To me writing advice is a whole world of possibilities. Either it works or it does not. I read a lot and I write a lot. That way I learn to write better. But the best advice, which I prefer, is for the reader to decide.
Vocabulary and grammar should be tools to sharpen and enhance whenever possible. And the most important part of it, to actually sit down and do the writing, in an absolute necessity. I know I need to be extra careful, since I´m writing in a language different from my native language.
So I try to sit between four and six hours a day to write, rewrite and make notes. I´m now able to write between 1,000 and 2.500 words a day. On top of that, I also study the art of writing and witchcraft, and I have therefore a somewhat busy schedule, but I believe it is healthy to have something to do, when you are early retired.
At the moment, I´m trying to establish a more disciplined way of writing with more structure and writing exercises to try out some of the advice that I find useful.
Useful advice to me is clearly stated sentences about certain techniques like dialogue in a novel, the concept of stream of consciousness and how to outline your work, whether that would be the dream novel or a blog post like this.
Recently I bought Stephen King´s On Writing, and I will definitely recommend it to others. It is an interesting view into a writer´s mind, and it is filled with good advice and creative methods to enhance your writing skills.
This month I´m reading “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee and “A Farewell to Arms” by Ernest Hemingway. They were two very different writers, but it is also two books impossible to put away. I have inherited some of the big library from my parents´ home. I love to read as often as possible, and I also use our local public library.
I have a never ending hunger for knowing things. I like to learn new tricks and skills, and I simply enjoy to read and to get inspired to write myself. I write for the love of writing. This warm, calming and reassuring feeling that you know that you are on to something. That feeling that feels good in the mind, the body and the soul.
Character development is a new field for me to research. It is the ability to watch, to note down and to rewrite. What you see with me is what you get. Without raw honesty, this blog would not be me. And this ability to write of mine would not be shown.
It is easy to tell a story when writing.
No, it is not. It is difficult, there needs to be an idea that is too intriguing to let go. Something that keeps showing up when inspiration has kicked in. And then there needs to be a writer with skills to write and with the core of writing in mind : What do you want to write about and why.
I have written four lines today about a day in a forest. Maybe inspiration came when we were walking the little wise old dog in a nearby forest. Nevertheless, I wrote them and let them be. For now, I´m feeling okay with them being on hold. Next time I look on them, maybe there will be some description, some character traits and some backstory.
It is easier to tell than show a story. Yes, and that´s because we have different expectations to different matters in life. It all depends on who´s reading. I try to write with a reader´s view, my own, I do not, however, write for anybody else´s point of view.
I can only use myself and my two hands. Sorry, dear reader, but with osteoarthritis you learn to use that keyboard. I would love to write in hand, but that is only possible with notes and occasionally ritual work sheets.
But with age I´m getting better to watch and to write what I see, what I hear, what I smell, what I taste, what I touch. And of course to try to both tell and show you that the sixth sense may be something that once evoked soon becomes invoked as well in your daily life, both in writing and in witchcraft.
I hope that I today will succeed in showing you how I use what I call good writing advice. I´m trying my best to write with atmosphere, and therefore tend to do other things than writing during a writing session. Right now, I need a cup of chai tea and to read a chapter in one of my books, so I sit and balance with the book in one hand and the other hand writing, until the book rests peacefully next to me.
To read while you write is another possibility to try out. It demands concentration, a good playlist of music suitable for both your reading and your writing, and the ability to pick up where you left. There are multiple ways of writing, but I always need to be comfortable when writing in sessions.
I have my late mother´s desk and space enough to walk around between writing and reading. I have my charm bag for this blog and a lit candle. There is a growing playlist in my ears, and there is a feeling of adventure. Life is an adventure, and with writing and witchcraft it is a never ending story of life lived to its fullest.
When I listen to writing advice, I listen to those who themselves have tried this and that in life. I can only grow experience by keeping on writing and trying to learn from my mistakes. But I like to learn both from people of my own age, the older and the younger. To me age is irrelevant. Experience is what matters.
