Melissa Devlin’s writing advice.
I had my mother, she had a well known BBC writer. I also had the writing section of the bookstore assigned to me!
Please take a look but consider if you agree or not. You don’t have to!
From 30+ Years of writing.
Plots and a good ol” squabble.
Without the extra padding of the story of how I figured this out.
Brush off anyone who says plot wasn’t at least difficult to learn.
Brush off the simplicity of the basis. Because even compelling true stories have it. And you might even think, “I could have told you that”
Could you have then please?
Maybe writing classes are better now. But I learnt the hard way.
Over and over, changes, ripping scenes in and out, my voice changes per book and I had to get used to that because that’s my meta voice.
God I wish someone had just pointed this out to me. I think I finally found its inspiration in a book about NaNoWriMo which I don’t participate in but learnt to appreciate.
Anything to solve “bum in chair” syndrome. (I forget which famous author that was, either Bruce Holland Rogers, or Stephen King)
You don’t get anywhere without guidance – even if it’s from other authors, indeed particularly from the good ones!
(James Teal Glen pointed out fights hurt. And I could write a really good scene focusing on that element)
Delve into your characters – make a volcano one of your characters with a fiery personality (not sorry but should be).
Here we go
Each character wants X
N Gets in the way.
Character challenges, changes, somehow gets through N
Changed might get
X
But character might end up with
Z
Maybe they decided
Y
Is better
X fights N and get X or Z maybe Y
Repeat and complicate.
As an aside
Everyone says to pick a book and stick to that.
Fuck that noise.
Sometimes you just can’t focus on the level. Be it refined, kinda there, well it’s written, hey I have these ideas and dialogue, hey I have this concept.
So you swap around at the level you can concentrate on.
That’s how I got fast.
That and 30+ years of hard work.
A good book involves a lot more than slinging sentences together.
Don’t forget what you learnt in high school English but go beyond it.
Good writing is difficult to do!
Sylvanna Devlin 