Bullpuckerination

[weemadharold]

I have no idea what "bull-puckey" means (well, it's obvious from the context, but I've never heard it before and don't know where it comes from) but this made me smile:"It takes me about 15 minutes, give-or-take (depending on the book and the day and how I’m feeling) to write 250 words of fiction. (Each writer is different. Time yourself

Comments

[howlin_wolf_66]

It's not that it must be hard, it's that you must THINK about what you write... and then analyse it... and then alter it... and it's THAT process that takes longer than getting down the final version of whatever it is. :-)

If it's coming to you excessively quickly, then you haven't thought about it properly... and if you haven't thought about it, then it's usually not of a very high standard.

Like anything else, improvement takes practice, and practice takes time. I could not disagree more with his casual approach, and I'd bet that most professional writers wish that what they did was that easy.

[weemadharold]

His casual approach has enabled him to make a good living from his writing for the past few decades.

Smith does say several times that every writer is different, and what works for one may not work for another, but I think the demystification of the writing process is really useful. Writer's often like to make fans and publishers think that they've sweated blood over their work, when actually it's a damn sight easier than 98% of the jobs their fans have.

JA Konrath says:I don't believe in muses

[weemadharold]

Also, his 'casual approach' is in some ways anything but. He spends several hours every day writing. He starts things, he writes a lot, then he finishes them. Then they get published, either in print or digitally self-published. I think that his central message is "If you want to be a writer then write something, finish it, publish it, and write something else. It's as easy as that." Over-complicating things is not going to lead to making a living from your writing.

[weemadharold]

Also! (This is the last thing I'll say for now! I hope it doesn't seem like I'm jumping down your throat or anything, I'm just interested in the debate!) He currently has 48 books listed under his name (he's written under a couple of pen names that I know of) on Amazon.com and the majority of them have an average rating of 4 or 5 stars. It's popular fiction, but obviously of a standard that readers are happy with.

[howlin_wolf_66]

No, it's fine; I'm interested in the debate, as well... and I didn't want to make it seem as though I was 'attacking' you! :-)

[howlin_wolf_66]

Yes, of course everybody is different... but if everybody is different, then surely he should not be positing that lots of people are able to do as he does

[weemadharold]

It seems to me that he's being less prescriptive than you think. Right at the start of the quote he says "Each writer is different. Time yourself." He's not saying "This is how many words I write in a year, and every other writer should be doing the same." He's saying "This is how many words I write in a year. How many can you write? Are you achieving that potential?"

Obviously if you're working full-time and fitting your writing into an hour a day of free time then your monthly word-count is going to be much lower than somebody who writes full-time.

The 'method that works for him' is simply to sit down and write, and not make excuses. Not get trapped in the "myth that writing must be work, that it must be hard, that you must “suffer for your art” and write slowly."

[howlin_wolf_66]

Mmmm, I'm still not sure... There's too many variables that means you aren't always going to achieve the set total, every day.

You can sit down and write without making excuses and still find it hard going, no? The fact that you've managed to schedule time and are getting something down shouldn't imply that the act itself comes without any kind of grief at all.

I agree that writing doesn't HAVE to be hard, but for many people it is, and that doesn't then mean that they can't ultimately be happy with the results of their work.

[weemadharold]

I think you're right, but I think Dean Wesley Smith is right as well. I've written a few things, and on more than one occasion I've reached a point where I'd got stuck, couldn't figure out where to move the story next, and sat there for ages trying to work it out

[howlin_wolf_66]

I accept this. I think it's phrased a lot better than the original excerpts were! :-)

[weemadharold]

Better phrasing, eh? Maybe I should be a writer! ;o)

[howlin_wolf_66]

If you give it a shot, what's the worst that could happen? (I see you're already doing this, anyway!)

[weemadharold]

Yeah, it was kind of a private joke. Through my teens and into my very early twenties a writer was all I wanted to be. Then some shit happened and I sort of lost my way, but deep down that never really changed. Writing has always been my goal, I just kind of forgot about it for a while.