“I want to write. Got tips?” Part 2

Missed Part 1 on writing? Grab it here.

The English teacher of my junior year could have, at varying points in the year, landed squarely in both “Wisest Writing Mentor” and “She Needs a Pat on the Back…Off a Cliff” categories.

She scrawled Blah over my paper titles. Castigated my writing publicly. Scoffed at my conclusions.

Yet by the end of the year, she asked me to participate in some writing competitions (which I did not, in fact, win).

And two decades later, some of her advice sticks like bubble gum to a locker.

One of the best pieces: Good writing never preaches.

Or as Milan Kundera puts it, “To be a writer does not mean to preach a truth, it means to discover a truth.” 

As a (generally non-fiction) writer, I’ve had to grow in my ability to come alongside, exposing my own clumsy fumbling toward truth–rather than approaching as an expert. (Which should be easier than it is, considering I’m an expert at…well. Pretty much nothing.)

(In short, never be the hero of your own story.)

Maybe you, too, are hoping to participate in this gift that is art and the written word. I’m cobbling together tips–hoping somewhere, an English teacher will be proud.

Be well- and widely read, in Christian and secular, fiction and non-.

What we read profoundly impacts how we write. So for land’s sakes–be picky. I prefer reading non-scuzzy award winners and beautifully authored bestsellers…because I want to make good art that honors God, not just good truth.

When you read, study what a writer does well. Observe your reactions and how you can learn. Keep files of quotes, or read with a pencil in hand.

Notice, too, what distracts you, drawing attention to the writing itself.

One agent put it this way: If a story is like being at Disneyland, don’t let anything (big words, weird words, etc.) snatch you out of the line and back into the real world.

And another thing!

But being widely read also assures you have something to say that others aren’t saying; haven’t already said.

When I first began in publishing, my boss said something unforgettable. “If the person tells me there’s nothing like their book out there, I toss the proposal. It’s clear they don’t know the market.”

Bringing in other writers and their knowledge adds texture to your writing! Yet you’re looking for that niche–your unique angle, your unique pitch and voice sounding above a sea of noise.

What’s your hook?

What will grab your reader’s attention from the get-go, making your blog, podcast, or book un-put-down-able?

Personal anecdotes and story nearly always draw in a reader. Another option? Expose a need they have, or didn’t even know they had. (If you’re only writing a devotional about your own experience, think about what pressing question you’ll uncover that your reader must get an answer to.)

Attend a writer’s conference to connect with agents face-to-face for a higher chance of success.

Meanwhile, you’ll get networked with other professionals, be encouraged, and learn valuable skills. I like Write Brilliant for technique, but I met my own agent at a regional conference.

Find a critique partner.

Local critique groups can get you out of your head, end the solitary nature of writing, and give you steps forward. Find one here.

Love your audience more than what you want to write.

The best writers are excellent lovers of people. (I just put down a book last night, determining that with the author’s agenda and lack of perspective, I didn’t feel like she was loving me well as reader.)

They’re not just writing “what God put on my heart”–just like you wouldn’t share only that in a convo over coffee. You’d listen to your friend and respond to their world with your own.

You’re earning the right to be heard in your reader’s raucous world.

What’s going on in your reader’s world? Are you communicating in language that, like Jesus, moves into the neighborhood (John 1:14, MSG)?

Write nearly every day.

Nearly every writer will tell you this: One of the only surefire way to improve your writing is to actually…write.

Journaling is one way to not only write regularly, but develop a deeper, more rich internal world to feed your writing. But blogging may keep you more disciplined.

Even if you’ve got four followers and one is your grandma, you’ll be learning to show rather than tell. Eliminate every extra word. Write in active voice. Understand and implement SEO practices. Tell a rip-roaring story with round rather than flat characters.

Know your creative times.

For clients, I’ve begun to categorize my tasks into “morning” and “afternoon” tasks–knowing I naturally have more creative energy in the morning.

I used to think of creativity as infinite; people have compared my flood of ideas to a fire hydrant (read: not always a good thing?).

But too often, my personal writing takes a back seat to my paid writing, which means it might take me triple the time to churn out a blog post because here I am, writing it Friday night with the week’s dregs of energy. (I am literally doing this exact thing.)

Begin to recognize what emotional, physical, and spiritual states kindle creativity. Work in tandem with them.

Shock Broca’s area.

Author James Rubart explains,

But before any sensory input—what we see, hear, read—can get to the pre-frontal cortex, it has to pass through Broca’s area. Broca is the nine-hundred pound bouncer of the brain.

What Broca hates: Boredom. What Broca loves: Surprises.

But without it? “We end up sounding like Charlie Brown’s parents. ‘Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah.’ It. Does. Not. Get. Through.”

Our words need to be fresher than the produce department. Arresting enough to get past the brain’s “blah, blah, blah” filter–usually quite clogged with the massive amounts of information trying to push past that gate every day.

Unfortunately, Christian white noise is everywhere. We use words (believe, bless, grace, amazing, journey, heart) people skim, ignore, and generally chalk up into the “been there, done that” category.

How will you cause your reader to sit forward and zone in?

Great conflict makes great writing.

When a client trained me in storytelling, I learned that low “lows” in a story make for even higher “highs”.

In my own recent story to you about the drama surrounding my book, at least three readers mentioned traveling a “rollercoaster” with me. As a writer, this made me happy. (As a human, I would rather have exited the line.)

Sharing the abysmal lows, I decided, helped you also celebrate how hard-won were God’s highs for this story.

God does this in his own story of the Bible–demonstrating the depth of the lows, the “J-curve” of humanity’s fall, the crucifixion of its hero…and his unthinkable resurrection.

What are distinctives of Christian writing?

• Hopeful.
• Redemptive. There are gospel themes, even if the Gospel isn’t expressly stated.
• Truthful.
• Thoughtful. There’s a depth of soul, a knowledge of suffering, a product of meditative living on the part of the writer.
• Loving to its audience. (If we’re writing fiction, but present more thinly-veiled soapboxing than engaging and entertaining…are we loving our readers?)

Bring your writing full circle. Like this

I don’t know that my decidedly secular English teacher will be marketing any of these points as fridge magnets.

But if you’re out there, Ms. Green?

I’m learning many more effective ways to tell the truth.

(Hey. Thanks.)

Want to circle back to Part 1? Grab it here.

I want to hear from you, readers!

What advice or thinking has changed the way you write? Comment below!