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 Writing Tips from a Young AuthorPosted by Elizabeth Langston Sep 27 2012, 12:01 am ‘Tis the season to celebrate aspiring authors. With NaNoWriMo and the Golden Heart deadline just around the corner, I thought you might enjoy hearing from an aspiring young author. Guest-blogging with us today is Amy Langston, a high-school senior and writer with amazing talent. (I say that as her completely biased mother!)
I’ve been working on a novel since March 2011. Before then, I only wrote short stories or poems. I didn’t think I had the ability to come up with a story complex enough to be a novel. In late 2010, I gained an interest in manga and other forms of Japanese media. It was through that exposure that I got bitten by the bug. I created stories with a similar style and type to manga. Many of my story ideas were structured liked comic strips. Because comic strips can go on for long periods of time, my stories became more complex. Also like comic strips, they had little-to-no plot and were mostly focused on character development and relationships. Eventually I conceived a plot to go along with one of my stories, and my novel was born. It’s nowhere near done–which means I get to practice the writing tips I preach. Can you share some of your writing tips? Just write. When you’re writing the first draft, just write down everything you can think of. Don’t worry about the little parts you’re not sure about, whether it’s how you worded something or the details of setting and characters. Let your first draft help you get all your ideas out; you’ll have plenty of time to decide which ones you like the best. Remember that you can always go back and change the story later. A book is never going to be perfect the first time. Let the plot develop as you write. You don’t need to have the entire plot planned out before you write. Sometimes, while you’re writing, you’ll decide that the book should be going in a different direction than you originally planned, you might change a key aspect of character, or you’ll find a key scene difficult to write. As you start to understand your characters’ personalities and interactions with each other, it’ll save a lot of time to let the plot form as the story goes rather than design it all out from the beginning. Choose your words with care. Particularly if you’re writing in first person, you need to stay in the mind of your character. Choose words that your character would use based on their age, location, worldview, etc. Consider your characters’ situation and use their vocabulary and word structure as a demonstration of their personality. Using a variety of words is a good thing, but using flowery language can be distracting. It needs to be realistic. Don’t talk at the reader. If you’re writing in first person, don’t write as if your character is talking to the audience. Although this is also a good rule in third person, it’s more of a problem in first person, especially when describing the actions going on or the narrator’s thoughts. Write it as if there’s no book at all. As far as the characters are concerned, the events are just happening in their lives; there’s no book about it. Write as if the reader is clueless. Don’t assume that the reader has read the blurb on the back. Write the story like the reader knows absolutely nothing about the book before reading it. Don’t introduce information that the reader had to have read in an outside source to understand. Use discretion when taking advice. It’s a good idea to hear advice from other people because they’re your audience. But you don’t need to take every little piece of advice you’re given. If several people say the same thing, it may be a good idea to implement it. If you hear something from only one person—and no one else makes the same comment—it may be unnecessary to worry about it. Your goal is to satisfy the audience at large, not a single person. Think before writing subsequent drafts. After your first draft is finished and you start editing, it’s normal to make some major changes. Even if you’re planning to delete, add, and revise scenes in your story to accommodate these major changes, use the first draft as your foundation for editing; don’t try to write the whole thing again from scratch. Don’t force morals onto the book. It’s a good idea to have a general “point” to convey, but part of the fun of being a reader is to have multiple interpretations and theories concerning the characters and their actions. It happens all the time–and I think it’s a good thing! Read other books. Read other novels in a similar genre/style to what you intend to write. This will allow you to learn about the trends and “rules” about your genre. You’ll also learn about what you should do when writing, and also what you shouldn’t do–often, the latter is just as important as the former. Finally, you’ll put yourself in the audience’s shoes. As the author, you don’t always get that experience, so by being a reader of another book, you can better relate to your readers and their desires and expectations for your novel. Learn how to write by doing. You don’t need to know absolutely everything about how to write before you start. Part of the fun of the writing process is practicing how to write plot and characters as you go. It’s a learning experience.
Great tips. Thank you. Before we end, I have one more question. What do you like most about writing? It helps to learn about human interactions and tendencies: our wants, needs, and motivations. In discovering these in our characters (and I am a firm believer that we don’t make decisions for our characters…they guide us) we come to a better understanding of our own selves. The characters aren’t just a “figment of our imagination”–they become something more powerful than that, regardless of whether they are tangible. They’re like the personification of emotions. We can’t touch emotions, but they are, no doubt, one of the most powerful driving forces.
