Never say never when it comes to writing a book.
“I’ll never be a plotter.”
“I’d never kill off my protagonist.”
“I could never write a series—I’d get too bored with my characters.”
As the oft-heard comment goes, each book you write teaches you how to write that book, not the next one.
I was talking with a friend recently who had sworn for years she didn’t understand the appeal of using index cards to plot out a novel. While she liked much of the advice in Lisa Cron’s Story Genius, that book advocates index cards, which my friend declared would never be a tool she’d use.
Guess what she resorted to using while drafting her most recent book? You guessed it—index cards. She was the first to laugh at herself and remind me, “Never say never.” (In case you’re wondering, the index cards worked for that book. But my friend can’t predict yet whether she’ll use it for the next one.)
We writers know we’ve chosen a career where we must constantly upgrade aspects of our craft. No matter how good we may get, there is always something new to try, something to improve, something to polish to a brighter sheen. Simply put, when we stop learning and advancing our craft, our writing stagnates. And that means we often end up trying things we never thought we’d do.
As we all know, every book we write is different from the last. This one wants more humor. That one leans darker than we’ve written before. This one wants to explore a new element of the human psyche. That one demands a different genre, or audience, or research, or discipline.
As we grow older and rack up more life experiences, the things we want to write about often change. The truths we hold dear may change. The emotions we’re willing to share may change. The things we said we’d never do start looking less like points of pride and more like weights that no longer serve a purpose.
Writing is an exploration. We are adventurers and rogues, braving new frontiers with every story.
We must remember to be fearless. To be open to new techniques or ways of thinking. To allow our stories to drag us into new waters so we can learn new ways to swim.
So take up your pens, and tackle once more those writing-craft books gathering dust on your shelf. Sign up for a workshop, even if it’s for something you’re positive you’ll never use, or something you think you’ve already mastered. Go to a conference. Do writing exercises. Read outside your genre. Write outside your genre.
Never say never, fellow adventurer. See you on those unpredictable high seas of writing!
[Illustration adapted from image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay]
