Four Lessons I Learned In Writing

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Someone on my flist posted about writing tonight, and I made me think about where I learned to write and how I learned to write.

#1 It'll never be good enough or ego-crushing revision.

As a child, I never had to try in school. I rarely remember doing homework pre-college, and I never got anything lower than a B+ then. My younger brothers still loath me for this.

My third year of high school, I took Honors English with Mrs. Boone, who was one of my favorite teachers. (Lornelover was also in this class.) We read and wrote papers about The Scarlet Letter, generally concurred to be a horrid book and an annoying paper to write. Everyone was really happy the day we finally turned them in.

However, about a week or so later, we get our papers back. All of them are covered in red ink, marking every failing from comma splices to thesis problems. We were told that none of our papers were good enough and we had to revise them.

I still hate that paper.

#2 Here are the rules of grammar and diagramming sentences can be important.

I learned a lot about the rules of grammar from Mrs. Boone, however, honors classes kind of expect you to know that sort of thing. I learned the most about the practical application of commas, semi-colons, colons, etc. from taking a basic English course at community college. It was an annoying hoop, and I was kind of peeved that I had to take the class. (Even more peeved when it didn't transfer correctly.) But the professor assumed that we knew nothing and spent two or three classes teaching and testing our grammar.

In religious middle school, our crappy English class involved diagramming sentences for two years. But I know where a subject, verb, and direct object are and how my sentence is rooted. I can see the structure and the glue that hold the story together. I've had fun using it to dissect purple prose, among other things.

#3 Read like a writer, be picky about what you read, and notice things.

I learned this from fandom, and this lesson is by far more helpful with my creative writing than anything else. When I read as a reader, I just sit back and let the story wash over me. When I read as a writer, I'm out playing in the waves or surfing on top of them. (Yes, I've actually been surfing and stood on my board, thank you very much.) When I read a great story, I figure out what makes the writing work.

I was told a long time ago that to be a better writer, you have to read, read, read. But I probably wouldn't be a very good writer if I continued solely reading Anne Rice and Star Trek tie-in novels like when I was 12. Sure, they can be fun. But I always try to read (and rec) those pieces of fanfic (and other texts) that are *better* than what I write or have some inherent quality that makes them somehow superior to my own writing. I was very lucky to stumble onto excellent writers when I first ventured into Buffy fandom (unlike pervious and continuing other fandom experiences) and some day, I hope to bring stories to the world that are better than what I've read.

#4 Research a little and just do it.

My freshman year at college, my Comm101 professor Ray was a nut who was fascinated by rhetoric and learning new things. And I was not yet used to writing papers after a year off.

Ray's fascination for our class was the rhetoric dealing with drug and alcohol usage, abuse, and treatment. We were to write a 7-page paper every month dealing with a different drug subject and researching a different type of rhetoric. He taught me how to trudge down to the basement with my laundry money to photocopy journal articles from the stacks. He also taught me how to write what I didn't know about by researching it and learning the lexicon of that field by reading it.

Ray also taught me how to just do it. That there was a certain point when I put the research down and started typing. My highlighter only had so much ink and I only had so much time. I still think that one of my biggest writing problems is not just sitting down and doing it, hammering it out even if I think it's horrible.

Because at the end of the day, I go back to #1.

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