Call it an instinct. But I still wonder if I’m producing less than I could by relying on my instinct.
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If you have any pieces of writing you’ve set aside, you could try having a look at them to see if you are inclined to make any changes.
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I’m far from sure that anything you don’t do is necessary to write well. As you mentioned, instinct/talent may well fill in the blanks. Candidly, I don’t do anything to be a better writer. I just keep writing and hope for the best. I have a statue of Popeye on my desk that says “I Yam What I Yam” and that’s my motto as well. Writing is an art, and art should be a personal statement, which people can then take or leave. As long as the writer is sincerely expressing their art, it is good.
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“I just keep writing and hope for the best”
That pretty much says it all.
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The important question to me is do I have the tools in my writer’s toolbox to make the story I want to make?
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I think the only way to answer that question is to do what you can and see if the result meets your expectations.
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Being well-read in the type of fiction you want to write can go a very long way toward helping you meet that goal when you don’t have formal instruction in it.
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That’s true, even though it’s possible to misinterpret and go off on tangents. Although that might be worthwhile!
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Going off on tangents has always been worthwhile for me!
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I do think that my lifetime of reading is the biggest influence on my ability as a writer.
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As it should be!
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I started writing in the first grade, but I still have many things to learn about creative writing.
I do outline, but not chapter by chapter or more detailed than this, how some do. Yes, I know who my characters are (I note the details to avoid later inconsistencies, I do character bios, but only the interesting parts. And if anything reveals later, I note it to be sure to remember.) I know where my story should end, and some intermediar points, let us say A, Z and some D, E, L, M, S in between.
I cannot understand the story structure percentage I see in many writerly advice, neither story beats and I do not save any cat. I just write too, based on cause and effect, „yes, and… but… so…”
I research a lot, because I write historical and I need to see most details. I do playlists, because they inspire me. Sometimes a song inspires me something about the story, other times about the characters.
I do not do a thousand drafts, but I read my story a thousand times and I find every time something little to change or to improve. It is not a radical change, though, therefore not a new draft: inconsistencies, repetition of words, wrong word choices which need improved.
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” I just write too, based on cause and effect, „yes, and… but… so…”
This.
And also your final paragraph pretty much describes me as well. A first draft that has been tweaked as I’ve written it and then very little editing after.
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I think I would find something to change every time I read my work. My final draft is when I can read it through and only change a word here and there. That’s when I say “Good enough” and publish it. Good enough might not be the highest standard one should shoot for, but perfection is subjective and your readers are never going to agree upon it anyway, so good enough it is.
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Same here.
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I think there’s a lot of advice out there for people who want to write, and want to write well. I think we can spend a lot of time reading that advice. I also think we will naturally learn most of these things over time if we just do that first thing, which is write. Practice practice practice.
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