What's the one key to becoming a good writer?
Q&A With Shay Each Sunday
Q: What’s the one key to becoming a good writer?
A: I recently read Stephen King’s On Writing. (I’m a little late—twenty years to be exact.) Although much of what he talked about in the book about the actual “rules” of writing—or whatever you want to call them—were things I had already studied or come to realize over the years, he had some very interesting insights. And who would expect anything less from Stephen King? So, I highly recommend reading that book if you are serious about becoming a better writer and don’t know where to start. One of the things he said about being a good writer that stuck with me was this: “While it is impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad writer, and while it is equally impossible to make a great writer out of a good one, it is possible, with lots of hard work, dedication, and timely help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent one."
I definitely agree that a certain level of talent or knack for writing must be present in order to improve, and I also agree that some people are simply born exceptional while the rest of us have to work harder to hone our craft. With that in mind, one of the most important things you can do to become that “good writer” is to practice. Put simply: Write.
Keep writing as often as possible and, almost as important, keep reading. Reading books, whether they be on the writing craft or fictional books or anything in-between, is necessary for improvement because you pick up on what does and doesn’t work. You notice what sorts of things you can incorporate into your stories or leave behind. You find inspiration and you’re constantly learning. I find that as a writer I cannot read for “enjoyment” because I’m studying the writing and story and characters and structure and so on in every book I read. Of course I enjoy many books and love to read, but I’m sure most writers feel the same about picking up on the details and foundation of a story that many other readers might not.
Taking classes or workshops or looking to other writers for advice are definitely great ways to improve writing. But it means little if you don’t keep practicing writing on your own.
The more you write the more you’ll find your voice and style and learn the rules and keys to good writing. This has actually been a challenge for me currently because although I have written a lot over the years, and feel I know the rules pretty well, I haven’t really started many new projects in the last few years. I spent most of my time revising the book I already wrote, or editing for others, or writing new poems, or reading, and so on. But when it came to actually starting a new book, I haven’t done that in a long time. Now, I’m in the process of attempting again and it isn’t coming to me that easily. I felt like it came to me easier in the past—that could be due to the difference in stories I was writing, but I have to think that part of it is being somewhat out of practice.
I also don’t believe that practice makes perfect. Nothing will ever be perfect, but that’s actually a liberating feeling (even though difficult to accept for perfectionists) because that means there is always room to keep improving. Writing is incredibly subjective, so what might be great to one might be bad to another, but keeping key rules in mind will at least mean the writing can be good even if the story might not be. Writing and story are definitely linked, but it’s easier to read a bad story that’s well-written rather than read a good idea for a story that is badly written—in my opinion.
My blog on top writing advice for beginning writers can be found here, but most importantly, aside from the logistics of what makes good writing, is to practice writing and reading with regularity. It’s very difficult to pick a story back up—or improve upon anything—after taking ample time off.
Do you agree that writing as often as possible is most important? I’m also curious if you agree with Stephen King’s assessment of bad versus competent versus good versus great writers.
