by James Scott Bell
@jamesscottbell
Every now and again I hear some author putting down how-to-write books. “You can only learn to write by writing,” they’ll say. “Don’t waste your time studying writing. Write!”
Which strikes me as making as much sense as saying, “You can only learn to do brain surgery by doing brain surgery. Don’t waste your time studying brain surgery. Just cut open some heads!”
Excuse me if I show a preference for a sawbones who has studied under the tutelage of experienced surgeons.
The writer I know best—me—absolutely learned to write by reading how-to books. I had been fed the bunk that “writers are born, not made” while in college, and I bought it, in part because I got in a workshop with Raymond Carver and couldn’t do what he did. (I didn’t know at the time that there was more than one way to “do” fiction. Carver was a literary guy, and I wanted to write thrillers.)
Years went by with me believing that I didn’t have what it takes to be a successful writer. I added to society’s woes by becoming a lawyer.
When I finally decided I had to write, even if I never got published, I went after it the way Jack London went after inspiration—“with a club.” I started gobbling up books on writing. I joined the Writer’s Digest Book Club and read Writer’s Digest religiously (especially Lawrence Block’s fiction column). I also wrote every day. Living in L.A. it was required that I try screenwriting first, so I wrote four complete screenplays in one year, giving them to a film school friend, who patiently read them and told me they weren’t working. But he couldn’t tell me why.
Then one day I read a chapter in a book by the great writing teacher Jack Bickham. And I had an epiphany. Literally. Light bulbs and fireworks went off inside my head, and I finally got it. Or at least a big part of it.
So I wrote another screenplay, and that was the one that my friend liked. The next one I wrote got optioned, and the one after that got me into one of the top agencies in Hollywood.
Now, Hollywood is the only town where you can die of encouragement. My million-dollar payday did not come through, so I decided to try my hand at writing a novel. Amazingly, it sold. Then I got a five book contract, and I was on my way as a working novelist.
In great part because of something crucial I got from a how-to book.
And that’s the reason I’ve written how-to books of my own, and posts here at TKZ. I want to give new writers nuts-and-bolts that will help them construct saleable fiction. I am gratified when I hear from people who have sold books and given me partial credit. One of them is the wonderful Sarah Pekkanen, who gave me props (along with Stephen King and Donald Maass) a year before her debut novel came out. Today she’s the #1 New York Times bestselling author of fifteen solo and co-authored novels. (No, I’m not saying I’m responsible for her massive success, only that I and two others were there for her at the right time; her work ethic and talent did the rest.)
How did the writers of the past learn? Many of them had a great editor, like Max Perkins. Some had an older writer who read their stuff and suggested ways to make it better. Some, like the great writer-director Preston Sturges, learned from the how-to books available in his day. (In Sturges’s case, it was the books of Brander Matthews.)
So a good how-to book is like an editor or teacher. Is there not some value in that?
Now, it is quite true you can’t just read how-tos and get better. You have to have a certain felicity with sentences and the sound of fiction. That’s why the best writers were readers from a young age, piling up the sounds of great sentences in their heads. But they also had help learning the tools to make things better. And of course they had to write, and apply what they learned.
If you do that, the things that work become part of your writing “muscle memory.” Like a grooved golf swing. Then you can go out there and play to win. As Tom Sawyer says in Fiction Writing Demystified:
Writing fiction takes knowledge about basic storytelling. Again, some of us have an instinct for it. A feeling for it. But if you sense that you do not, don’t give up. Much of that part is craft, and it is learnable.
Behind me in my office is my shelf of writing books. I review them from time to time, reading the parts I highlighted. My philosophy has always been that if I can find even one thing in a how-to that helps me, that elevates my writing and makes it stronger, it’s worth the effort to find it.
Do you agree?
Absolutely agree. I keep a shelf of how-to books by writers I respect and admire (JSB you are one) and I refer to them when I’m feeling dry or stuck.
Thanks, Jane. I also open when I feel “stuck.” Or need a jolt of inspiration. Reading about craft still excites me.
I agree 100%, Jim. I have a small library of books on various aspects of writing, including yours, and refer to them regularly.
How to books on writing, as well as blogs, have helped and continue to help me improve.
The one other thing which has been absolutely crucial is of course putting into practice what a how-to book teaches, not just reading and believing I’d learn by osmosis. When I was starting out as a writer I often read how to books very quickly, and then moving on. I did not do exercises, nor create my own, and especially didn’t consciously practice . Practice works in golf and it works in writing. When I finally started doing that, I began to truly understand storytelling and really improve..
Right on, Dale. I love the golf analogy. Do the drills!
JBS,
You are exactly right in this article. I’ve learned a great deal throughout my publishing years from how-to-write books, blogs and listening to others at conferences then applying those insights to my writing. Also it’s why I’ve written several how-to-write books to help others–like my book on proposal creation (your busness plan as a writer). Every writer needs one–even if they self-publish.
Terry author of Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success (Revised Edition) [Follow the Link for a FREE copy]
Good stuff on proposals, Terry. Thanks.
Jim, absolutely agree. Also important to find the right how-to book at the right time. Some writing books I struggled through b/c I wasn’t ready for their advanced concepts, like plopping a third grader into a trigonometry class. But a few years later after more writing books and classes, when I reread the text that had previously made little sense, I finally got it.