Well, blog readers, how about you? Did you begin to write in high school? What advice would you give to your young-writer-self? Do you have any writing tips to add? Amy Langston is a writer in many styles and genres: poetry, historical fiction, short stories, nonfiction. In her free time, she attends Mizzou Online High School and gives brutally honest editorial advice to her writer-mom. Elizabeth Langston is a 3-time Golden Heart Finalist in YA. Her debut novel, Whisper Falls (Book 1 of the Whisper Falls trilogy), will be released in November 2013 from SpencerHillPress. To learn more, visit Elizabeth’s website or blog.
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Fantastic to have you sharing your insights on the blog with us, Amy! What a great start to what I’m sure will be a long career. I started writing when I was around 13, maybe younger, but I knew far less then about the craft than you do now. I’m lucky, though, that I had wonderful teachers who encouraged me throughout high school. The most important thing was to keep writing, keep learning, and keep reading.
A big thanks to mum Elizabeth for hosting you on the blog today.
“So, Vanessa, do you get inspiration from…chocolate? We both know that’s not where Mom gets hers from.”
Ha ha! Why, yes, I do get inspiration from chocolate and certain harbourside chocolate cafes…
Could you perhaps be referring to the one you took the Langston Ladies to?
Great post, Amy! My mother once said she believed I like writing because I have a God complex and like to make my characters do what I want. I laughed and said, “Mom, if only that were true. My characters NEVER listen to me.
Keep writing!
I don’t think that’s unusual. I sometimes feel like I’m a god when I’m forcing a difficult situation on my characters, but I know it’s what I have to do.
I solely wrote poetry from about age 13 through my college years; my creative writing degree is poetry-focused. Though I’ve always been a voracious genre fiction reader, I didn’t find the guts to try to write a novel of my own until I was in my 40′s, and I had the same concerns you did: I knew I was a ‘good’ writer per se, but could I tell a compelling story? In hindsight, I’ve come to realize that I absorbed a lot of knowledge about novel-writing from decades of reading other people’s work, but my voice? My word choice, my descriptions, my cadence? TOTALLY influenced by my youthful experience as a poet.
Great post, Amy – and it sounds like you’ve already absorbed some important writing lessons that it took SOME of us (ahem) half a lifetime to learn. Best of luck to you, m’dear. We think your Mom totally rocks.
Just goes to show you’re never too young or old to start writing!
PS. She does totally rock.
I started writing stories when I very young, but I got sidetracked at aged fourteen by the guitar and focused all of my creative energy on songwriting. (And some poetry in college). This passion for songwriting endured until I was in my late twenties. And then a spectacular break up of my band and a ticking biological clock made me put the guitar down and return to a promise I had made when I was in grade school that I would write a novel before I was thirty. I did it. It was pretty bad. And I knew so much less about writing than you do now. But I have to tell you that writing THE END on that first terrible novel was one of the true highlights of my life. Until I got there (and it took 2 years) I didn’t know I could write such a complicated story. And once you know that you can do it, that’s half the battle right there.
Your songwriting connection reminds me of a post Mom wrote a while back on this blog about the “music of writing”. Do you think your music had any influence on your later writing?
How lovely to hear from you, Amy! You have a tremendous amount of writing wisdom for someone your age!
Yes, I started writing young–actually in first grade–and I’ve never been able to stop. It’s definitely one of life’s greatest pleasures.
Keep going!!
I was writing in first-grade too, and haven’t stopped, because if I want to improve, I can’t stop. It’s like a road. When you start the journey you’ll be nervous about how you’ll you drive, the obstacles that might ensue, and there will no doubt be stoppings, yieldings, and mental road blocks. But there will be a beautiful destination for you to arrive at.
Amy:
This is a fantastic post!!! The wisdom you’ve got about writing will take you very far. I particularly loved this:
“It helps to learn about human interactions and tendencies: our wants, needs, and motivations. In discovering these in our characters (and I am a firm believer that we don’t make decisions for our characters…they guide us) we come to a better understanding of our own selves.”
So, so true and very well said!
I’m so glad you joined us today!
