the craft. finding your gaps as a writer and how to fill them.
Recently there was a clip of Will Smith that circulated where he talked about the gap between being a B and A student and the reality of the work it takes to get to that next tier. Similarly in writing, there will be the writer you want to be and the writer you are, and what separates those who get to a certain level of greatness are those who are able to recognize their gaps and figure out how to apply the knowledge to improve their craft.
I’ve always been grossly self-aware, maybe to a fault at times, but where it’s been useful is learning how to become a better writer. The truth is, we all have gaps. Even some of your favorite writers. Whether we leave unfinished threads, or maybe our pacing is off, it’s so crucial in your process to understand those areas of improvement.
So, how do you even start to identify those areas where you need to improve?
First, and foremost, it comes with reading. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to be reading as a writer. This means graduating from reading for pure entertainment to dissecting the elements of a story and what makes it work, or not work. Hence our Read Like a Writer summer book club. We have to start to pay attention to devices or strategies that authors are using in their storytelling. How are they creating tension, are you clear on the character arcs? What is the rising action, the climax? How are they ending the story?
In most coursework that you take, there are texts highlighted to demonstrate areas of craft. If you are doing the work on your own, outside of a formal MFA program, reading like a writer becomes an extremely important skill to cultivate.
The other most obvious thing to do is to get feedback from trusted and respected writers. It helps if they’re a bit more advanced than you in your craft. They can give you that invaluable feedback that you need to be able to see your work more clearly. I get it, you’ve worked so hard at crafting this language and these sentences and you probably think it’s perfect, but I’ve yet to see that manifest. Sure, as you grow as a writer, you may have more confidence in your drafts, but there will always be things you can improve on and getting other eyes on the work can help here. Members of the Permission Granted community are a great place to start.
Then there is writing a whole hell of a lot. I’ll tell you what, I am writing all the time. Not to be confused with writing every day because I don’t necessarily. I may not be plowing away at a work in progress, but I write this weekly newsletter, I’m writing two monthly newsletters, and additional Substack content, I journal, and I write fiction and essays. I am writing all the time. Naturally, with anything that you do a significant amount of time, you will improve. I would die if I had to compare the earliest blogs that I wrote in 2013, to anything I’ve written today. There’s not much I agree with Kim K on, but the idea that people don’t want to work is where I can see her point, even with all the irony of her coming from a privileged background. Becoming a better writer takes WORK. It may take starting over, it may take writing a line one million times, it may take reading a dozen books on craft. It will not happen by osmosis.
The last thing I always like to bring into the fold is checking your ego. In my opinion, there’s no place for it as we all develop into the writers we want to be. The reality is, with every new tool or skill set I learn, I can see where my other work has fallen short. I can see why that short story may not have gotten picked up for that journal or why that writing sample may not have done it for the coveted residency or retreat. I show up to the craft with a great sense of humility because no one asked me to be a writer. I decided, after reading books as a kid, and feeling like I was encouraged for having a knack at it, that this was something I wanted to pursue as a privilege and not a right. I have great respect for the fact that I don’t know all there is to know about being a great writer. In that, I remain open to learning, I remain open to feedback, and I remain open to hearing and learning from other writers and their approach and process.
Every piece of advice, won’t necessarily be the advice you need, but you take what will help you and spit out the bones. Celebrate your strengths as a writer, and learn your weaknesses. Then do the work to find out exactly how you improve upon them to round out your craft. You’ll never be the writers you admire most, but that’s the good part, you’ll become the writer you have set out to be.
The Emerging Voices Workshop in Los Angeles serves early-career writers from communities underrepresented in the publishing world. An outgrowth of the long running Emerging Voices Fellowship, this in-person craft intensive shares the goal of demystifying publishing, cultivating literary community, and diversifying the publishing and entertainment industries. (Closes Oct. 5th).
Hodder Stoughton is hiring a Senior Commissioning Editor. This role will sit within the Hodder Fiction commercial team and focus on genres including crime/thriller, book club and reading fiction, romantic comedies, historical fiction, and general fiction. (London based role, £40,000.)
Hub City Press is accepting unagented submissions and publishes books of literary fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, regional nonfiction, nature, and art. We are seeking new and extraordinary voices from the American South who have written well-crafted, high-quality works. We are particularly interested in books with a strong sense of place. (Sept. 15).
Blue Stoop seeks skilled instructors with a passion for the craft and business of writing, and a deliberate anti-oppressive pedagogy. We prioritize hiring teachers in the Greater Philadelphia Area (Philadelphia County, Montgomery County, Chester County, Delaware County, Bucks County, and Camden County) and are open to those with grassroots, community-based experience as well as those trained in academic settings. We care more about your expertise in a given topic and your teaching style than we do about degrees.
Tin House is accepting applications for their Winter Workshop online. (Closes Sept. 23).
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Additional Resources
Don’t forget, the PTW Power Hour is back on Wednesdays at 5pm PT/8pm ET and Fridays at 9am PT/12pm ET. Creating space for community and accountability to get the work done, one hour at a time.