Fiction Scribe

This pet peeve is somewhat like the first post about wannabes, but these are wannabes of a more general sort…

In a roundabout way, Bob’s guest post reminded me of a long-standing pet peeve of mine, something I touched on in the recent Bird by Bird discussion:

She goes on to touch on something I feel is very important:

“The problem that comes up over and over is that these people want to be published. They kind of want to write, but they really want to be published.�

And that’s the key, isn’t it? I believe too many people focus on just getting published. People assume because you know how to write, anyone can write a book. I encourage those people to think of it this way: Just because I know how to hold a paint brush and put paint on a canvas doesn’t mean I can create a wonderful work of art.

I got it a lot in high school, but I didn’t truly consider myself a writer. So when some of my friends assumed because I could write a story, they could, I didn’t say anything. But high school is over now, and yet people still don’t seem to understand…

My pet peeve is people who think that just because they can write some letters, just because they’ve read a few book, they assume they can write the next Harry Potter. The truth is, these people who suddenly decide they are the next best seller are usually a.) writing fanfiction of Harry Potter and b.) the ones who have no drive to see it through.

There are people who have natural talent, yes, but not that many.

It’s the non-natural talent types who don’t regard story writing like the art it is who make me mad. You didn’t just sit down and play beautiful music on the piano because you know you can make noise by pressing keys. Neither did you make beautiful pottery and statues because you know how to squish things in your hand.

Writing is an art. You start by learning letters and by reading. You improve by studying the rules and play with them. You go through trial and error, and (hopefully) you improve over time.

It takes work. Work.

So for all those out there who think you can sit down and craft the story of a lifetime, you’d better be prepared to spend your lifetime writing better drafts.