How Do I Write the Story I Want to Tell?

How do I write the story I want to tell?

START 

Some people will tell you that there are specific ways to go about telling your story, certain methods, processes. Books have been written about it. Seminars have been given. There are classes you can take and videos you can watch...And you should check into some of those, certainly (especially the creative writing and rhetoric classes offered here at UTC). But I am here to tell you the best kept secret about writing the story you want to tell:

 

Just start writing.

 

It sounds like you have already done some brainstorming and have some ideas. So the next step is drafting, right? Remember the Writing Process that you learned in English 1010 and 1011.

 

 





The Writing Process does not just apply to academic papers; it is applicable to all writing. And all of those books and seminars and videos and classes will enlighten you to the most important part of writing the story you want to tell: START WRITING.

 

Will your first draft be award winning material? NO. No-one's first draft is ever a best seller. But the good news is that you can take what you draft out and turn that into a well-written story in which you can take pride.

 

So, start writing now. And consider a plan of writing at least 1,000 words a day for the next two months. And just write what comes to mind each day when you think about your story. And when it seems like you are creating something fabulous keep writing. And when it seems like you are creating mind-numbing crap keep writing. And when it seems like your thoughts are all out of order keep writing. Remember that you have to revise your initial draft anyway.

 

Revision: it is what all the cool kids are doing!

 

The key to success in writing, as it is in everything else, is starting. Remember, you cannot finish if you never even show up.

 

And when you think you are going to go crazy and that you just want to give up, watch the following hysterical excerpt from The Golden Girls, have a laugh; then, get back to writing!

 

 

Coming to you from the middle of a massive revision of the story I want to tell,

 

Professor Repentista

 

How can I make English 1010 easier?

How can I make English 1010 an easier class to handle since I am not the best at writing?

 

 

 

Just follow these three easy steps:

1) Be a worm.

2) Be like Gaga.

3) Give in to peer pressure.

 

 

Be a worm? Yes. Be a bookworm. 

“Read, read, read. Read everything—trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read!” —William Faulkner

You know that you learned to talk by listening. It should not surprise you that you learn most about writing by reading.

 

 

Be like Gaga? Yes. Love the process.

“I’m not as goal obsessed as I am process obsessed.” —Lady Gaga

Didn't see that one coming, did you? As Lady Gaga knows, writing is a process.

 

Follow the process. Don't take short-cuts. And remember that the process takes time, which is why your professor gives you 2 - 4 weeks to complete the process and not twenty-four hours.

 

 

 

Give in to peer pressure? Yes. Use peer review comments to better your paper.
“Everyone is doing it.” —Every kid in the world to his or her mother

 Lewis Carroll did it. J.R.R. Tolkein did it. Mary Shelley did it. There are no famous authors who have confessed being born with the innate ability to seemlessly craft the written word. And that is good news.

 

 

Yes, it is good news that no-one appears to have been born with the ability to write a best-selling novel on the first try with no previous training, with no process, with no outside assistance because that means you can write a praise-worthy five-page paper with a little training (reading), a little assistance (peer review), and a lot of process (the writing process).

 

And this all leads us to another question that was asked: When does the fun start? It starts with the pre-writing (or drafting) once you realize that you can be best at writing if you follow three easy steps.

Write on!

Professor Repentista