✍️ How Do You Write Best?
or, Exploring How to Explore How to Find Your Writing Groove
I’ve spoken about
in these pages before, and what an inspiration he’s been for me. Well, I’ve been inspired again…Terry recently celebrated the 20th book birthday of his first novel, The Best Laid Plans. In case you don’t know, his story is every self-published author’s dream: Terry wrote a book, sold it out of his trunk, sent his last five copies to a major Canadian literary award that needed exactly five copies to submit, won the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour (his first of two so far), found an amazing agent, signed with the most prestigious publisher in Canada, and now is a full-time novelist. (There have been more sightings of Bigfoot in Canada than real, live full-time novelists, so yeah, it’s a big deal.)
In this recent post of his, Terry talked about how a big part of writing that novel was to learn how to write a novel. Or, to be even more precise, how he writes novels:
The fact that I started loving my writing sessions, and what they yielded, told me I was on the right track. To be clear, that didn’t mean the novel I was writing was necessarily any good, it just meant that I thought I’d figured out how I write best.
-Terry Fallis
Emphasis mine. As has been referenced in these pages before, Terry and I are exact opposites when it comes to writing approaches. He is the consummate planner, meticulously outlining his novels before he writes a word. I dive in with no regard to where I’m going, pantsing my way through the whole thing. (If the theme song to The Odd Couple just popped into your head, you’re not alone…)
But this post isn’t about how Terry writes or how I write. It’s about figuring out how you write best. And it goes beyond the concepts of planning and pantsing.
Quick Quiz – What Do You Wish Most for Your Writing?
Before we dive into that, I’m curious to know others’ writing fears and anxieties so that I can explore your biggest concerns. But don’t worry, all surveys are anonymous.
Please take 9 seconds to answer yes or no to the following!
Thank you!
How to Be a Writer in 10,389 Easy Steps
A step-by-step guide book on how to be a writer can’t really exist. This is for two crucial reasons:
Everyone is a writer, if they want to be. It’s nothing that’s earned or conferred upon you. If you decide to write, you are a writer.
Every single path is different.
I truly believe there isn’t really a way to teach people how to approach becoming a writer – or any type of artist, for that matter. What you write and how you approach it is part of your art. In that sense, writing is sort of a calling – and you need to follow your artistic instincts to do things your way.
That’s why Terry’s quote above struck a perfectly in-tune chord with me: finding out how you write best will make writing easier and better for you.
Sounds like an obvious statement, right? But I’m not sure all writers do actually know how they write best.
Here are a few solid reasons why I think it’s important to find out what approach works best for you.
Writing will feel easier.
You will tend to be more creative.
You will be more confident in your writing – and less likely to hate what you’ve written when you read it later.
You will be more productive.
You will be less likely to fall into those common writerly fears and other pitfalls.
If this were an infomercial, I’d tell you here that you’d be a “happier, more creative, more productive writer” – and then cut to a smiling guy with a laptop dancing through spring tulips. You’ll be like Terry: loving your writing sessions.
Ask yourself honestly – do you know how you write best?
I wonder now if so-called writer’s block might be, in part, the writer’s lack of understanding of their process. That feeling of getting stuck may be a sign that, yeah, it’s time to find out what works best for you.
But, um… how?
Although I can’t tell you how to write, I do have a few ideas that you can try as you work your way through that dark tunnel…
Four Ideas to Help You Find How You Write Best
Write. Yep, it really is that simple. It reminds me of Sheldon on Big Bang Theory reading every book there was on how to swim… Can’t be done. Some (many!) things you can only learn by doing. Writing, and more specifically finding your best way of writing, is one of them.
If you can’t write or aren’t writing, find out why. Is it a lack of time? A lack of motivation? Imposter syndrome? A negative feedback loop brought on by guilt? Are you waiting for permission? There are many reasons you may not be writing, and many fears that might be stopping you. You don’t have to tell anyone the reasons why, but it’s helpful to be honest with yourself. Why don’t you want to write right now? Be honest with yourself. Even if you don’t like the answers.
Write for fun instead of writing for serious. “Serious” writing is much more likely to lead to angst and failure. Exercises like Zero Draft Writing and simply having fun writing spurs creativity. Most importantly in this context, it’s a trick you play on your brain. It forces you to write before you have a chance to decide whether or not you really want to write…! Like many things we like to avoid (for whatever reason), often once we’re doing it, those objections our minds put in our way simply dissolve like sugar.
Read books on craft. A group of us recently launched a book club for writers specifically to read books on craft. Some are more useful than others, and many lead to personal dead-ends. But sometimes learning what doesn’t work for you is just as important as learning what does.
Key Takeaway: Learning how you write best can help you be more creative, more productive, and less likely to fall prey to writerly fears. You will also be more likely to enjoy your writing sessions. You’ll turn that negative feedback loop into a positive one.
Over to You: Do You Feel You Know How You Write Best?
I’m interested to know, if you’re willing to talk about it, how comfortable you feel about your writing approach. Either way, does it affect your willingness to write? Your enjoyment of writing? Your perceived assessment of whether it’s good or bad writing?
I’ll leave you with a slightly tangential video that talks about how easily writers can get overwhelmed with projects and even lose their beliefs in them and/or their abilities to pull it off, and some ideas for finishing the project anyway.
Until next time... keep writing with wild abandon!
~Graham
email me if you get lost.
Great post, Graham. Thanks for the kind words. I remember in the very beginning, I asked myself why I couldn’t write, or rather why I was paralyzed when my desire to write was off the charts? I thought hard about this simple question and eventually figured out—as we’ve discussed before—that it was my uncertainty about the story and where it was going that stopped me dead in my tracks. That was first clue—well, really the whole answer—that I was an ardent planner. Everything fell into place for my writing after answering that one question. I hope your post resonates with writers who are struggling.
Both you and Terry have been my constant go-to Substack reading. I often feel like you've been sitting on my shoulder and your guidance is invaluable. Looking forward to Terry's latest book and both your next Substacks.