Series: Writing as a Process: The Author
So, I thought I might take you through my process a little bit, and show you how I got to where I am, and how I've learned most people have gotten to where they are. I say "most" because there is no one single way to get there. There are a godzillion ways to become a successful novelist, and not a single one is the "correct" way to do it.
I started out wanting to write in junior high. Then I got neck-deep into music and foreign language in high school, and became obsessed with those. Basically, I forgot about any writing ambitions I'd had. After high school, I got into college, and my writing was—and I quote my first English teacher—"schizophrenic." It was all over the place, there was no clear through-line, it wandered... it was a total mess. I've looked back at that thing, and I want to send it back to hell.
So after that experience, I decided writing and English weren't for me. I opted to avoid English classes as often as possible, and majored in Japanese. Fast forward to my first job. I worked as an English teacher in Japan, and grew to loathe the work I did. The people weren't bad, it was the school itself. So I got a different job translating J >> E for an advertising agency, which also involved a lot of... you guessed it... writing. It was about this time that I remembered that dream I'd had so long ago. I wanted to write books. I started listening to podcasts like Writing Excuses (the entire backlog up to their current season, which was five), and I was walking on clouds. I wrote on my lunch breaks. I wrote when I got home. I wrote in every spare second I got.
Since then, I've moved back to the States, gotten another job as a writer, freelanced as a writer, and then started to focus on my novels while being a full-time dad. I've had to join the early-riser writers guild to do so, but it's been helpful in getting things done. So that's me.
For other people, it seems like it's a similar story in a lot of places. Be an English nerd for a long time. Major in English. Impress professors. Write nonstop, maybe get into a Creative Writing MFA program somewhere and put out books. Done. That's it. You're an author.
Not always.
What it really takes is working your ass off. It doesn't matter what you study, or if you study at all. Anyone can learn to write a good story. Honestly, it's probably better if you've had a more varied life than most people. For example, if a person were to be a professional rock climbing instructor for twelve years while writing their novels, and the geology of a science fiction planet is doing something to their ecology and society, I'm going to want to read that book. They're in a unique position to know about that. Just like I'm in a unique position to know about the ins and outs of the Japanese healthcare system (my wife was hospitalized for three months due to preterm labor with our daughter).
You will bring your experiences to the writing process, and that's going to be totally unique to you. Sure, if you have or are majoring in English and are following that route, fine. But get out and have some adventures. Join the circus or something. Get deep into a hobby or absorb yourself into a culture that isn't your own.
That's all I really have for now. Besides, you've been reading this for a while.
Thanks for wreading!
Jeff
I started out wanting to write in junior high. Then I got neck-deep into music and foreign language in high school, and became obsessed with those. Basically, I forgot about any writing ambitions I'd had. After high school, I got into college, and my writing was—and I quote my first English teacher—"schizophrenic." It was all over the place, there was no clear through-line, it wandered... it was a total mess. I've looked back at that thing, and I want to send it back to hell.
So after that experience, I decided writing and English weren't for me. I opted to avoid English classes as often as possible, and majored in Japanese. Fast forward to my first job. I worked as an English teacher in Japan, and grew to loathe the work I did. The people weren't bad, it was the school itself. So I got a different job translating J >> E for an advertising agency, which also involved a lot of... you guessed it... writing. It was about this time that I remembered that dream I'd had so long ago. I wanted to write books. I started listening to podcasts like Writing Excuses (the entire backlog up to their current season, which was five), and I was walking on clouds. I wrote on my lunch breaks. I wrote when I got home. I wrote in every spare second I got.
Since then, I've moved back to the States, gotten another job as a writer, freelanced as a writer, and then started to focus on my novels while being a full-time dad. I've had to join the early-riser writers guild to do so, but it's been helpful in getting things done. So that's me.
For other people, it seems like it's a similar story in a lot of places. Be an English nerd for a long time. Major in English. Impress professors. Write nonstop, maybe get into a Creative Writing MFA program somewhere and put out books. Done. That's it. You're an author.
Not always.
What it really takes is working your ass off. It doesn't matter what you study, or if you study at all. Anyone can learn to write a good story. Honestly, it's probably better if you've had a more varied life than most people. For example, if a person were to be a professional rock climbing instructor for twelve years while writing their novels, and the geology of a science fiction planet is doing something to their ecology and society, I'm going to want to read that book. They're in a unique position to know about that. Just like I'm in a unique position to know about the ins and outs of the Japanese healthcare system (my wife was hospitalized for three months due to preterm labor with our daughter).
You will bring your experiences to the writing process, and that's going to be totally unique to you. Sure, if you have or are majoring in English and are following that route, fine. But get out and have some adventures. Join the circus or something. Get deep into a hobby or absorb yourself into a culture that isn't your own.
That's all I really have for now. Besides, you've been reading this for a while.
Thanks for wreading!
Jeff
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