Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Writing Is Not Work: On Finding Your Voice With Creative Writing
    Writing Is Not Work: On Finding Your Voice With Creative Writing
    Writing Is Not Work: On Finding Your Voice With Creative Writing
    Ebook83 pages1 hour

    Writing Is Not Work: On Finding Your Voice With Creative Writing

    By D. Anthony Brown

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Every November, writers around the globe participate in National Novel Writing Month, the yearly challenge to complete a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.

    The experience and thrill of fast paced novel writing is both amazing fun and daunting at the same time. But in the exhilarating mad dash to the finish line, it's often easy to forget the reason for writing a novel in the first place: to tell fun stories.

    How do you progress from typist to storyteller? How do you create books that are original and fun to write?

    From his unique perspective and experience with National Novel Writing Month, speculative fiction writer D. Anthony Brown explains how to find your voice in fiction writing. He explains what voice is, how fears and "critical voice" can stop writers cold, and the importance of attitude in storytelling.

    Fiction writing does not have to be a grind, like a day job or a chore. Writing can, and should, be fun both in November and year-round!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHermit Muse Publishing
    Release dateAug 14, 2015
    ISBN9781516378456
    Writing Is Not Work: On Finding Your Voice With Creative Writing

    Related to Writing Is Not Work

    Related ebooks

    Composition & Creative Writing For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      A Writer’s Toolbox

      Jan 30, 2018

      1. I pulled the heavy red book down from my dad’s bookshelf. Bryan A. Garner’s A Dictionary of Modern American Usage, its cover announced. “David Foster Wallace said it’s the only usage guide he ever consulted,” my dad said, a note of pride in his vo

      7 min read

    • Article

      Better writing NOW

      May 6, 2021

      Better writing NOW
      5 min read

    • Article

      Breaking In

      Oct 18, 2021

      Breaking In
      4 min read

    • Article

      Royalties: The Long Tail

      Oct 18, 2021

      When I first signed with my agent, I joked that I wanted my advances to be paid in the form of solid gold toilets,1 and that’s been our code for good news ever since. When I get an email with the subject line “Gold Toilet Incoming,” I know we’ve sold

      4 min read

    • Article

      What Physics Can Teach Us About Writing Fiction

      Mar 6, 2018

      Sometimes writing fiction feels to me like that oft-used image of a godlike creator: the man pulling the strings of the marionette, orchestrating each fine movement from above the stage. One string might be character, another plot, a third setting, a

      6 min read

    • Article

      Second Opinions

      Feb 14, 2022

      New rules. New strategies. New paths to success. While we may see those images of a solo writer in a coffee shop or room, the truth is that no book is a solo endeavor. One of the most important parts of the writing process is getting feedback on an e

      4 min read

    • Article

      Wrath Of The Gods

      Oct 18, 2021

      The Poppy War trilogy, Rebecca F. Kuang’s debut fantasy series, creates a new magic system with very old roots. the Chinese-American writer borrows Taoist and Chinese folk themes to build her own pantheon of gods, then draws on the ancient tradition

      6 min read

    • Article

      12 Foolproof Ways To Fail As A Writer

      Dec 21, 2021

      Whether you’re just now launching into writing or you’re an old pro, here are 12 surefire ways to fail this year as you pursue your dreams within the writing world. You’ll be tempted to compare other authors’ sales figures, reviews, likes, comments,

      4 min read

    • Article

      How To Write A Bestseller

      Oct 5, 2018

      I have a friend—call him Tom—who, like me, is a writer. Tom has written many novels over a long and enviable publishing career, and his novel-writing philosophy, related to me over various drinks at various bars, can be summarized as follows: Write w

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Writer’s Bookshelf

      Aug 17, 2022

      As you find your path as a writer, there may be no better support than the wisdom of your fellow travelers. Let these twelve recent and forthcoming books by some of contemporary literature’s most insightful and generous luminaries guide you on your w

      4 min read

    • Article

      Inspiration Everywhere

      Jun 19, 2021

      Inspiration Everywhere
      7 min read

    • Article

      How to Get Paid

      Apr 10, 2019

      LAST year James Wolf, a retired insurance agent making his first foray into literary fiction, sent portions of his unpublished novel, “No Good Day to Die,” to a handful of agents and publishers. In their responses the industry experts all told Wolf e

      9 min read

    • Article

      How Do You Know You’re in the Wrong Writing Group?

