Random Thoughts on Writing

by Chuck Rothman

I've been writing for over thirty years, but I still don't know how it works. What works for me may not work for you. And vice versa.

● The best writing guide I had was a course I never took called "Effective Writing." The rules were:

○ Write the entire draft, start to finish, without going back.
○ Edit it until it's good.

90% of what makes a story work is in the first draft. But a first draft rarely works unless it's edited or you're Isaac Asimov.

● I hate to outline. Once I know where a story is going, I'm not interested in writing it.

● Never trust anyone who dictates how to write. They're telling you how they write.

● No one ever was taught to write in a creative writing class. However, a writing class can teach you what pitfalls to avoid, saving you from having to figure it out yourself.

● Every rule of writing can be broken. But you need to know the rules so you can know when to break them.

● Remember the three C's: Character, conflict, and change. You create a character that has a conflict, which causes change.

● There is no cliche that can't be given new life, and no original concept that can be made dull.

● My writing motto is "If it doesn't flow, it doesn't go." I have no idea what that means, but at least it rhymes.

● Note to new writers: no one's going to steal your work. You'd be surprised how many times I've come across people worrying about this.

● Someone once said the difference between a good writer and a bad writer is that a good writer only sees what's bad in his work, and a bad writer only sees what's good. If you can't see what's bad, you can never improve it.

● There's a smorgasbord of writing advice. Pick and choose what you like.

● Someone who will tell you why your story is crap is worth their weight in gold-pressed latinum.

● Forget the three C's. Plenty of stories do.

● Algis Budrys wrote about the "seven parts of a story" -- a great concise analysis of what makes a good story. When he edited Tomorrow, someone went through the stories he published for several months. None had all seven parts.

● Feel free to ignore my advice. I often do.

Chuck Rothman has been writing biographical blurbs for his stories for over 30 years, to accompany stories in places like Asimov's, F&SF, Realms of Fantasy, Daily Science Fiction, Space and Time, and many others publications. He also writes reviews for Tangent Online. He lives in Schenectady. Read more from Chuck on his blog.