How We Learn Better From Bad Stories | Writing Advice

"Being a writer requires intoxication with language," -Jim Harrison

I have a strange hypothesis, that everyone should watch bad or subpar movies, read subpar books, etc. because we can learn about stories so much better that way. 

Now hear me out, because the popular dialogue says otherwise. By consuming good media and identifying why it's good, then our creations will become better, right?

Wrong. 

See, everything we create is tainted with our emotional connection to it, so we can't see it in full clarity. And we can unsuccessfully emulate something we like in our art. 

But if we cut out everything that's bad, everything that we can identify in subpar fiction, then that can vastly improve our writing. 

To prove my point, I recently watched The Space Between Us with my friend, and it was okay. It had its moments of brilliance, and, inevitably, it had its missteps. Spoilers, duh. 

But by watching a movie like this, I was able to look at it critically and better see what it did right and what it did wrong. 

When we read okay books and watch okay fiction, the bad stuff seems to pop out, as does the good stuff. For example, the origins of the relationship between Gardner (Asa Butterfield) and Tulsa (Britt Robertson) are never established, so there is a delay in which the audience connects to their relationship. 

The focus was also a little off. A significant amount of time is spent with the adults in the movie, namely Gardner's father and his mother figure, Kendra, when it should have been focused more on the romance between Tulsa and Gardner. I say this only because this was how the movie was marketed, and it seemed to be the overarching theme of the movie as well. 

But The Space Between Us also does some things well. It's aesthetically beautiful and has some poignant lines. It has a lot of potential in its concept and characters, but it barely scratches the surface with Gardner and Tulsa, who had the beginnings of enthralling and deep characters. 

Seeing the potential in an "okay" story is inspiring to the writer, scriptwriter, filmmaker, storyteller. By seeing what doesn't work and why - and, by default, seeing what does work - allows us to apply it to our own stories. 

So, go watch that 3/5 star rated movie, and read that book you know you probably won't like. It will help you in the long run. 

~The WordShaker

Guest Post: In Defence of Ghostwriting by Amy L. Sauder

When I discovered Olivia’s reservations about ghostwriting in the world, we agreed to share our thoughts. I think ghostwriting has a place in the literary universe, and here’s why:

Why to consider hiring a ghostwriter:

*Actual image of a ghostwriter*

In my class “Do You Have a Book in You?” I don’t coddle. I don’t say, “You have a story to tell, so you have a book in you.” You may have a book in you, but there’s more than just “having a story to tell” involved in that.

And for some people, they have a story to tell, but they don’t have a book in them. They don’t have a passion for the writing, they have a passion for the message, the story. Those people would be wise to at least take a moment to consider a ghostwriter.

Consider this:

- If writing isn’t your dream, are you willing to devote time and energy to writing a book instead of devoting that time and energy to your actual dream?

 - Since you likely aren’t trained in writing since it’s not your passion, are you willing to sacrifice quality in getting your book out there – sacrificing the number of readers and the impact of the message?

 -Alternatively, can you devote the adequate time, effort, and income to receive the training necessary to clearly communicate the story you want to tell with the quality it deserves?

 -If you do choose to devote time, energy, and income towards receiving training on writing, are you willing to chance diluting the passion of the message with the obligatory monotony of a medium you aren’t passionate about working in?

There are options other than hiring a ghostwriter of course: Telling your message in a medium you *are* passionate about, but that’s a whole nother blogpost – or actually, it’s a 30-minute online course you can take for free ;)

If you look at those questions and decide, “Yes, I must have a book out there, but no, I can’t write it.”

Then instead of devoting time and energy to writing a book, instead devote some finances to hiring a ghostwriter.

What makes ghostwriters the bomb-diggety:

Ghostwriters aren’t quite ghosts, sadly. But they’re still more or less supernatural in their capabilities!

They’re like the undercover secret agents of the writing world. The trained, the elite, the you-never- saw-it-coming – the ghostwriters.   

