This is a reboot of a post on my previous blog.
A couple years back I dabbled in filmmaking. On a couple of projects I’d butt heads with people over creative differences – from a character’s motivation to the software I was using to edit. At first it was a huge headache but it led me to a realization: there’s almost always more than one way to tell a story. Anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is either an overbearing idiot or clueless.
Back in college I spent my free time in the writing lab. They had computers, I didn’t at the time, and I liked writing creative stuff. Since during the semester the place was usually empty I never had a problem parking for an hour or two and working on a story.
I was in a scifi class, reading and analyzing not writing – but we did get a writing assignment at the start of the semester. Most students wrote a couple pages; mine was 25 or so. The instructor was thrilled, impressed and strongly encouraged me to talk to the instructor of the creative writing class. She’d send the story over and even arrange a meeting for me.
We were well underway but a couple weeks from choosing the next semester’s classes, so I said OK. About a week later I met the instructor and will never forget the conversation.
You’ve got a good scifi story here, but I think it’d be better if you took the scifi elements out of it and write about the things you know about. Delivering pizzas. Being a college student. If you came to my class I’d push you to rewrite this story and make it better.
I have to admit I was taken a bit aback by this. I don’t really remember exactly what I said to her, I think it was probably thank you and I’ll think about it. I never did sign up for the class, and almost everyone I tell the story to thinks the same thing – who in their right mind would tell you to take all the scifi out of your scifi story?
In that instructor’s mind, genre fiction is crap. However there are plenty of people who are fans of the genre and would strongly disagree. While there are some genres I don’t really read, I don’t feel strongly any genre is superior to another. If you gravitate toward reading or writing a certain genre it doesn’t make you any less an artist. You should probably force yourself to read some genres outside your preferred ones, though, to expose yourself to different ways of storytelling. Then you can bring those tools to your writing.
You’ll see this kind of advice all over writing communities. Friends don’t let friends use Microsoft Word. Really? I can’t believe in 2021 as I’m writing this post it’s even a conversation anymore. It’s ubiquitous and these days it’s probably cheaper than a lot of dedicated writing programs. Go ahead, find a writing group online and ask what tool you should use. You’ll be flooded with advice and the fervor can be nearly religious.
Almost as bad is the outline/pantsing approach to writing a story. Some people will beat you over the head saying you need to outline or you’re not a writer! Others will say those people are idiots and all you need to do is go, get it out and write later. Personally I think both methods make a lot of sense and I use a hybrid approach. Sometimes I write freely until I get stuck, then brainstorm my way past the block. Other times I have a more formal outline and I’ll write, but as I go I find the story is actually going in a different direction.
What you need to remember is nobody who reads your book or watches your movie is going to care how you wrote it, all they care about is you wrote it and it’s good. The only caveat here is if you’re writing screenplays, you should probably use a dedicated program because the formatting is so strict and if you’re off you’ll be thrown in the slush pile.
Think about it – would you trust a carpenter who only used hammers? Or a surgeon who only used scalpels? Of course you wouldn’t. As an artist you need to be aware of the genres and tools you have available, and use the ones that you find useful. You’re the one doing the work, don’t be afraid to make the method your own.