Chicks-n-Scratching

Before you think this is going to be a review of writing books, I’ll ease your mind – it isn’t. This is just going to be my perspective on them and why I think for the most part, a writer doesn’t even need them.

Now, when I first started writing- oh, so many years ago- I read a few…very few. There were some good tips in them, but I never had that one epiphanic moment when it all came together for me from reading “that one book.” The most useful were the ones on individual topics of the craft: dialogue, characters, viewpoint, plot, conflict, etc. Then came the “scene of the crime” type manuals that at least answered some basic questions about police procedures. These helped to some degree.

I think the problem comes from people who take writing books and thump them like a Bible, decreeing this is how it’s done. Thou shalt not break from tradition. – To them, I give a great big raspberry. When the books started hitting the market about the hero’s journey and the archetypes, the writing community embraced them as if they were some kind of divine portal that opened directly from the writing nirvana. Nothing raised my hackles more than writers who started quoting those books. The ideas weren’t new, and they were most likely things writers were doing anyhow without realizing it. I know I did. All it took was to pick up a book on myth and folklore (any culture, your choice) and the same information is contained within. Or to read Joseph Campbell…or…eek…the man who first wrote of archetypes, Carl Jung. (We actually have him to thank for Campbell’s later research. Campbell was a student of Jungian theory.)

But I digress.

My bookshelves are stacked full of reference materials that I don’t even remember opening – writing books – the ones I open the most are those books that have nothing to do with writing but I use for expert knowledge on topic. Honestly, I think I learned more from doing and from studying other writers and how they structured their plots than any writing book in my collection. Not to mention those critique partners I paired up with over the years. Nothing takes the place of a little one-on-one instruction.

So, why do writing books continue to sell so well? Because they are selling more than just “how-to” – they’re selling hope.

To a new writer those are the keys to the kingdom. “If I just read this one book, I’ll understand it all and be able to write a best seller and make all my dreams come true.” – Oh, if it were only that easy. But while I think “how to” books can point a newbie in the right direction, I think sometimes they hinder some of the natural storytelling ability.

Case in point. About two years ago, I read a book on scene and sequel. I’d heard some writers discussing this at a conference and wanted to know what I was missing. I picked up a book on it and started reading, underlining and trying to absorb the information. About halfway through the book, I realized these were things I did naturally, just by knowing the cadence of my story and my plot and knowing my characters and their goals. Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with reading such a book- I’m sure it’s helped many a writer – but for me it only confused matters. Suddenly, I worried about things I didn’t need to be worrying about. I’d stall out while writing a scene because I got hung up on what came next. I’d lost that natural ability to let the story grow organically from plot – something I’ve thankfully regained again.

Enough already! I was doing pretty well on my own without the help from Ima Writer. In this case, I have to say the book was a hinderence.

So, I think what a writer really needs to decide before purchasing a “how to” book is how much help they really need on that particular topic. Is it an area where they are really and truly lost, or do they just need a few really good examples to make it all click?

-Kate

If you can dream it...you can write it.

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