A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing Fiction
I’ll be the first to admit that having a blog that talks mainly about personal finance and the art of writing is kind of a strange combination. But that’s me: strange—so it’s a great fit.
So when I see other sites or meet other bloggers that share these two interests, it makes me feel less strange.
Trent over at The Simple Dollar is one of the top PF bloggers out there, and the other day he wrote a post about making goals achievable that was really interesting.
He was trying to give three of his readers some advice on how to achieve their goals by breaking them down into easily digestible steps. One person wanted to learn to play the guitar (which I have failed at several times), another was trying to get an emergency fund started, and the third wanted to start a garden.
But the interesting part for me was how Trent injected himself into the post. To serve as an additional example, he noted how he wants to be a published fiction writer. Then he goes about breaking down what he needs to do to get there:
First he defines the big steps of his goal:
For my goal of writing a novel and some short stories, I need to bone up on my fiction writing. This means prescribing to a steady diet of two things: reading good fiction (to learn technique and style) and practicing my own writing. Thus, my plan should revolve around a steady diet of reading good fiction each day along with focused fiction writing, starting with short stories and later growing into longer pieces.
Then he sketches out the first step he must take:
For me, this could mean spending a Saturday afternoon churning out a complete short story and reading a certain number of short stories written by others. I’ve been reading quite a few short stories as of late by swapping for short story compilations on PaperBackSwap and hitting the library.
Then set some microgoals:
For my goal of writing, I’ll commit to a diet of reading ten short stories a week, writing a strong first draft of one, editing an old one to bring it into better shape, and sharing some of those edited stories with friends and family who can provide some solid feedback.
And finally, the thing I’ve been battling for a long time when it comes to my own fiction, you must set aside the time:
For me, I’ve simply set aside half an hour each day to read a short story and half an hour to write a new one or prod an old one. I found that hour by simply getting more focused in my reading. On a normal day, I would spend two hours or so simply reading for pleasure – now I just have one hour of free reading and an hour devoted to making myself into a good fiction writer.
It all sounds good in theory, doesn’t it? But does it work? There’s only one way to tell: by actually trying it.
If you know anything about Trent and his site, you know he’s got supernatural skills when it comes to making time. It’s the one thing that gives me a lot of trouble but he manages to handle it incredibly well.
I’ve been trying to set aside this time every day, but between this blog, posting over at WiseBread, and keeping up with the PF community, it’s hard to find the time in my morning routine for it.
But I can’t argue with Trent’s logic. It sounds like it could work, and I intend on finding out once and for all.
Photo by Stardust
