There’s a lot of people out there who wants to write fiction, either as full-fledged novels or short stories, for a living. Or maybe just on their free time, but they want to get it read, get it published. Some are satisfied with putting their work on the Internet, which is fine of course, but most want their magical words put on a page, in a book, that you buy in a bookstore.
When I think about it, the same goes for most journalists. The web’s fine for starters, but most of them dream about a staff position at a print magazine… But I digress.
Do you know who Stephen King is? You know, the horror writer (well, not only horror but he’s probably most known for his nightly work) that delivers a new brick-sized bestselling monster rather frequently? I’m not a big Stephen King fan, although there’s no denying his talent. His best work is, in my opinion, his short stories but that’s another matter.
I got linked up to an article Stephen King published 1988 in a magazine called The Writer’s Handbook. Or maybe it’s a book, I don’t know for sure and actually don’t really care. Something that comes out more than ones at least, I figured as much from the article.
Anyway, the article is titled Everything you need to know about writing successfully – in ten minutes, which is a rather cocky title. The good blogger Mike Shea has published it on his site and you really should check it out if you’re an aspiring novelist, journalist or just a happy interested amateur. He has his points, good old Mr. King, and the article just takes fifteen minutes or so to read in full.
The article starts out with an anecdote which you may or may not be interested in, but glance it for the big picture’s sake. The real content, the part which tells you how to become a great writer in ten minutes (and that’s ten minutes to read, a lifetime to master, mind you) is composed of twelve good pieces of advice. It’s quite clear the advice comes from a professional, which just gives it all the more effect doesn’t it?
It feels absolutely right to post this link now, since I intend to reveal my own plans and projects over the next couple of weeks.
Hört talats om den där texten förut. Dessutom har jag för mig att han ska nyligen ha gett ut en bok som handlar just om författarskap. Men det kan jag ha fått om bakfoten.
Hursomhelst, tack för att du länkade så man kunde läsa den till slut. Var väldigt givande. Det var dock en specifik punkt jag landade extra mycket på, mest för att det är en åsikt jag själv drev hårt under mina studier och fick slåss med näbbar och klor för mot mina föreläsare och kursledare när jag pluggade Historia och Filosofi.
Nämligen den här biten:
“Does this mean you can’t write “serious fiction”? It does not. Somewhere along the line pernicious critics have invested the American reading and writing public with the idea that entertaining fiction and serious ideas do not overlap. This would have surprised Charles Dickens, not to mention Jane Austen, John Steinbeck, William Faulkner, Bernard Malamud, and hundreds of others. But your serious ideas must always serve your story, not the other way around. ”
Det där är verkligen huvudet på spiken och kanske en av de viktigaste saker man ska tänka på när man skriver. Din text måste väcka intresse, och det går att göra det mest tråkiga ämne intressant bara det skrivs på rätt sätt. Man måste inte ha ett tungt torrt akademiskt språk för att skriva akademiska rapporter. Det vikitga är att man gör sig förstådd och att läsaren fastnat för texten.
Lite cyniskt tror jag den här övedrivna tron på seriositetens giftermål med torftigheten har att göra med antingen:
1. 1800-tals akademikers brist på talang att skriva vettigt.
eller
2. Konfucius legendariska uttal om att en seriös man alltid måste vara allvarlig.
Nåja, den här kommentaren är nästan ett bloginlägg i sig nu så jag kanske slutar här.
Say what???
Sorry took it in swedish
Was too tired to write it all in english.
Heh, to all you non-Swedish reading people out there I can only tell you that Johan makes a good point regarding the quoted part of the essay. Make him translate, or do it yourself!
Thanks for the link! Good read!