Addison
Amy, I think you hit the nail on the head with that last response – that writers come to know and understand themselves so much better through their writing. When writers seem to repeat a *theme*, I often wonder if it’s something they struggled with in their own lives. That author’s worldview can’t help but structure their work.
Great tips!
Great advice, Amy. I’m so glad you posted!!
I have been writing stories and songs since well..since I learned how to read and write. I just can’t not write songs, or come up with stories in my head.
The best advice of all in this list to me is to “just write”. That what you put on the paper doesn’t have to be perfect the first time.
Oh and I agree with the previous posts – Your Mom does rock!! And so do you!!
Wow, Amy – what great advice. And yes, very wise. I especially like that part about not taking everyone’s advice. A lot of new writers try to apply everyone’s input when that’s really impossible. Or they do it and end up with a dry-toast sort of piece that doesn’t speak to anyone’s soul.
I started writing young, but majored in Biology because I didn’t want anyone to tell me how to write. Now as a published writer, I get to hear LOTs of comments on how I write : ) LOL – it’s a good thing writing fills me up!
Thanks so much for blogging with us today!
My two favorite of your tips: “Learn how to write by doing” and “Use discretion when taking advice”. I started writing in junior high, so about 13. Somewhere I still have my junior high yearbook where my English teacher signed it with a statement that she hoped to see my books on the shelves one day. I credit her with cultivating and encouraging my love of creative writing.
Amy, You’re an inspiration. I love, love your spirit and the fact that you know so well what it is you want to do with your life. Many young people now days don’t. I think they need to discover their talents and stick with them. Don’t let anyone stop you from going after your dream.
Kudos on the great post. Your mom is so proud of you and she should be.
(((HUGS))) AJ
What a great post, Amy! I’m so impressed. I started writing as a kid, but I don’t think I knew as much about the craft as you do now until I was well into my twenties. I’m sure you’ll have a great career ahead of you!
You are a great deal wiser than I was at a similar age, Amy, and I was winning writing awards while still in high school. Yes, like you, I started writing very early. Even before I could write, I told stories. Strange stories, to be sure, filled with fairies and clowns and Indian Chiefs, but I had a severly limited frame of reference(we had only three television channels back in the day).
I particularly like that you acknowledge the autonomy of your characters and their ability to lead you. Mine do the same. Trying to force them to follow the path I choose always leads to disaster—and not the kind one likes to find in books. When they take on a life of their own, you’ve done your job.
Congrats to you and to your mom; she did good!
A wonderful post Amy. You are an inspiration.
I wrote and told stories as far back as I can remember. Only thing was most adults called them lies. HA!
I can’t wait to read your first book.
What great tips, Amy! Thank you so much for being here. I started writing very young as well and started my first “book” in high school. And also like you, it was all about the characters. The plot just kind of came to me as I wrote and I loved every minute of it.
Keep it up and we’ll be seeing your name on the best seller’s lists alongside your mom’s. Congrats to you both!!! ~D~
Amy, what a wonderful post! I wrote poetry in high school (I still have the book of it around somewhere). During those years, I read almost anything I could get my hands on, as well. And I think what I liked to read when I was younger influenced what I like to write today. I didn’t start writing seriously until I was a bit older. And then it was only because I’d run out of things to read (and Kindles weren’t around at that time). But I’ve found a deep satisfaction in the writing process–just as much as I get from reading.
Thanks so much for the tips! I loved them.
Thanks, everyone, for the comments. I find it interesting how most of you began writing in high school or middle school. I didn’t start until my forties. Perhaps that’s why it took me so long to learn. I wish I had learned Amy’s first rule sooner. Just Write.
My first sad book (the proverbial gathering-dust one) was not “Just Write.” Every word had to be perfect or I erased it. Ultimately, all of those perfect words made a seriously boring book. Humanity is better off because it will never see the light of day.
I’m glad I finally learned to just write. And I’m glad Amy learned it earlier than me.
Wow, such a great post Amy! You never cease to amaze me with your intelligence and creativity. Your advice to just get the story down however you can with the first draft is really great. You’re so right that it’s never going to be perfect the first time. I wish I had realized that at a younger age instead of wasting so much time trying to get everything perfect the first time. I suffered a lot of disappointment!
I can’t wait to read your first book. Thanks for this great list of writing tips.