Thoughts on Improvement
But "HOW?" the people ask
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Showing my work.
Dear Readers,
Last week I wrote about the rewarding and challenging work that goes into the attempt of bettering my creative work, setting goals and doing my best to rise to meet them:
Some of my friends read this and asked “HOW are you going about improving your prose?” which was a fair question that I didn’t really discuss. I hate gatekeeping general writing advice so I’m going to share the writing part of this above the paywall in case it helps you!
A friend asked, “Are you just reading a ton?” and, yes, I am. I love reading. One of my favorite parts about being a writer is that READING IS PART OF THE WORK. So you can just go hide in a little nook and read to your heart’s content while sipping a dirty chai and snuggling a cat and YOU ARE WORKING!!!*
I do try to be an active reader, noting why I love the prose, why a phrasing works for me, why something really sparkles. Sometimes there’s a character moment that rings out so bright and true and specific and I try to note why.
I will also say that I read as widely as I can across genre, though it’s probably not that wide, as there are categories I’m just not super interested in and there’s only so much time. But while writing my last romance I was definitely also reading memoir, lit fic, nonfiction covering a slew of topics, etc., and finding inspiration in the words in so many books that were unlike mine in so many ways.
Craft books/articles/Substacks are also something I lean on, but I find them IMPOSSIBLE to absorb well while I am in the midst of writing. It makes me feel panicky and bad and behind schedule somehow? PERSONALLY ATTACKED? Don’t come at me about plot when I am SUFFERING THROUGH IT. So I try to take advantage of downtime between projects to think about new ways to think about craft or approach writing, IDEALLY so this stuff gets lodged and then by the next time I’m working on something I pull from more than before. I pull from new things.
I know that I’ve recommended it before (or at least mentioned it??) but there are many ideas in Matt Bell’s Refuse to Be Done that have stuck with me, particularly trite/expected wording. In my newest project I am forcing myself to rethink so many expected phrases to get somewhere else. I am not automatically throwing out weird thoughts; sometimes weird thoughts are the exact thoughts the story needs.
Two weeks ago I had a call with my editor, and this week I got my editorial letter on my next book.