-Us regular writers take years of writing to find our own voice

-Ghostwriters are shapeshifters, finding the unique voice of each person they are writing for.

 -Us regular writers mostly write something we’re passionate about

-Ghostwriters use a magical spell to transfer your passion into their words. Your passion is infectious and as it seeps into them, topics or stories the ghostwriter may have never been passionate about are suddenly passionately written!

 -Us regular writers might be considered semi-narcissistic – speaking of myself here mostly ;) They devote their life to making their dreams come true.

-Ghostwriters are fairy godmothers, passionate about devoting their lives to making others dreams come true. How cool is that! 

-Us regular writers are clumsy and walk into doors and walls and lampposts

-Ghostwriters are also clumsy, but at least they float right through the objects. Or wait, is that just ghosts?

Why readers should care about ghostwriting:

Readers should be ecstatic to support the existence of ghostwriters. Not only do ghosts make for great stories, but *ghostwriters* make for great stories. More quality stories will exist for readers when non-writers choose one of these three options:

 1)  share their story in a medium they’re skilled and passionate in

 2)  have the passion and take time to gain the skill of writing before putting the story out there

 3)  hire a ghostwriter to marry their passion and knowledge of the content with the ghostwriter’s passion and skill for writing

The problem with ghostwriting:

Now here’s the horrid part about ghostwriters – as awesome as they are, they don’t get the credit. Hit the NYT bestsellers list, win the Pulitzer prize, get a movie deal – everyone applauds the author (the person who hired the ghostwriter.) The ghostwriter is, well, ghosted. They generally can’t even say they wrote it, because they *officially* didn’t.

*Also actual image of a ghostwriter*

So why does the person who hired the ghostwriter get to be the author? Why do they get credit?

Ideas are a dime a dozen. Scratch that. Ideas don’t cost a thing, in fact, us writers can’t turn them off. So no, a ghostwriter likely isn’t needing the idea from the author, that’s not what makes the book. But what we call the author, the person who hired the ghostwriter, they contribute much more than the idea.

I get why the person called the “author” is, in fact, the author. It’s their brainchild, their knowledge, their story, their platform, their audience, their marketing, their voice, and their passion.

The ghostwriter alone generally wouldn’t have all those things to get the book out there as a successful book, certainly not as the book it actually is. If the ghostwriter alone wrote the book, maybe it would miss the knowledge of the topic or the direct experience with the story. Maybe if the ghostwriter alone wrote the book, it wouldn’t reach as large an audience. Maybe if the ghostwriter alone wrote the book, it wouldn’t have that unique voice, style, or tone. Maybe it would just lack passion.

So on that note, mad props to the author for making all this happen!

How to fix the discrepancy:

I get it. The author deserves a lot of credit for making this book happen. And also, the ghostwriter deserves a lot of credit for making this book happen. It takes two. It most definitely takes great skill for a ghostwriter to take all the author has to offer and turn it into a quality book. And it most definitely takes the author to make the book happen in the first place.

Here’s my proposal, the main thing I’d change about the concept of ghostwriting to give proper credit:

On any ghostwritten book, have the front cover say “Written by [name of supernatural ghostwriter person], Directed by [name of the person who had the vision to make the book happen]”. We already do this for movies: listing actors, directors, producers, and all myriad of workers in the credits. Just do that for books with ghostwriters too – give them some credit for their kickbutt magical powers

  

What do you think?

 What say you? Do you think ghostwriters as an entity should just be called “authors”? Or do you think ghostwriters have their place in the literary universe hidden behind the scenes? Share your thoughts in the comments, check out Olivia’s counter-argument on my site, and join the convo!

~

Amy L Sauder has been called both “Quirky Meta Mystery” and “Walking Fairytale,” and she can’t decide which is the highest compliment.

Since gaining her English Lit degree, she has studied creative writing and dabbled in other arts she probably has no business dabbling in. Amy strongly believes that in some parallel universe her clumsy self has figured out how to be a trapeze artist. In any universe, she’s also passionate about mac 'n' cheese and red hair, but that’s beside the point.

