What Has Made Me a Better Writer?

When I first started to take the idea of a writing career seriously, like many young people, I had stars in my eyes. I was very much focused on the end result, and not the process. That is not to say I didn’t try, but I certainly didn’t apply myself to the best of my ability. In many ways, I rushed out samples to meet the moment. By the time I was working in a writer’s room in Los Angeles, I was cranking work out as fast as I could. Some efforts were better received than others, but I was never happy with the work because even the first draft was too fractured an “end product” to properly improve. The reality of writing out of necessity is that it became a chore, and one I very much did not enjoy. I was desperately trying to write with the goal of an out or promotion, and I was not writing with the patience or discipline required for a solid sample.

Fast forward many years later and two things have changed circumstantially: 1. I changed careers, reducing financial pressure, and thus allowing me to write with freedom. 2. I quit writing scripts because I realized I prefer writing long form.

Maturity also plays a part in the process. Today I write with a freedom I never had before because I am no longer in a rush, but I also have a greater perspective on life as I near middle age. I wanted to discuss five things that I believe have made me a better writer, and how these things may also help others trying to improve their work.

1. RESEARCH

No matter what your genre is, this stage is vitally important and easy to half-ass. A published author friend of mine once said, “at some point you will become such a subject matter expert in your story that you are the only person who can write it.” While this generally applies to research heavy stories like historical fiction, it can just as easily apply to other genres, like science fiction, stories based on real events, biographical works, and even fictional settings. The more you understand your world and the rules and events in your world, the more convincingly you can portray it. As it pertains to historical fiction or hard sciences, this becomes very important when you work with an editor or script supervisor, who will be looking for inaccuracies and anachronisms among other mistakes.

2. CHARACTER BIOS

While most writers take the time to understand their characters and their journey, often times character construction comes from plot necessity. The better way to focus on character construction is to understand who is the right protagonist to tell the story you want to write. What sort of themes are you looking to explore, and consequently what sort of character is going to portray these themes in a convincing way? Many times writers will emulate other notable characters from novels or movies similar to their genre. Sometimes writers will also insert themselves or someone they know. While this isn’t necessarily a mistake, it can serve to undermine the most important aspect of a story, which is: who is taking us on this journey and why? A good character bio goes beyond the basics and their internal/external struggle or arc. It is an elaborate outline (particularly for POV characters) which serves the purpose of understanding on an almost psychological level your characters needs, wants and desires and how they view the world at the outset of that story, and how they will be challenged throughout the progress of it. The more you understand your character in service of the story’s themes, the more robust your characters will be. The same should be applied to minor characters, albeit these can be more plot-focused as they relate to your POV character and the role they serve.

3. OUTLINING / EDITING

Some writers prefer to work off of a very loose outline, some even prefer to just dive in. I believe this is down to personal preference but I prefer to work from a very well constructed outline that is almost close to a manuscript itself. I don’t ever want to be staring at the page wondering what comes next because that is a surefire way to commit to unnecessary filler and inconsequential scenes that do not serve the story. Every scene, whether a chapter or scene in a script must serve a narrative purpose. It has to be deliberate. Therefore my outlines contain scene construction, “in/middle/out” along with what the conflict and need is from the perspective of both plot and character journey. If the scene is not sufficiently accomplishing what needs to advance story/character, it is a bad scene and should either be workshopped or removed. This sort of understanding is best done with a strong outline, and oftentimes even if you do have a strong outline, moving and reconstructing scenes becomes a vital part of the editing stage. I personally use Scrivener to outline scenes using cards, and the UI makes it very easy to move around within the larger map of my story. I can easily move something somewhere else, or archive it. This makes the editing process much smoother as well. It’s a bit like my professional line of work (software design): you have information architecture (a map) and then from there you have high fidelity renderings of those digital experiences.You don’t just dive into high fidelity renderings without a solid outline or understanding of functionality, purpose and intent.

4. DIALOG

This is a byproduct of both good research and character construction. It is important that depending on the time period you’re writing in, along with what age/group etc. your character occupies, that your dialog will reflect that. This is something a good editor or development executive will hone in on. Try to replicate natural language and avoid expository dialog wherever possible. If writing a novel, don’t expo-dump, either through dialog or scene setting. Your goal is to get us to see the world through your character. In a novel, what is that character thinking about? How do they see what is going on? It is a level of immersion, not exposition, and it is required to tell a story in a natural way. We find out things through our character’s journey, not a big paragraph full of background. I.e, what is the character learning in real time? Make the reader enjoy learning things as the character does, and avoid thinking from the plot but rather, lean in to how your character(s) interpret these events. Consequently by understanding that it is the character which drives story, and not plot, your dialog (including internal thoughts if writing a novel) will flow more naturally because of this. Be careful not to channel shift either, as this is a rookie mistake in novel writing in particular. Perspective shifting is an editorial mess, focus on your POV characters and remember the other characters are simply a perspective character in the POV character’s world– we cannot see into their thoughts and actions. If you want to further explore another character’s thoughts and motivations you must carefully consider whether they ought to serve in a POV character role, and add chapters accordingly.

5. DON’T RUSH

I think this is the biggest piece of advice I could give. Set reasonable goals per day and avoid burnout. This should be fun, and it is important to understand what you need per day before you even sit down at the screen. This could be something like workshopping a scene, or simply editing dialog in a chapter. By tackling things in small doses, it helps to maintain focus while avoiding spiraling and thinking too far ahead. Even if you are on deadline, by effectively outlining your work flow, you also help yourself to stay on track and focused on the hard work that needs to be done.

Most importantly, the more you do, the more you improve. I had chances to be read by professionals at a time when I wasn’t ready. The opportunity to sign with a lit-manager presented itself after a script I worked on for two years made its way around desks thirteen years after I started writing at all. Point is, a rushed product will always show, but so too will an amateur effort. Like any other creative discipline it takes a lot of practice and dedication, along with the understanding you will put out a lot of garbage before you ever put out a gem.

Thanks for reading and happy writing!