Learning the Craft Takes Time

People look at writing as a solitary pastime, and in many ways it is. However, the best parts of the writing community are anything but solitary, especially so nowadays with the internet connecting us with ease. 

When I was coming up and just starting to seriously look into publishing back in the mid to late 90s, being able to find an author’s address or email address was huge. Even back when the only internet access I had was the once a month trip to my high school’s computer lab, I managed to find Anne McCaffrey’s address on her website and write to her. Aside from our school librarian, she was the first person to ever encourage the writing dream. I found the boards on her website, and some other writer’s boards besides, in the following year or two, and through them, I found mentors.

These online mentors, older writers whom I never met face-to-face but who nevertheless had a massive impact on me, taught me more about the writing craft than any other source. Because of these writers and their willingness to take the time to point me and others in the right direction or discuss the finer points of technique, I have paid it forward by doing the same for younger writers who have come to me with questions over the years.

In doing so, I have come to thoroughly dislike certain parts of “booktube” and other parts of the online reading and writing community. Time and time again, I have come across young writers who are so afraid of committing specific taboos they find it near impossible to write at all. They look at their work, which is usually fairly typical of work produced by someone early in their writing experience, and figure they are a hopeless case and want to give up before they have a chance to grow into their potential.

Most writing advice and critiques are geared toward readers or pros.

My first note here is directed toward those of you who may be beginning writers. The majority of what you will find in the reading and writing community online will be geared either toward readers, thus speaking about professionally published work, or it will be targeted toward writers who are already out there and publishing. Keep this in mind for your own peace of mind and mental health.

These commenters are talking about and to people who are out there selling finished work. Writing is a craft. It is not something you can pick up in a few weeks or even a year. It takes a long time and a lot of practice to master, and when you publish something and ask people to pay for it, you are essentially claiming to have put this time and effort in and hold this skill. 

If you haven’t written your “million words of garbage” yet, what they are saying is not directed toward you. We all go through phases where we commit some or all of the “writing sins,” you will come across being discussed online. This is normal, and you should in no way beat yourself up or think you are beyond hope for doing the same.

And that million words of garbage line isn’t as figurative as you might think, although the exact word count varies widely from writer to writer. I started experimenting with writing when I was ten. My first publication didn’t happen until I was nineteen, and still, I got ripped to shreds in reviews through my first few publications. I’d been writing for about twenty years before managing more positive than negative reviews.

We all stink at writing when we first get started. Let your writing be awful at first. You will improve with practice. I promise.

Your opinion is not gospel.

Now I would like to address those of you who may write about these “writing sins.”

Can you take a chill pill, please?

Yes, you are allowed to have opinions and preferences. Yes, you are allowed to dislike some things. However, so is everyone else. Just because a fair number of readers and other writers dislike a trope does not make it inherently evil. It does not even mean it cannot be pulled off well. Please stop phrasing your critiques in such a way that makes beginners want to throw in the towel before they even get started. I realize you may be targeting your articles and reviews toward pros, but newbies read them too. Just be aware of that and take the “do no harm” mentality when choosing your wording.

Some “writing sins” are developmentally normal.

Between my own years being mentored and mentoring other newbie writers, as well as researching psychology and homeschooling, I’ve developed an “odd” understanding of the development of writers. I’m not about to try and write a thesis on the topic or anything, but there are certainly patterns there if you work with enough beginners to start noticing them.

The terms “Gary Stu” and “Mary Sue” are shorthand for self-insert characters with typical tells. These types of characters are almost universally hated, but they are also almost universally where beginners start attempting to create characters. Yes, it can run into obnoxious territory pretty quickly, but character design, characterization, and character development are complex skills. No one learns them overnight. These character types are a common, and I dare say normal, part of developing these skills.

Maybe make suggestions on how to improve a character without the knee jerk labels and keep things respectful.

“On the nose” dialogue, speech patterns that all sound identical, and overusing adverbs are other “sins” that are perfectly “normal” for beginners. Almost everyone starts out writing the way they speak, and frankly, adverbs are a large part of most people’s vernacular. Over time, these are all things writers improve upon, and again, they can be noted with respect and without vitriol.

Basically, please keep in mind the fact storytelling and writing, like any art form, is a craft. It takes time to learn. Mastering skills requires research and practice, and no one deserves to be made to feel less than because of where they are on the path to mastery.