On Writing

Everyone who aspires to write has his or her own unique literary voice. Finding it and getting it onto the page is a life-long endeavor that requires a host of unpleasant things like discipline, solitude, failure, patience, and despair. It is also, paradoxically, the most joyous thing you will ever do. Because writing (good, interesting, vivid and enthralling writing) is, at its heart, about taking observations and turning what you see, what you know, and what you wish for into language.

If you think you want to be a writer, are a writer who wants to work on craft, or are simply curious, here are two things that will help: Paying Attention and Reading. Reading helps you develop a sense of how fiction is created, what you like and what you don’t. You build your own view of literature by reading in a way that you can’t by simply thinking about writing or even taking a class (although a good writing class will always emphasize critical reading). Paying attention means listening to what people don’t say as much as to what they do. Study body language, notice people’s habits (coffee or tea or water first thing in the morning tells you a lot about someone). Notice what is sacred to you and what is ordinary. Develop your inner eye, so that when it’s time to sit down at your desk and, you know, write, you will have a whole host of things (details, places, people, ideas, snippets of conversations and, most important of all, questions) to draw upon.

Lastly, love writing. That will help with the discipline, solitude, failure, patience, and despair.