Most of my life I have experienced life in the corner, but my writing desk stands in the middle of the room. To me it matters to have space around me, to be able to get up now and then to stay in touch with the rest of the world.
When I write, I´m in a world apart. I close an invisible door to the outside world and concentrate on doing my best and at the same time enjoy the process of writing. I write to loud music and like to incorporate a sense of rhythm and deep point of view in what I write.
I have a red chair next to my desk. I like to sit and read here as well as in my witch´s den. The little old wise dog often lies here and wags his tail whenever our eyes meet. Or he sleeps on the couch during the afternoon hours that have become my best writing time ever.
I would like my husband to sit down there too and listen to me reading my next adventure for him. When I´m ready for that, I will have rewritten my first draft. I got an idea today, now I´ll let it evolve by itself and leave it for tomorrow to decide if there is more to it than what I first thought.
When I´m looking for writing advice, I look for good expressions and the twists and turns you can do with language. I´m not so much into writing theory, but occasionally I read something about it. It can´t harm to know a few basics and to learn from the best of writers, is my thought.
Other than that, I use my intuition and the critique I get to keep writing and try to do it better every time. It is also an endless search for something impossible. The perfect work, what is it, and when do you know it is so perfect ? When you can´t help but push the publish button.
I do not consciously try to attain perfection, but I look for a certain rhythm and music in my writing. It has to mean something to me. Otherwise I will only waste everybody´s time. And there is only one way to really get to know what readers want, to try and write something they´ll like as much as I do.
But I will not change my voice, only evolve it. So I do not write for anybody particular ? No, I have yet to find out where my writing is to take me. As it is right now I focus on building this blog and on getting some direction in my writing.
I also have several ideas in the drawer that need to be adjusted and rewritten. I have to carefully plan my days depending on how my level of chronic pain is responding to the present moment. And there are only twenty-four hours a day, so sometimes it is easier to write about doing things than actually doing them. Then procrastination can be exciting to try to avoid.
An example of that is my promise of making new pages for the blog last week. Well, it didn´t happen, simply because the weather has been taking a hard toll on my behalf with several pain days indeed. But it will happen, when I get to it on a good day sometime soon.
If only the day had more hours, then I would have the time to write what I need to tell and show. No, good ideas take time to evolve and resolve into writing worth reading. To walk with the little wise old dog is a big inspiration on a daily basis as are the commentaries of my husband. He is my toughest critic, and usually he is right.
As the afternoon has shifted into twilight, so has the rain triggered the pain in my fingers, not throbbing, not cutting, but irritating just below the level of consciousness. Yet I continue to write. Nothing is going to stop me doing that ever. Not even pain.
But without pain killers, natural and prescribed medicine, for the moment, I don´t need any kind of brain fog when writing. I don´t drink and drive either. But I do smoke, yes, I´m the old weird lady with the dog and the cats, wearing my favorite secondhand clothes, and I do inhale, too. I also drink oceans of coffee and Coca Cola.
Everybody has their bad habits, these are mine today. In my younger years I tried this and that, well, I´m still here, maybe it has something to do with the fact that you sooner or later grow out of bad habits, if you are strong enough.
On strictly regulated occasions I get myself a couple of small drinks. But I have never experienced the writer´s enthusiasm when drinking alcohol, so I do not recommend it around you while writing.
My best writing advice so far came from a good friend who told me he thought I have a distinct writing voice that can be recognized wherever I write. And in whatever language I choose to write, English as well as Danish.
Ever since I´ve been trying to acknowledge that voice myself, by being busy doing business about it instead of just talking about how wonderful a journey that would be, if I only dared to actually sit down and write something…
That includes research in the field of writing advice and reading reality. While the former is a tough but necessary companion, the latter is the result of countless hours, but counted words, and my love for writing. My reading reality is that I´m capable enough to try out this new mode of inspiration.
And this ability I´ll show you more of in my next blog post about writing (How it is to run a blog in 2019) on Monday 16 2019. Thank you for your time, dear reader.
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