# Writers on writing



## Kilgore Trout (Jun 25, 2010)

I love learning how writers write and why they write. George Orwell once said "Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.” Hemingway said, "There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit at a typewriter and bleed." The motivations behind such works as Infinite Jest, Ulysses, and Slaughter-House Five, for example, came from the human mind, from the experiences of different lives, in all of their forms and shapes. The creative process is a curious thing for me. It extends past writing to other mediums like photography, painting and sculpting, but there's still something so unique and personal about how writers use it.

This thread is for you to discuss writers and their motivations and biographies. Post videos and quotes about writing from writers. It could be anything from a character in a story to a certain author's idea about life. And if _you _write -- what propels you forward? What is this itch that makes you churn out pages upon pages? What is your reason for writing? 

---------------------------------------------

I made a playlist that has author techniques, criticisms, interviews, and more. 

I'll update this list regularly for those interested and will post random nuggets of information in this thread.

Writers - YouTube


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## Surreal Snake (Nov 17, 2009)




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## Entr0py (Oct 20, 2010)

My answer for why I write is pretty simple, I always wanted to and now I do. 

Writing, for me, has several stages, several "steps", if you will. Firstly, I take a simple thought that pops in my mind and try to hold on to it for a minute or two, then I write a few sentences about it. After a few days, I read my sentences and develop a whole subject around them. Then I incorporate it into a bigger picture and re-edit it whenever I feel like something is missing, which is often. 

I write poems and philosophical essays, and for both the writing process is the same.


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## Plaxico (Dec 11, 2010)

You want writers to write about writing? Write on!


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## Super Awesome (Jul 11, 2011)

I love writing and it pays the bills--very, _very_ well. 

Beyond the financial aspect, it's the love of entertaining readers that thrills me so. I love twisting words on the page, and in the process creating something that will bring a complete stranger hours of pleasure. 

I usually start with a person facing a difficult situation--one they can't see their way through. Then I throw rocks at them until they fight back. 

That sounds really glib, I know, but I don't try to over-analyze why or how I write. I just do.


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## Kilgore Trout (Jun 25, 2010)

Super Awesome said:


> I love writing and it pays the bills--very, _very_ well.
> 
> Beyond the financial aspect, it's the love of entertaining readers that thrills me so. I love twisting words on the page, and in the process creating something that will bring a complete stranger hours of pleasure.
> 
> ...


Beautiful response. I especially like how you wrote about making your characters face a tough situation and then throwing rocks at them. I remember Kurt Vonnegut saying for his tips on writing stories that the author must be a sadist to see what their characters are really made of. George R.R. Martin is well known for killing off main characters, so nobody feels safe when reading his books. I think that it may not even be conscious to have characters die in a lot of situations. If they do die, it seems to naturally progress from the characters themselves, who go in different paths that are largely unconscious to the writer, because they are becoming more alive and developed. You should read Ray Bradbury's book on writing. It's called the Zen of Writing. In it, he talks about how writers should rely on their intuition (like what you said about just doing) and write about what they love.



Entr0py said:


> My answer for why I write is pretty simple, I always wanted to and now I do.
> 
> Writing, for me, has several stages, several "steps", if you will. Firstly, I take a simple thought that pops in my mind and try to hold on to it for a minute or two, then I write a few sentences about it. After a few days, I read my sentences and develop a whole subject around them. Then I incorporate it into a bigger picture and re-edit it whenever I feel like something is missing, which is often.
> 
> I write poems and philosophical essays, and for both the writing process is the same.


I like this approach and have used it often. Usually that one idea or set of ideas comes to me through inspiration. Or I find some odd connection and have to write it down. Then, as I continue to add and edit what that initial spark was, more associations come. The skeleton of the story begins to develop muscles and tendons and blood. But it all came from one idea.


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## Kilgore Trout (Jun 25, 2010)

Dave Barry, Humorist novelist, columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner.








Surreal Snake said:


>


Intriguing video. I watched it last night. 

Alan Moore is like the ancient wise wizard of comic books. I liked when he talked about all artists going through the stage where they fear being rejected for what they do, but having to get through that fear, because of their desire to do what they love. His entire story about his process of experimenting with different formats at the beginning of his career, which helped him to expand, was awesome as well.


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## voicetrocity (Mar 31, 2012)

Why do I write? 

That's quite like asking me why I _breathe; _because they are both such organic and necessary actions. I am an extrovert in every sense of the word. As a child, I didn't really find myself connecting with others in the way I would have liked. It seemed I always got strange looks and was told _"Don't be so silly"_, whenever I tried to talk to someone about my feelings or thoughts. 

I found words through reading, and I fell in love. Words were my refuge; and if I couldn't release them through speech, I was sure as hell going to release them through writing. My pen and paper were the only place I could roam free and not worry about having to expalin myself.

Mostly though, It's a great form of free therapy; and I love being able to give life to inanimate objects or turn my feelings into characters, or sadness into beauty. I use a lot of illustration in my writing; it helped me better understand the world when I was little, and now I mostly just illustrate to keep things interesting, lol.


