How fiction writers create original stories
Have you ever surprised yourself with something you created?
When you create, you use both your conscious and unconscious mind. It is from our unconscious minds where we get surprising and original connections. The art of writing is to get in touch with this unconscious part, to tap into and channel its energy.
When our minds are too busy or filled with self doubt, that quiet part of our brain gets silenced.
Why George Saunders says to take it easy.
In his newsletter, George Saunders recommends approaching your work with a lightness of mind and spirit.
He talks about how the greatest insights came to him when he wasn't actively thinking about the story or trying to fix it. Simply by holding the story lightly in his mind, he finds it easier to listen to his "ear" or intuition. It's from this intuitive place that writing comes from, where we find something that is unique to everyone one of us.
Here is George's method from his newsletter:
Print out your writing from your previous session and mark it up lightly.
Take a break from writing, go for a walk, wash the dishes, hold the story gently in your mind. "Hey little story, you don't have to be everything but you gotta be something."
Sit back down and edit your story inside a word processor.
Repeat!
Anne Lamott says to listen to your characters.
If you are forcing your characters to do something for "plot" reasons, the reader will be able to tell.
The story (or plot) must arise organically from the characters and their wants, according to Anne Lamott in her book Bird By Bird. You must really care about the moral viewpoint of your story, about your characters, and listen to what they have to say. Lamott describes "finding" the story, not creating it.
What both authors are saying is you need to trust your gut.
♥️ My Favorite Things This Week
💻Productivity Software - Recently started using the time tracking app Rize.io on my work and personal laptops. I have been impressed with its accuracy and automatic labeling. I have been on a journey to quantify everything in my life so I can measure my progress against my goals. I like how Rize emphasizes deep work and concentration, following Cal Newport's guidelines from his book Deep Work.
📚Book - I recently finished The War Of Art by Stephen Pressfield. It's a short book of aspirational advice for writers, more about the mindset of being a writer than actionable advice. It's the kind of book that's perfect for beginner writers (like me!) to give me the motivation.
🎧Audiobook - Journalist turned nature writer Zoë Schlanger is the author and narrator of her wonderful book, The Light Eaters. The book is a sort of meta analysis of the research on plant intelligence with some delightful anecdotes from her life and interviews with botanists. I love to imagine plants as being intelligent, to think about what the world is like from their perspective.
📚 Quote of the Week
PS… If you’re enjoying this newsletter, will you take a second and forward this edition to a friend? It goes a long way in helping me grow the newsletter (and bring more and more Speculative Fiction Writers into the world).