Why A Good Question is Always Worth Asking

On average, once a week someone contacts me to talk about writing. Usually they are friends of friends aspiring to write. Their motivations vary. If their reasons seem pure I try to help. Having reviewed a lot of books throughout the years to the joy and angst of may, my reputation is that I’m somewhere between the voice of truth and a curmudgeon. I haven’t always been this way; experience is every writer’s teacher.

I’m scheduled for a phone call tomorrow with a college senior. I asked her to send, ahead of time, a list of what she wants to talk about. Most of what she sent back is standard stuff but one question stood out: “What has helped you in the past?”

I pondered the question and mulled its answer. Should I share one thing or ten? Rather than work to a number, I wrote a list. Here’s the list:

1.    Reading Hemingway. The gold standard of description, story, and brevity. If you haven’t read The Old Man and the Sea recently, do yourself a favor: Pick up a copy and join Santiago on his epic struggle. Start to finish takes two hours.

2.    Reading anything and everything. People who do not read cannot write.

3.    Being relentlessly curious about things that interest me. If something interests me, I figure it will interest others.

4.    Reading my mistakes in print. Humble pie is a proud man’s medicine.

5.   Belief in self. The process is hard for everyone. Near my writing desk hangs a Hemingway quote: “I read my own books sometimes to cheer me when it is hard to write and then I remember that it was always difficult and how nearly impossible it was sometimes.” On a good day, Ernest wrote five page. Five is enough if you do it every day.

6.    Having confidence in my own style, especially comedic. A writer must have his or her own voice. I’ve invested a good portion of life studying what makes people laugh.

7.    Learning as much as possible about human behavior. Characters think, feel, and do. The more you know about every element that might trigger behavior, the stronger your characters can be.

8.    Working with a great editor. Writers must learn; we must be coachable. Writing is easy, writing well is hard. It takes our very best work simply to compete. A good editor doesn’t just edit. He or she teaches. A smart writer learns.

9.    Validation by strangers. There are three levels of writing: family, friends, and strangers. Your family will love everything, regardless how dreadful. Friends will support you. Strangers judge work based on its quality. Pleasing a few is a milestone.

10.    Earning the confidence of a good agent. Agents get paid to sell things. Give them something to sell and they’ll sell it. They know what’s good and what isn’t.

11.    Embracing critics and criticism, both good and bad. Everyone has an opinion; a critic merely has a channel of expression. One of my books has been compared to the greats by one reviewer and skewered by another. Who’s right? I’ll tell you who’s right: Whoever’s reading it at the time.

12.   Curiosity. The more curious we are the more we learn. The more we learn the more tools we have at our disposal.

13.    Travel. I have been to over 40 countries. Each is magic in its own way and offers a limitless amount to learn. People, especially, continually teach me something valuable. Americans travel poorly because they judge rather than embrace. Smart writers embrace everything and judge nothing.

14.    Passion. If you don’t live with it, how can you write with it?

15.    Compassion. Compassion makes me feel better about myself. When comfortable in my skin I’m also more comfortable expressing, in words, whatever I need to say. Giving, not taking, expands horizons of life and creativity.

16.    Knowing the subject I am writing about (and being willing to do whatever research is required). When a person, place or thing compels me to learn more, I invest the time and energy to pursue it. More times than I can count I’ve spent time and money to experience something large or small that intrigues me.

17.    Mind management. Frustration is fine. Failure does not exist. Writing is an isolation pursuit full of rejection and doubt. So what? If you don’t believe in yourself, why should anyone else? When we embrace the roller-coaster for the thrill of the ride, the resulting good work is always worth the trip.

18.    Discipline. Writers write something every day. Writers take notes, sketch ideas, and beat a billion keys. Writers do not talk about it; they work hard and practice the craft. People who contact me but have never written before — yet suddenly toy with the idea of starting — are annoying.

19.    Watching a lot of movies. Uninterrupted concentration on what we see, hear, and emotionally experience exercises the mind’s memory bank. Good movies have three things: a beginning, a middle, and an end. So do good stories. TV is a waste because of the commercial interruptions. I’ve learned far more from movies than TV.

20.    Robert McKee’s teachings about “Story.” McKee is a high-profile, self-promoting screenwriting coach who preaches and teaches the blend of art and craft. By respecting his advice as a loose set of guidelines — rather than a rigid, mandatory, formulaic process — I’m kept on my toes when mulling an idea for a book or screenplay. Many others, like Michael Hauge, are great teachers too. I happen to have worked twice with McKee. I’d love some day to work with Hauge.

The adage that things in life worth doing are worth doing well holds true whenever a true writer sits down and faces the derisive taunts of a blank screen or sheet of paper. Whatever that white space turns into is up to us; and that’s quite alright — the challenge makes it fun.

Hopefully these suggestions assist this young woman. Even if only a couple have value, I’ll have helped boost her up the curve from dreamer to professional.

A good question reaps its deserved reward. Never forget it.