You can follow her creative journey at amylsauder.wordpress.com, from the “Once Upon” to the “Ever After” and every point in between.

You can also find her on social media:

Facebook:  facebook.com/amylsauder

Twitter:   @amylsauder

~

Thank you, Amy, for collaborating with me! This discussion is nowhere near over, and we'd love to hear your thoughts. Don't forget to check out my strongly worded thoughts on her blog!

amylsauder.wordpress.com/2017/06/16/guest-post-how-ghostwriting-is-hurting-the-book-world

~The WordShaker

My First Love | Olivia J

"Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on," -Louis L'Amour

Writing will always be my first love. Everything else is just varying degrees of side hoes.

Taking God out of the equation, which seems counterintuitive, writing will always be my first earthly love, because it springs of a place of God.

My dad, when describing the musical genius Adam Young, always says that God just came down and dropped a little bit of glory, a smidgen of pure talent into Adam Young and blessed him. Not that I can compare to the electropop god himself, but it seems like it's the same concept.

Writing will always be my first love, because it's something so essential to who I am; it can never be removed. You can take the person out of the writing, meaning you can, with all that's physically possible, stop me from writing. But you can't take the writer out of the person, meaning no matter what, I'll always be a writer.

When everything is wrong, when even God seems far away, I always have my words. I'll always have my writing.

Because, while it might seem like I'm glorifying my writing, I'm not. My writing is a direct connection to God, and I know that He's listening, despite what I feel, despite if I ever hear anything back.

Writing will always be my first love, because when the whole world falls away, I know I'm a writer. I know that this is who I am in Christ, and that is my destiny and my fate. I know that because there's a spark, a never ending flame of passion, that can never be snuffed out. The spark that makes the words explode out of me in screaming color. The spark that makes my words touch people in their wounds. The spark that makes my heart cry to tell stories, to hear stories. To be a story.

Writing will always be my first love, ever since I drew terrible pictures of people and scribbled landscapes when I was four. I made my mom write down the narration and dialogue, and then we stapled them together. From that point on, my feet were set. I fell in love, as much as a four year old could, with stories, with art.

Writing will always be my first love. No questions asked.

~The WordShaker

Writing a Novel is Easy - It's the Editing that Sucks.

"I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose," -Stephen King

Something I've learned about myself is that I can write a first draft in a breeze. About a year, and I have a mess of a first draft - but it's done.  Full of long and hard hours of cranking out emotions and characters and words.

And I thought I would just have to polish the plot, add a few things for depth, and clean up the grammatical errors and such.

But no.  Editing sucks so much.  It's boring.  Clicking through paragraph after paragraph to just change a word.  Formatting?  Shoot me in the foot.  Spelling? Gag me with a knife. And don't even get me started on the actual hardest part which is cutting scenes, reworking paragraphs, changing backstories, adding scenes.  Pounding and melting and shaping my story like metal in a hearth.

I hate it.  I hate it because it's boring.  I hate it because I love developing a story, I love writing scenes and spending time with my characters.  But with editing, I get to do none of that.

One of the reasons that I have been spending more time with my blog is because now that I have finished my story, I truly have nothing to write. And I have to write.  It's a way of life. If I don't empty my mind, I'll surely go mad.  And without a story, it feels like I am on the brink of insanity.

And having nothing to write fills me with an odd feeling.  Without a story to weave, what is my purpose?  It feels like everything meaningful in my life has been sucked away now that I no longer have a novel to focus my energy on.

Writing it is the easy part.  Because that's exactly what I am - a writer.

Plotting is slightly harder, since we're fabricating something from nothing.  But it's doable.

Editing is shit. It's unfun and dull and boring. Devoid of emotion and like sweeping a floor. Menial and awful.

The only way that I can keep myself motivated to edit is the potential my story has.  If I keep my eyes on the prize, maybe then the bloodshot eyes and hunched shoulders and unenthusiastic work wouldn't be so menial.