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## Lycrester (Dec 26, 2010)

I write because verbally telling stories is out of the question and my imagination cannot just reside in my head. I'm,for lack of a better word,sensitive to inspiration and need to write at any given moment. Even someone sneezing is interesting to me. It's a talent that has served me very well in life and a habit I have no intention of stopping.


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## Kilgore Trout (Jun 25, 2010)

*Kurt Vonnegut's Rules for Writing Fiction:*

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

4. Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.

5. Start as close to the end as possible.

6. Be a sadist. Now matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of.

7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

*Elmore Leonard's Rules of Writing:*

1. Never open a book with weather.

2. Avoid prologues.

3. Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.

4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said”…he admonished gravely.

5. Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. 

6. Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose."

7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.

8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.

9. Don't go into great detail describing places and things.

10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.


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## wisefaery (Feb 14, 2010)

How do you get rid of that disease called procrastination ?


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## TrialByFire (Sep 17, 2012)

I am no great writer but i will give my two cents, i believe that within every writer there is an inner flame. Something born within us that ispires us, gives us faith, and fuels our crativity. I began writing because my feelings were intense and real, and i yearned for a way to express them. Writing can mean alot of things to alot of people but its always used as way of expressing oneself. So i guess to me thats what writing is, expression of one's heart and soul.


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## Kilgore Trout (Jun 25, 2010)

wisefaery said:


> How do you get rid of that disease called procrastination ?


Use an egg timer or a clock. Write for at least 30 minutes, even if you're staring at a blank page. If you find those 30 minutes grueling, you can stop after the time and go about your business. Most of the time, you'll find that 30 minutes is not nearly long enough and you will continue onward, because you are so consumed with what you're doing. Remember that sentences are like bricks that make up a house. Work on applying one brick at a time. Before you know it, you may even have a mansion.


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## Kilgore Trout (Jun 25, 2010)




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## FancyProseStyle (Dec 22, 2012)

All through elementary school, I was ever the bookworm but I absolutely despised writing. It was like, "Why am I even doing this? Who cares what I had for dinner yesterday? I don't remember what it smelled like. Your questions are stupid. This is stupid. Can I read a book now?"

When I hit middle school though, I finally started to become more of a _person_. All of a sudden I had feelings and experiences and epiphanies. Along with that, my 6th grade lit teacher was a complete literary god. I hung on to every word he said. He especially liked to throw things at us which in turn helped us to mold and conform and learn how to work with things rather than things working for us. I began to see books in a new sense, they were less of a different world now and more of something that I wanted to achieve in life.

So then I started writing; It was and is an art to me. I realized that I could just shake up my mind a little, put a pencil to paper, and start oozing words. It comes so naturally to me, and while I do love other forms of communication too (like public speaking, oh god, absolutely love it), I can write almost anywhere and anytime no one else gives a flying pig about what I have to say.

In the past couple of years though, I write less about my experiences and feelings. Due to my age or the fact that my ENTJness has begun to develop (or maybe because of some other obscure reason), I like to use my writing to manipulate. I know it sounds cold and horrible, but I simply don't think "inspire" or even "persuade" are the right words. I like the fact that I can isolate myself for days, come up with something awetastic, and have people say "Whoa, how'd you do that?" and possibly change their views on the topic. I like that kind of power. Sure, it is still an artistic and emotional act for me, but I just like doing it for different purposes that resonate on the same level as the rest of my newly set values.

Having said that, I mostly write poetry and essays (usually persuasive or literary). Maybe I'm not dedicated enough or maybe I just need to work on it, but I find writing novels very very difficult. I have about ten unfinished ones lying around. 

Also, amazing free writer's tool to beat procrastination, you guys: Write or Die by Dr Wicked | Putting the 'Prod' in Productivity


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## cheburashka (Jan 4, 2013)

i write because if i didn't, i would be suppressing some part of myself. i must write. it doesn't matter if i am good, or bad, i just know that i simply must do it.


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## Dauntless (Nov 3, 2010)

Surreal Snake said:


>


Kevin, thank you so much!


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## Dauntless (Nov 3, 2010)

Great thread, @kilgoretrout, I heartily thank you for starting and nurturing it. I'm familiar with the resources shown here, but the Alan Moore one @SurrealSnake put up I hadn't yet seen.

Recently, I'd read "This Year You Write Your Novel," by Walter Mosley, which is weird to me, because I haven't read his work but I found it to be of value.

GRRM's Not a blog is a great tip I'd offer as well, I really think his mandate of "Kill your darlings" has made him the success he is today...

Anne McCaffrey said the best advice ever given to her was, "No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader," and something to the effect that act as if you know all about the items in the scene a character was in as matter-of-factually as possible; treat the reader the same as the character - going past the boring parts Elmore referenced skipping.

I really enjoy the journalists that jumped from news to writing: Michael Connelly, Robert R. McCammon, John Camp/Sanford, Carl Hiaasen, etc. for transitioning successfully.

Finally, Dean Koontz's old text on writing through Writer's Digest is a good one if you can land a copy, I believe it's out of print.


