The Myths of Fiction Writing
November 29, 2024 by Harvey
In Today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* The Myths of Fiction Writing
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Yesterday, after the first 8 hours, I decided around 10 a.m. to take the rest of the day off. So no writing, checking emails only occasionally, and spending time with my bride. I hope you all had a similarly great Thanksgiving Day.
Quote of the Day
“Anyone who stops learning is old, at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” Henry Ford
The Myths of Fiction Writing
Yesterday I wrote “Not knowing the authentic story scares me more than any of the myths do. And writing the authentic story is much easier than writing according to the myths.”
And as I include in the disclaimer at the end of every issue of TNDJ,
“Whatever you believe, unreasoning fear and the myths that outlining, revising, and rewriting will make your work better are lies. They will always slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.”
So exactly what are the myths?
For anyone who doesn’t know, the myths are the fear-based steps that so many writing pundits say you ‘must’ follow in order to write quality fiction.
To find the myths on the internet, you don’t even have to look for “myths.” Just key in “fiction writing advice.” The internet is crawling with them.
The myths include
conscious, critical-mind outlining or plotting or erecting ‘sign posts’ (and no, you cannot outline or plot with your creative subconscious mind—doing so is impossible)
conscious, critical-mind revision or editing of the content of your story or novel
conscious, critical-mind rewriting even once, much less X or XX number of times
conscious, critical-mind ‘polishing’ (whatever that is)
seeking or taking advice from critique groups, writing circles, beta readers, literary agents, book doctors, ‘developmental’ editors, story or writing coaches, and so on (again, any conscious, critical-mind input)
Are you seeing a common thread here?
Without exception, every myth is hosted by your conscious, critical mind and driven by unreasonable fears. Period. Therefore, everything on that list is bunk.
Your characters and their stories and worlds either live in or are accessed through your creative subconscious mind.
Your conscious, critical mind is a staid, stout old grammar teacher. S/he is scared to death s/he might say or write something others won’t like, and more importantly, that someone else will judge.
Your conscious, critical mind exists in part to keep you ‘safe,’ even from yourself. It is always the source of worrying and fretting and those little sweat beads that pop out on your forehead or cheeks when you experience even unreasonable fear: fear that is based only on imaginary consequences.
A fiction writer’s unreasonable fear is usually expressed as a question:
What if my story is no good?
What if the reader (or agent or editor or publisher) doesn’t like my story?
What if it doesn’t sell?
And any other questions that lead to answers that are out of your control.
There are only two responses to unreasonable fear:
Bow to it and don’t write at all (or sweat and labor over every word and sentence as it goes on the page), or
Quiet your conscious, critical mind, write the story, and let the chips fall where they may.
Enter the Creative Subconscious
Your creative subconscious mind is like a carefree toddler. It just wants to run and play and have fun telling the current story.
It knows the current story is as unimportant as the one before it was and the one after it will be. Your creative subconscious doesn’t entertain unreasonable fears.
Even beginning writers who are confident in themselves—like you were before you were taught all the things you ‘had’ to do in order to write a ‘good’ story—do not bow to the fear and follow the myths.
In answer to the fear-based questions, those confident writers generally shrug, smile, and say “So what?” Then they write the story anyway. Or as Dean Wesley Smith puts it, they “Dare to be bad.”
If you overcome the fear, dare to be bad, and keep putting new words on the page, your writing will improve with every new story or novel you write.
It’s a solid, logical fact that what one reader doesn’t like, another will. Shrug.
But readers can’t like your stories if you’re so frozen with fear that you never write them or publish them.
Believe in yourself. Go for it. You have absolutely nothing to lose.
But some accomplished professional writers follow the myths, don’t they? So that proves the myths work, doesn’t it?
Maybe. Certainly it proves you can construct (not create) a story with the conscious, critical mind.
But it won’t be an authentic story. It won’t be what actually happened in the characters’ world.
