Weekday Wisdom, Episode 104
Are you paying attention to the craft of your writing? That goes for you even if you don’t consider yourself a writer. If you are writing blog posts, opt-in reports, social media posts, you should be paying attention to the craft of writing and working to improve your skills in this area.
In today’s episode, we’re picking up where we left off last week with my interview with Joan Gelfand. Today’s topic is the first “C” she mentions in her book: Craft.
CARMA SPENCE: What do you think are the best ways for someone to develop their craft so that they can feel like they are good enough to get started on a long-term project, like a book?
JOAN GELFAND: I think the best way to get good are two ways that are actually bigger roadblocks than you and I might imagine. And one is reading all lot.
That means not just reading other people’s books in your genre, but when you read, really thinking:
* “What is this other trying to say here?”
* “What is the bigger metaphor of this book?”
* “What are the tricks that they use?”
And, not only that. “I don’t understand this word. I better hurry up and look that up.”.
That’s one thing, I have to say, I love about reading on my Kindle. I was just talking to some friends about it recently. When you’re on Kindle if you don’t understand a word, you can look it up immediately. In the old days, we used to keep a dictionary by the bed. I don’t have a dictionary by the bed anymore. On Kindle, all you have to do is press the word and there comes the definition.
You want to keep increasing your vocabulary. That’s one of the most basic things.
And the other thing, which is really sad to me because I know I had to do a lot of personal work to get over this hurdle, is you have to listen to how people respond to your work.
In other words, if they like it, take it in and realize what’s working. If they’re not liking it, then you have to have the presence of mind to say to yourself, “OK. If one person isn’t responding to my book, what about if I show it to 10 people?”
One of the things an agent once said to me is, “How many early readers have you had for your book?” And I had to realize only a few people read my book. We’ll think about it if you want your book to go out to the general public — not your mother, who will love it no matter what you write — you have to be open to objective opinions.
I do know writers that just refuse to have an editor. They refuse to take it to a workshop. They refuse to show it to not only three friends, but 10 friends. And to say to those friends — and colleagues — to say to those people, very clearly, “Don’t be kind. I won’t dislike you if you give me criticism.”.
Really, the key here is to get the harshest criticism. Open yourself up to what’s working and what’s not working.
CS: And I think you also have to take every negative comment with a grain of salt. Why are they disliking it? Are they disliking it because they’re not your reader? There are people who will read science fiction and go, “This is crap.” Well, it may be the best science fiction ever, they just don’t like science fiction.
JG: Absolutely right. I’m a poet. I have people in my world that don’t read poetry. They don’t like it. They don’t understand it. They don’t know what to make of it. You have to find your audience, definitely. But that’s the work of it.
CS: Yes.
