The whole truth about writing process

The process of writing is not an easy thing. If you have an assignment to write some type of work, obviously you were given some instruction, tips, plan or maybe, even a topic. However, when it comes to your own writing there might be some problems that every writer can face.

A few years ago, when I was in Washington DC with the cousin of my wife, I noticed crypt on one hill. The cousin said that it is the place, where the body of Willie, Abraham Lincoln’s son, was laid. He was put in the crypt temporarily, so that his father could enter the crypt on several occasions. This odd image of grief-stricken father and his beloved son stuck in my head for the 20 years.  I found the strength to put this picture from my mind on the pages of ‘Lincoln in the Bardo’. What I’m trying to say, is that having the idea and writing about it are completely different things. The experiences writer knows about that difference, and the ways how not to waste good ideas, but turn them into a decent work.

The art of writing

Real writers perceive the world differently from us; every touch they feel, every face they meet, every situation they struggle with can become a fascinating story.

Who is an artist? This is the person who can express his/her inner world in very interesting and specific way. The writer who creates good works is definitely the artist. But, very often there are lots of people who believe that their simple expressing of emotion is art. I can ensure you it is not. Real writing, in my experience, goes through more complicated and painful way.

The writer is the person who starts writing without knowing what to do

If you’ve got an interesting idea, start to write straight away. You may think that this will be very short story, but once your fingers started typing if can be impossible to stop you for the next 12 hours.

My method is to divide my information into two blocks. In the first I write the positive aspects, in the second the negative ones. It actually helps to get rid of the bored information, and preserve interesting elements.

How to revise the written text

I wrote ‘Harvey was an asshole’, read it, and understood that there is a lack of something more specific.  Then I asked myself what can I change? ‘Harvey hit the barista’, sounds better? No, I’m still looking for something more specific. ‘Harvey hit the barista because the last one lied about his dead wife’ Oh, well now I feel it is the best of my attempts. This is due to the fact that, Harvey gone from stupid asshole to mournful widower. You see now, how the method works?

With simple pursuit of specificity you can evoke the compassion, interest, fear or other things.

The success is in every sentence

I wrote ‘Rachel came into the room and sat down on the red sofa’ read it, and got myself on thinking (‘ Why should she enter the room?’ ‘Can she sit UP on the sofa’ ‘Why reader should care if it is red?’) and I turned sentence into the following ‘Rachel sat on the sofa’- and straight away it became better. However, do we actually need that? And, all of the sudden we arrived at simple ‘Rachel’.

What is my point? You have to take into consideration every detail, from the both sides: as a writer and as a reader him/herself. Putting yourself in the reader’s shoes will help you to understand the purpose of every message you want to send.

This is reliable method, as it implies that our thoughts are built on the basic principles, and whatever comes up to my mind can come up to yours. We can be completely different people, but if you cry after reading my ‘Master and Man’ story you prove that common architecture of human minds exists, even if I have had died long time ago.

Do I consider this information useful for you? Oh, you are writer as well, it’s your decision to make, but for my 20 years of writing experience I truly believe this article will help you to change your text in a better way.