So let’s look more closely at those writers. How many books are they writing and publishing per year?
Because it takes so much time to follow the myths instead of simply putting new words on the page, even a professional fiction writer will produce no more than four novels per year, and usually only one or two.
The myths rob writers of the ability to Just Write, be entertained, and enjoy the story. So any professional fiction writer who is also truly prolific only professes to follow the myths:
Those who actually follow the myths live constantly with those unreasonable fears, and they bend to them. Again, as a result, they turn out no more than a few novel per year.
Those who only profess to follow the myths do so in order to sell you a bill of goods—and a lot of nonfiction books and courses that repeat the same tired myths that are in most of the other nonfiction books and courses.
Don’t fall for it.
Those who have cleared out the myths and returned to Just Writing The Authentic Story are turning out six or eight or more novels per year. And the more myths we clear out, the more and better we write.
It isn’t only that we have a work ethic (meaning we actually spend time in the chair). It’s that we know what one reader or agent or publisher doesn’t like, another will.
More importantly, we know we are conveying the authentic story—what actually happened and how the characters actually responded—instead of bowing to unreasonable fear and trying to make the story ‘better’ by revising and rewriting and editing all the originality and authenticity out of it.
As I said above, those pundits who preach the myths do so mostly to separate you from your money to buy their nonfiction books and courses. And the more deeply you believe the myths, the more books and courses they’ll sell you.
If you want to know the truth and if you’re ready to pull up your big-boy or big-girl pants and believe in yourself, I recommend you buy Dean Wesley Smith’s book Writing Into the Dark and my own Writing Better Fiction. Both are unlike probably 99% of the how-to books on writing fiction that are out there.
If you buy and read those, you shouldn’t need any other books on writing, ever. After you’ve read them, keep them handy for reference.
But otherwise, stop fretting and Just Write.
Just put new words on the page. THAT is how you learn to write ‘good’ fiction.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
Be Careful What You Wish For A really great post.
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………… 1250
Writing of
Day 1…… XXXX words. To date…… XXXX
Fiction for November………………… 87261
Fiction for 2024………………………. 924393
Nonfiction for November…………….. 27270
Nonfiction for 2024…………………… 361690
2024 consumable words…………….. 1,110,122
Average Fiction WPD (November)…. 3009
2024 Novels to Date…………………….. 17
2024 Novellas to Date…………………… 1
2024 Short Stories to Date……………… 31
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………..… 101
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 268
Short story collections……………………. 29
Disclaimer: Whatever you believe, unreasoning fear and the myths that outlining, revising, and rewriting will make your work better are lies. They will always slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. I will never teach the myths on this blog.
Writing fiction should never be something that stresses you out. It should be fun. On this blog I teach Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. Because of WITD and because I endeavor to follow those Rules I am a prolific professional fiction writer. You can be too.
If you are able, please support TNDJ with a paid subscription. Thank you!
Thanks for the comment, Tiff. For some stupid reason, I couldn't get down to the Post button in my reply to your comment below, so this is it.
Reading your work aloud (preferably but not necessarily 'to' someone) is never a bad idea. I always catch any mistakes when I read my work aloud. If I didn't have a great first reader, I would read aloud everything I write and then publish it.
I also do spot research. I go into the internet to check a particular detail. Then it's out of the internet and back to the novel. You just need to call on your discipline.
All the other stuff, yep, you called it, excuses. And all of that's your doubt-ridden critical mind thumping on you. No single story (or novel) matters any more than one I wrote ten years ago or will write ten years from now. And that's true of every writer. Some just don't get it for some reason.
I never write for what a reader might 'like' or not like. But it's easy for me. I just write the story that's unfolding around me. If I think it might suit a particular magazine editor, I might send it to him or her, but I never write the story FOR anyone but the characters.
You woke up at 2am and wrote for 8 hrs? Wow!
Thank you for all you do! I appreciate your posts for the inspiration and insights.