Because my words are anything but.

~The WordShaker

4 Reasons Why Storytelling is Superior to Poetry

"The telling of stories creates the real world," -Alberto Manguel 

Remember, that this is all my opinion.  But also remember, if you disagree: 

;)

Stories are essential to human life and survival.  Sure, people might think that it's natural selection, survival of the fittest stuff that keeps us around, but really, it's stories that enrich our lives and allow us to keep moving on as a species. 

Aside from the melodrama, stories still are a crucial part of our history and culture - less specifically, writing is - but stories, they are far superior to poetry.  So, if you don't get anything else out of this post, remember this:  

stories > poetry

And here are four reasons why. 

1. Storytelling is more elusive and drawn out
Something powerful about stories that poetry doesn't have is that we are able to push across subtle themes by utilizing the vehicle we all know - through people, through emotions, through events. Poetry, however, most times has to be stated or hinted at, which isn't always as effective.  Sure, we've read a lot of poems - ones we like or love, surely, but what do we ask most people when getting to know them?  (Hint: the answer is "What's your favorite book?")  Because the ultimate power in stories is limitless.  Stories stay with us forever.  They are imprinted into our minds and hearts with the gritty characters and perfect delivery. Stories teach us, they guide us.  

2. It takes more loyalty and perseverance to write a novel
I hate to break it to you, but it doesn't take you years to write poems. I'm not saying that writing poetry is easy, but people have no idea how much time and grueling effort that goes into creating something from nothing. 

I've heard many writers - who mostly write poetry, that they've had a few story ideas, and they've even gone as far as to start writing.  Many of them express shame that they have never been able to stick with a novel because it's such a grueling project.  This shows that it takes much more dedication to write a 100,000 word novel with characters and settings and themes and everything that goes along with it.  Writing a poem and writing a novel are like writing a sentence compared to a ten page paper. Yes, I am aware that some people just aren't storytellers - and some people are natural poets, but the amount of dedication required to start and finish a story is mountainous.  Unbreakably strong ties are made between an author and their characters and even the story itself - incomparable to the cathartic ramblings of poetry. Writing a story is like childbirth, and nothing is comparable to the function that gives life to all. 

3. Stories are what defines us as a race and society

Civilizations are not remembered by the average worker bee.  They are not remembered by the man who went to school, followed the rules, got married, got a job, saved up for retirement, and died content. Civilizations are known for their art - for the stories they told.  The stories of the Bible tell us of everything from the Babylonian empire  to the reign of the Romans. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey defined Ancient Greece for us. Shakespeare is the head of the Renaissance of writers.  When all else slips away, the stories of the people remain. The written word is eternal and powerful. 

Moving on, poetry only occasionally makes it into the collection of stories, and even then, it is usually a story in poem form. Stories, everything from folklore to scripts to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, are intensely studied and make for the building blocks for cultures and society. 

4. Storytelling is a part of human nature
If you were a human child, which, I assume you were since you're reading this, you probably played with some kind of toys.  I don't mean to be stereotypical, but if you were a girl, you probably had baby dolls or Barbies or dress-up or played house. If you were a boy, you probably had Nerf guns and action figures and race cars. Even video games are immersing oneself, creating a character for yourself and going through a mission. But what do all of these things have in common?  Why are they related to storytelling?  Because all of these mundane, childhood activities have to do with one thing: playing pretend. Pretending that you are a professional chef, pretending that you were the only fairy that could save the fairy land, pretending you were fighting evil aliens off with your best friends.  The pretending opportunities are endless. And by pretending, you are creating characters and worlds and a story from which there is none. Without realizing it, every child is a storyteller at heart, but it is the novelists who just take this task along with them into adulthood. Storytelling is innate and crucial to our survival. 

This kind of turned out to be more of a praise on storytelling but oh well.  I hope you enjoyed this and have a fresh, lovely take on the art of storytelling. 

Never stop writing,

~The WordShaker