6.5 writing tips

I was in a seedy bar in Kings Cross when I heard one of the best pieces of advice I have ever received. I was discussing my literary ambitions with a very successful commercial photographer and he said to me,

“When I first began studying photography, I was in a class with twenty other people who all had talent, top of the line equipment and real ambition. I’m now the only graduate of that class earning a living as a photographer. You know what the difference between me and them was? I knew I was a photographer, not just a person who takes photos. It’s what defines me. You have to know the same of yourself as a writer.”

About twenty minutes later he invited me to snort speed with him in a toilet cubicle and started hitting on my girlfriend. These rather damning personal flaws notwithstanding, he gave me a piece of advice that I’ve kept with me to this day. I’m going to outline a few other ideas that have helped me along the way in the hope that they’ll be of some assistance to you as well.

1. EMULATE, DON’T IMITATE

There isn’t an artist in the world that hasn’t borrowed in some form from their heroes and/or predecessors. There’s no shame in that. However, it is important to distinguish between being influenced by another artist and being downright plagiaristic. I once had a friend who was a huge silverchair fan who flagrantly ripped off one of their riffs in his demo. He asked me what I thought of it and I told him I liked it better the first time I heard it; on Neon Ballroom. Just remember, you don’t want to end up like this guy.

Study the techniques and methods of your heroes and learn form them, then synthesise those ideas into something of your own. I’m inspired by the way that Neil Gaiman creates in so many formats (screenplays, comics, adult novels, kids’ novels, picture books etc) and that is something I also hope to achieve. During my three years of studying literature at university I had the fact that you must p-l-a-n e-v-e-r-y s-e-n-t-e-n-c-e hammered repeatedly into my brain. I was thus very relieved to learn that one of my favourite authors, Tom Robbins, doesn’t plan a single thing before he starts attacking his keyboard (you can read that quite fascinating, if badly formatted aricle here.) This article by Chuck Palahniuk also offers some very sage and succint advice. Bear in mind that both of these authors have an approach to writing that is appropriate to their style. An important part of learning how to write is learning what does and doesn’t work for you, and the only way to know for sure is to try everything.

“Maybe one day you’ll write a book as good as Fight Club,

and then Hollywood can fuck you over with a horrendously inappropriate

and unsuccesful marketing campaign too!”

2. BE CONFIDENT, NOT ARROGANT

One concept that gets thrown around a lot in my circle (or hexagon, or trapezoidal pyramid) of friends is the concept of confidence vs arrogance. As an artist, you have to know that what you are creating is important, original and exciting. If you don’t believe that then it’s highly unlikely that other people will. However, this doesn’t mean that you should make the mistake of thinking that you are the greatest writer since Tolstoy or people will slap you down faster than you can say the Death of Ivan Ilyich which, granted, isnt all that fast. No one wants to work with jerks; not publishers, not agents, not publicists and not that hot girl with the unpronounceable Slavic name who answers the phone at Allen & Unwin.

“If that arrogant bastard calls me again, I am going to

shove a bottle of my unkle Petrov’s cheap vodka up his conceited ass.”

3. USE SOCIAL MEDIA

A lot of authors talk about how useful social media are for marketing and promoting their work, but it seems to me that their collaborative benefits are often unwisely overlooked. Recently I was researching for my next book God in a Coma and I asked for suggestions of strange and interesting medical conditions to afflict one of the central characters with. Within MINUTES I had dozens of replies for everything from Jerusalem Syndrome to Teratoma. Two minds are better than one they say, and the several hundreds or perhaps thousands of people in your personal network are better still.

4. READ WIDELY

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This might sound overly simplistic, but if you are a sci-fi writer who reads nothing but sci-fi or a crime thriller writer who only reads crime thrillers then your work is going to reflect that, and not in a good way. Personally, I think writers who only write in one genre or style are crazy. If imagination is limitless, why would you then elect to shackle it with artificial constraints? Then again, I’m forced to describe my novel as a ‘dark comedic philosphical travel fiction novel’ and there’s no denying that’s a mouthful, so each to their own. However, having a broad artistic palette of styles and concepts to mix into your work is going to produce a piece that is interesting and diverse. Read trash as well, so you can learn what makes it trash and make sure your work doesn’t start inadvertently heading in the same direction. I try to read a mix of fiction and non-fiction to harvest ideas and concepts for stories. I just read a book on neuroplasticity that was a veritable gold mine for character concepts. Sound/colour synesthesia anyone?

5. CHOOSE THE RIGHT NAMES

This is something that is often overlooked, but choosing the perfect name for your character is essential; just think of the iconic examples like Anna Karenina, Gandalf and Jane Eyre or more modern ones like Juno. A name that is not only interesting but suits the protagonist can define the way the story takes shape. I like to use imdb.com to search for interesting names, or else scan those baby name sites (if you can endure the unceasing onslaught of pink borders and nappy ads). Once you find a name that you think fits, google it and see what it comes up with. I thought ‘Lenka’ was going to be perfect for one of the characters in A Beginner’s Guide to Dying in India until I googled it and found out that popular media is currently associating that particular moniker with the twee pop songstress. Highly unacceptable for a sassy German philosophy student with a penchant for hallucinogens.

“Imagine if my name had been Stacey. That would have been balls.”

6. WRITE WHAT YOU LOVE

A lot of people will tell you to write what you know. But guess what? Tolkien never actually met a single hobbit, elf, or dragon and look how his writing turned out. I think a better piece of advice would be write what you LOVE. Kate Morton, who was my tutor in first year Introduction to British Literature, told me that. To be honest I didn’t pay that much attention in first year as I was too busy getting drunk and (unsuccessfully) chasing after girls in my history classes, but thankfully I retained that one piece of advice.
Be aware that this doesn’t mean you should launch into something you have no idea about. It’s important to research thoroughly, audiences are smarter than a lot of writers (especially TV writers) give them credit for. The days of erroneously labeling your characters with multiple dissociative personality disorder ‘schizophrenic’ are long gone thankyou very much wikipedia.
Write what you have a genuine interest in creating, not what you think the audience wants to read. If you don’t have a personal connection to the material then that will show and your work will suffer as a result. I can only pity the hundreds of hack writers currently scrambling to cobble together some sort of tepid vampire romance in order to ride the coatails of Twilight.

6.5
One of the best pieces of advice I have ever heard is also one of the most common, and for good reason. If you’re going to embark on a journey that is going to take years to complete, you want to enjoy yourself along the way, so remember this above all else:
“Write the book that you want to read.” If you can do that, then let me know when you finish and I’ll look forward to reading it too.

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Josh Donellan is the author of the award winning novel, A Beginner’s Guide to Dying in India. The book has been described as “part comedy, part tragedy, part henna-drawn thriller peppered with romance and intrigue” and according to a review at Amazon.com, the book “made me laugh, ponder, and feel proud of my generation”. Grab your copy today at Amazon.com or the website.

Josh is also a poet, musician, installation artist, teacher and event manager. He was almost devoured by a tiger in the jungles of Malaysia, nearly died of a lung collapse in the Nepalese Himalayas, fended off a pack of rabid dogs with a guitar in the mountains of India and was sexually harassed by a half-naked man whilst standing next to Oscar Wilde’s grave in Paris.