[Writer Post] What Rings True
It’s Wednesday, that’s a blog day. And this is running towards late because I had something to do at lunch, and now here we are.
As I’ve mentioned a bajillion times so far, I’m reading Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer. Vandermeer is a wise man. In his introduction he says something that is ABSOLUTE GOLD in terms of writing advice. I heard it from another writer, as well, and it’s stuck with me for years. “Pick what rings true for you and discard the rest”.
Pick what rings true to you and discard the rest. Got that? Now this isn’t “situational ethics” or a life lesson, it’s a writer lesson. Writing isn’t universal. What works for me might not work for you. What works for you might not work for the next writer. Anyone giving writing advice beyond “Butt to Chair” in terms of absolutes is lying. There are no absolutes except you have to do the work.
What “pick what rings true” means is this… you know when you’re reading (or listening) to “how to write” by some author and you come across something that makes you say, “Really? Are you sure?” or “I have to do THAT to be successful? Ugh.” That’s something to discard. Heck, this whole blog might be something like that to you. But on the other hand you might come across something that makes you go “HMM, that makes a ton of sense.” DO THAT.
In the first chapter (because that’s where I am) Vandermeer talks about jotting plot bunnies down the moment they come to him (because if you don’t write it down, it never happened – thank you, Tom Clancy). Now, I almost always have a notebook and pen with me. I’m not THIS disciplined yet, but that’s something I can get behind and have started doing , and kinda like he said – with a pen on scraps of paper. That rings true to me, because I’m a “low tech” writer. I like paper and ink. YOU might be more of a voice recorder person (there are apps for that). If it works for you. It works for you.
The only exceptions are…DO THE WORK, and DON’T BE A JERK. Those are actually laws. There’s now hard and fast rule to how you get the work DONE, just get it done. And the other is Wheaton’s Law and just makes sense. Telling people HOW their process MUST be… that’s breaking WHEATON’S LAW. Find what works for you – because if you don’t, you won’t do the work.