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## FalabaWitch (Dec 16, 2012)

When I write something, I often find myself agreeing that writing is grueling hard work, and only a madperson would chose to.Luckily that madness not only makes us write the stories, it also gives us the thoughts and ideas to write good ones.

I try to write mostly at night, since it is usually the equivalent of being slightly tipsy for me. I lose the majority of inhibitions and doubts about exactly what I'm writing, and I just go with the first thought that comes up in my head. That way, in the morning I find the writing actually inviting to read, instead of boring, stiff, and too planned or thought out. 

That is usually my major problem, where I need to figure out how to just let go and write, not caring about the length or if it sounds offensive or if the reader will be bored. But once I do lose it, and again this goes for all writing, it sounds like none of the three. Usually.


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## Pom87 (Apr 7, 2012)

Questions and events rise up within me. I pose them to myself or others in a story. It is basically something that I have to work out for myself. This could be done in any way possible, but I tend to love putting it in writing.


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## Soldier of fortune (Nov 29, 2012)

I write because I feel the need to. When I don't write, it's like I'm full of words and ready to explode; it's basically a need.


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## Shahada (Apr 26, 2010)

wisefaery said:


> How do you get rid of that disease called procrastination ?


In addition to what others have said you might find some productivity tools useful. This will force you to manage your time by setting up 25 minutes of writing with 5 minute breaks, blocking distracting websites for the 25 minute duration (if you use Chrome). If you have more serious issues with procrastination (like me) you might want to consider Write or Die, which will allow you to setup time/word goals and punishments for not meeting them. Like if you set a 1000 word goal for the day you can set it up to keep popping up messages on your monitor telling you to go back to writing, play annoying sounds until you meet your word goal if you're not writing, or even to erase your writing if you keep goofing off.


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## discoriver (Jan 9, 2013)

*in reference to The Mindscape of Allan Moore video*

I love this video and I'm so glad you linked it. 

Besides loving the content of what he said, I found myself captivated by how well-spoken and coherent he was. I wonder how detailed the scripting on this was and how he made what was essentially a monologue feel like it was so natural and unplanned.


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## wisefaery (Feb 14, 2010)

Shahada said:


> In addition to what others have said you might find some productivity tools useful. This will force you to manage your time by setting up 25 minutes of writing with 5 minute breaks, blocking distracting websites for the 25 minute duration (if you use Chrome). If you have more serious issues with procrastination (like me) you might want to consider Write or Die, which will allow you to setup time/word goals and punishments for not meeting them. Like if you set a 1000 word goal for the day you can set it up to keep popping up messages on your monitor telling you to go back to writing, play annoying sounds until you meet your word goal if you're not writing, or even to erase your writing if you keep goofing off.


:O erase my writing?


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## carlaviii (Jul 25, 2012)

(tips hat) Another writer here. I avoid procrastination by having carved out a sacred two-hour block of my day that is my minimum writing time. I am not to do anything non-writing-related during those two hours. Maybe I'm plotting/outlining, maybe I'm doing relevant research, maybe I'm editing or writing. 

Habits are powerful things. It's gotten me through some difficult times, so I honor and protect it.


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## Kilgore Trout (Jun 25, 2010)




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## Diphenhydramine (Apr 9, 2010)




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## SoulShield (Jan 17, 2013)

After years of work, I'm coming close to finishing my first book that I will put forward for publishing. I'm getting nervous now that it's too long and it's not artistic enough. 
My motivation to push on is that I want my stories to be known outside of me. I have all of these characters in my head screaming to emerge through my writing. It's almost like I can't help it.


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## Faux (May 31, 2012)

wisefaery said:


> How do you get rid of that disease called procrastination ?


Get an idea you can't put down.

I have a day off and I've done nothing but write with breaks for food, stretching, or to float around the Internet for a few minutes.


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## DemonAbyss10 (Oct 28, 2010)

An oppinion from a writer - - -

I tend to just write for myself, self-expression, self-discovery and simply for writings sake. If I do wind up publishing, it would be self-done, I do not want a third party changing my vision simply for profits sake or that they like it better that way. I would want the reader to read it as I intended it to be. The only real editing I would do would be grammar/spelling or than self-done revisions (with input by readers that do not mind reading sample chapters and give input. Purely for the fact they like to read. Pretty much real readers that read/specialize in the genre of whatever I choose to work on.). As for getting my writings out there, would likely be in E-book/PDF format, more than likely freely available (since I view art as something that should be freely available to experience). I would definitely make a copyright though just in case someone tries to claim being the original writer of something they aren't.

The 'true' profit in writing a story IMO is simply the potential enjoyment individuals would potentially get out of reading my works. If they so choose to write a fanfic, let them. I would be happy with the fact that I helped to give a potential author that creative push that they needed.


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## wisefaery (Feb 14, 2010)

Faux said:


> Get an idea you can't put down.
> 
> I have a day off and I've done nothing but write with breaks for food, stretching, or to float around the Internet for a few minutes.


do you do this often ?


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## Faux (May 31, 2012)

wisefaery said:


> do you do this often ?


Nope, but I'm still going in my free time and I typically build up outlines in-between until I have something exciting.


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## Kilgore Trout (Jun 25, 2010)

More writers on writing:


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