      Jun 13, 2022

      Writing groups are instrumental to helping writers better their craft and getting out of that dreaded writing tunnel. You know, the one where you think your story is the greatest thing in the world and there are no mistakes. Writing groups help you s

      4 min read

    • Article

      Getting Creative With Reality

      Oct 1, 2020

      What do H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald, Notes on a Small Island by Bill Bryson and Tall Stories and Wee Tales by Billy Connolly have in common? They all belong to the increasingly popular genre of creative non-fiction writing. When creative non-fic

      6 min read

    • Article

      5 Lessons Fiction Writers Can Learn From Playwriting

      Jun 13, 2022

      Sometimes I look around, and I am gobsmacked by the world. For entertainment alone, I have a smorgasbord of choices: YouTube, Netflix, TikTok, not to mention being determined to get out of the house after being cooped up for two years. I wonder in th

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Donald Maass Craft Library

      May 21, 2019

      “What makes novelists successful is storytelling,” Donald Maass says. He’s written a number of books to help writers understand the art of storytelling: “Writing the Breakout Novel breaks down the technique of plot layers, meaning multiple things hap

      1 min read

    • Article

      Firing Up Fiction

      May 21, 2019

      Firing Up Fiction
      5 min read

    • Article

      It’s never too Late

      Apr 25, 2020

      It’s never too Late
      7 min read

    • Article

      Words Matter

      Apr 14, 2021

      Words Matter
      9 min read

    • Article

      Bookish

      Jun 19, 2021

      Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer: The Artistry, Joy, and Career of Storytelling by J. Michael Straczynski J. Michael Straczynski has written in just about every genre imaginable: Fiction, autobiography, radio, movies, TV shows, comics, and more. I

      2 min read

    • Article

      From Where I Sit

      Feb 14, 2022

      There’s an outdoor cat who is slowly adopting me. When I first moved into my house, I saw her slink through the yard occasionally, but for months, when she saw me, she bolted. Then something happened to change her view of me—I started leaving food ou

      2 min read

    • Article

      Ode To A Copy Editor

      Jun 12, 2019

      COURTNEY MAUM is the author of the novels Costalegre (Tin House Books, 2019), Touch (Putnam, 2017), and I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You (Touchstone, 2014); the chapbook Notes From Mexico (Cupboard Pamphlet, 2012); and the handbook Before and

      8 min read

    • Article

      Romance Writing Academy

      Dec 18, 2021

      Romance Writing Academy
      3 min read

    • Article

      Spellbound

      Oct 18, 2021

      Reading has always seemed, to me, to be the purest form of magic. Collections of letters organized in ways our minds recognize to be words, arranged in sentences that somehow, by the amazing workings of our brains, transport us to places real or imag

      2 min read

    • Article

      Get Into Character

      Apr 2, 2020

      Get Into Character
      9 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Writing Is Not Work

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Writing Is Not Work - D. Anthony Brown

      WRITING IS NOT WORK:

      On Finding Your Voice

      With Creative Writing

      D. Anthony Brown

      Hermit Muse Publishing

      Contents

      Introduction

      Walk Your Own Path

      Critical Voice

      Fear

      Attitude Is Important

      Perfection

      Read for Pleasure

      Time & Speed

      Smoke & Mirrors

      Empathy

      Barn Words

      Write Scenes

      Project Block

      Work Ethic

      Be a Rebel

      Fun

      Recommended Reading

      About the Author

      Copyright Information

      Introduction

      When I sit down to write a new story, I aim to entertain myself first. If I can manage that, no matter how dreadful I think the tale in hindsight, I consider the project a success. Even those rare times when I re-read the story after I've finished it and sent it off to market, I only think about what I was feeling while writing.