However, I still don’t get trigonometry.
I’m with you on trig, Debbie. I avoided ever taking it in high school. In college I got away with taking “Math Appreciation.” Really.
Never met a math I could get along with…
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So encouraging on a beautiful Sunday morn, Jim.
Agree, agree, agree…
“That’s why the best writers were readers from a young age, piling up the sounds of great sentences in their heads.”
Love it! That was me starting at about age 8…courtesy of my mother, who loved to read.
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Have a great day, everyone!
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Hard agree! In fact, today I’m teaching a workshop on “Beginnings, Middles, and Endings” at the Santa Barbara Literary Festival, and I’m going to mention some writing insights on the “mirror moment” from one James Scott Bell.
Wow. I am honored, Meg. Thank you!
I started writing pre-internet so there were only books from the library and later from Writer’s Digest bookclub. Genre teachers were nonexistent. The courses I took in college which also offered an MFA in creative writing required you to write without teaching you the basics. I don’t think these literary geniuses knew how to. They were in the instinctive club of writing.
The book that was my lightbulb moment was Ben Bova’s THE CRAFT OF WRITING SCIENCE FICTION THAT SELLS where he explains the interconnection of plot and character in a way that made real sense to me. I used his tools for years. And, yes, you can use it for any genre.
With the advent of the internet, I had a powerful need to teach what I had to figure out on my own so others wouldn’t flail around like I had. I’ve retired from both teaching and writing, but I still keep my writing blog going.
Yes, Ben Bova was a terrific teacher. I have that book, too!
Terrific post, Jim. And you’ve given me something new to wonder about, as in I wonder how the heck an experienced writer could suggest to an inspired newbie to flail in the dark without a compass. Of course, this engineer turned fictioneer is biased. I LOVE manuals so much I used to write them.
I had a concept for story and such a limited idea where to begin I didn’t know what I had was a concept. That’s when I discovered the appropriately titled WRITING FICTION FOR DUMMIES by the wondrous Randy Ingermanson …. which led to TKZ ,,, which led to Larry Brooks’s also appropriately titled STORY ENGINEERING …and on and on to teachers like Donald Maass and Lisa Cron and Story Grid and H.R. D’Costa and K.M. Weiland and you, Jim.
Of course I ultimately encountered naysayers who opine that craft study is a form of procrastination. To who I say, “Yes, but …” because my years of study have led to an understanding of story that works for me. Write Makes, Right, right?
Exactly “right,” Lou. You have good names on that list (thanks for including me).
Carpe Typem!
I’ve written ever since I could pick up a pencil. I loved the pen even better then a broken old typewriter, a word processor, and finally, a pc. I’ve read a LOT of writing books but I didn’t get a lot of things to click until I started taking classes and having deadlines weekly to meet. When you have to get x # of words done, you do or you fail. You don’t want the failure so you write. I feel so much stronger in my writing this past year of classes. I’ve overcome a lot of health issues and I’m not going to quit. I will succeed as a writer even as I continue with more health issues. I’m determined to not let it beat me! Great article!
You’ve got the right approach and the right attitude, Traci! That counts for so much in this game.
Keep writing.
Absolutely agree, Jim. I remember the moment that lightbulb went off for me while reading a craft book. It changed my writing life. Afterward, I devoured every craft book I could get my hands on. No longer did I sit at the keyboard and guess. I knew what to do when and how to achieve my goal — score a publishing deal. I can’t even imagine writing for years without studying the craft.
Everything I’ve learned has come from a book.
I have been sick since before I started writing, and haven’t had the energy for things such as conventions or classes (except for a very few short starter ones, and one convention).
But when I need to learn something, and free blog posts aren’t specific or helpful enough, I have been able to choose books on writing on any topic – very reasonably priced.
Those books have guided my learning – and I am grateful to all those who organized a topic and wrote it up for the rest of us to learn from.
Late to the party as I’ve intentionally been away from the internet for a few days. But I whole-heartedly agree on the essential need for writing how-to books. While I understand the argument that you learn to write by writing (a no brainer), as with many other endeavors, writing has many components—you can get overwhelmed trying to figure out how to start or you get bogged down in one aspect of writing a book. That’s why how-to books are invaluable. I have not only JSB’s how-to’s on my shelf but several others. When you start out you need to figure out how to plot out a book, later you may wonder what’s the best way for building characters, or writing a co-authored book or any one of a # of other subjects. My books on writing are some of my most treasured books.
I had picked up a few books on writing and was testing the “learn by osmosis” theory by keeping them on a nearby bookshelf when I stumbled across NovelAdvice online. One of their series, The Quest for the Golden Quill by Hampton Bush (Charles Hampton Bush), presented fiction writing in a way that was organized, clear, and finally made the whole process click for me. For the first time, I had the big picture in my head—along with enough detail—to actually start putting stylus to clay tablet.
Since then, I’ve collected many books on writing: Swain (on JSB’s recommendation), James Scott Bell, Randy Ingermanson, K.M. Weiland, and more. Some of them cover the same ground, but I’ve learned that different voices reach me in different ways. One author’s explanation will resonate, while another’s version of the same idea just slides right past me.
Bottom line: I’m grateful for every writer who takes the time to teach the craft from their own perspective.