Comments on: How did you learn to write?

By: Katerina Kostaki

Katerina Kostaki — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:09:04 +0000

i write from the heart , my experiences , my visualizations , my hopes.I agree friends critiques are invaluable .
However is so valuable to follow inner knowledge, inspiration and intuition.

By: Kaye Dacus

Kaye Dacus — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:24:43 +0000

As with most people who’ve responded, I learned the basics in school and by just spending hour upon hour upon hour indulging my imagination and putting words down on paper—in addition to being a voracious fiction reader.

What moved me from hobbyist to professional, though, was attending grad school and being mentored by two published authors (one who spent a year breaking me down and forcing me to break all my bad habits and learn good techniques/craft skills, and the other who spent a year encouraging me and building my confidence) and working with a multitude of critique partner as well as having my writing critiqued by writers from every genre—including horror, fantasy, sci-fi, etc. It taught me that while I have to write stories that I enjoy and that are true to my voice, my likes and dislikes, I can’t just write for me. I have to write with my specific reader (my “audience”) in mind. That’s what spurs me on when deadlines loom: my readers are waiting for these stories, and I have to give them the best experience possible. That, in itself, is a great educator!

By: Carol J. Garvin

Carol J. Garvin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 01:09:09 +0000

Now that’s a really good question, Jordan. I don’t think I’ve ever stopped to consider the “how”. I used to write sappy poems as a child, and little short stories, “just because”. I had a diary as a teenager and kept journals of special times/trips as a young adult. I loved school assignments that involved writing essays and I went on to major in English. Somewhere in my young married years I started writing devotionals and eventually added magazine articles. I was writing but I really had no idea about “how” it should be done.

When I decided to write my first novel I just wrote. It wasn’t until I began editing it that I decided I should find out what professionals said about the process. I think my very first “how to” book was Nigel Watts’ “Writing a Novel”. I still have it. I recall him saying that while the philosophy of writing a novel is easy, the process isn’t; that you can’t write a novel per se, but must nurture an idea and wait for it to grow. It was in that book that I first recall being given the definition of the term “author”… from the Latin “auctor” meaning “one who makes to grow”.

Since then I’ve read *a lot* of books, attended conferences, followed the blogs of agents, editors and other writers, and written umpteen articles and three novels. I’m not sure that I know “how” even yet, but I just keep learning and doing, things I’m pretty sure will continue for the rest of my days.

By: Annette

Annette — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:58:27 +0000

Terresa, MG stands for “middle grade”–so a bit younger than Young Adult, but much older than chapter books (which would be like the Magic Tree House series). Jessica Day George’s books are classified as MG.

By: joylene

joylene — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:01:42 +0000

I learned by writing. I did the university thing, but didn’t realize how little I learned there until I joined a writer’s group online in 1994. That was an eye-opener. I think critiques taught the most. Then I got my hands on some great little books: Writing and Selling Your Novel by J. Bickham, Stein on Writing, Breathing Life, On Writing by Stephen King, Bird by Bird, Writing the Breakout Novel.

There are more. I think the most important element is passion. If you have the passion to be the best possible writer you can be, you’re overcome the fear and all the other things that will try to stop you.

Thanks, Jordan.