      If I had fun while writing, the story works for me.

      What do I mean? Why do I think having fun is important? I hope to explain the answers to those questions throughout this book. For now, I'll give the short answer:

      I think having fun at writing is one of the keys to good storytelling and to having a long term career as a writer.

      Look at it this way... When I write, I get to sit alone in a room (I'm an introvert) and make things up (use my imagination to have adventures). How could that be drudgery?

      Oh no! Don't make me sit in that chair and be lazy for a few minutes! Don't force me to make-believe!

      Yeah. Approaching fiction writing like it's work, or something to be struggled with, is just flat silly.

      Writing is not work.

      But so many people, professional writers included, approach writing as work. You hear this all time.

      I churned that one out.

      I toiled on this book for five years.

      etc.

      Serving tables in a busy restaurant is work. So is cleaning hotel rooms. Or lugging 500 pounds of high heeled women's boots on a pallet jack. (I exaggerate the weight only slightly.)

      Fiction writing is just pure joy. But you have to get the right attitude first, which means clearing out some of the old clutter in your brain. You're not churning, toiling, slaving, or any work related word.

      You're sitting alone in a room and making stuff up. Have a blast. Go on adventures. Enjoy the ride.

      I hope this book helps you find that spot where you're having fun while writing, whether during National Novel Writing Month (commonly abbreviated as NaNo) or any other time of the year.

      A Slice of My History with NaNo

      In 2008, right as the Great Recession was first turning ugly, I had a career that ended before it really started. I managed to find full-time work, but not in a job that had anything to do with what I had just spent the last year studying. I was at a cross-roads, and in need of something with more of a future. I decided I didn't enjoy the career I had just trained for, but I had few other marketable skills.

      But I could write.

      So I researched fiction writing. What does it take to get published and paid? What do I need to learn? What am I lacking?

      During this research, I stumbled across National Novel Writing Month—a yearly challenge in November to write 50,000 words in one month. I accepted the challenge, and wrote 44,000 words of an unfinished sword-and-sorcery novel. That story, which will forever remain in the trunk, was the beginning of the Brin Callahan/Tales from the Square science fiction universe, which I still write in.

      From 2008 to 2014, I've completed three 50,000 word novels during NaNo. Enchantment in 2009 (retelling of Midsummer Night's Dream, set in Scandinavia, with trolls). Six Dead Orchids, in 2010 I think (spirits of children trapped in houseplants, if I remember correctly). And Vox Banjo, in 2011 or 2012 (early stab at my Vicki Meyers character... a Chandleresque detective with psychic powers).

      Along the way in Nano-land, I also wrote a 30,000 word short untitled romance novel, where all the action took place over the telephone. I admit to being a wee bit proud of that one, since to this day I can still tell which character is saying what, even without tags. I've thought of re-opening this project and adding in setting, something I apparently didn't know how to do then. Alas, this novel still sleeps on my hard drive.

      I've also been known to write short stories in November, because I have the attention span of a live-wire puppy. I believe Bloody Rose's Echo, an early short story featuring my Mortimer Leblanc character, was written during NaNo. I say this, because I remember a certain short-haired blond (not saying names) poking fun at the character's name. Many of the other short stories are forgettable. Many featured trolls or D&D style settings. The Peanut Thieves, a little thousand word short, sticks out in my mind as a fun story to write.

      For Nano 2014, I explored and created my Rabid Squirrels Guild universe—a science fiction world with gamers in virtual reality. That novel—Nerdrage the Barbarian—did not get completed that year. In fact, at this point I'm considering tossing the manuscript and redrafting with a clean slate.

      But one of the subplots to that book took on its own twist. It was a silly side adventure with two characters named Ormusen and Kalati, but this subplot was the bit I looked forward to writing the most. In December, looking back over what I had written, I discovered the subplot became a story unto itself. I cut it out from the novel and turned it into a short story titled On Rabbits, Holes, & Shivs. Later, I re-discovered another loose subplot in that book, and turned it into another short story

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1