Learning How to Write

Many classes I took in high school consisted of some sort of creative writing, whether that required me to write poetry, plays, short stories, or create and execute a short film. It really depended on what class I was in, but I found that, overall, we focused way too much on the end product than on the process. Even in my creative writing course, we spent a lot of time workshopping and giving advice on the completed work being presented rather than building tools on how to write and how to be creative. At the time, I didn’t know why that was. 

It seems as though every level of writing is questioned. There appear to be many barriers to writing, whether that is a lack of time, motivation, inspiration, or a bad case of writer’s block. Some people suggest you always have time to dedicate to your craft, even if it isn’t a lot, and some debate whether writer’s block doesn’t even exist.

There are many attempts made by professors, authors, and simply lovers of writing to try and teach people how to push past barriers to writing. In my high school creative writing class, we were assigned to read Steven King’s “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft,” which is a book where Steven King talks about his life and attempts to give advice on writing. As a disclaimer, I had a severe case of senioritis as I took this class, so I read the book very loosely. However, some of the main takeaways I got from this book revolved around how to improve your writing process, or rather, how to drive it into existence. It circumvents the questions “how do I get motivated?” or “how do I find the time?” and asks “why aren’t you finding the time or motivation?”

Some of the key takeaways my teacher emphasized, and that I did find to be pretty inspirational, were: read as much as you can, write every day, and build your toolbox. King’s philosophy was that reading allows people to determine what kind of writing they want to create, learning what they consider “good” versus “bad.” Writing helps practice and develop skills, but more than that, King suggested it was a matter of discipline. He seemed to believe writing something really bad was still constructive and better than not writing anything at all. All of this contributes to building the writer’s “toolbox,” which is a set of skills that the writer can and does utilize whenever they are writing. Most of these concepts are echoed by other successful writers as well.

At the time, I thought the idea of reading every day was probably good advice, but that it wouldn’t actually change my writing drastically. I’m here to report that, nearly three years later, I was completely wrong. Reading has become probably the most influential aspect in developing my voice as a writer. In addition to being Her Campus at UMass Boston’s editor-in-chief, I am also the head copyeditor for UMass Boston’s newspaper, The Mass Media. Therefore, I spent a considerable amount of time reading over other people’s work for the past two years. If you want to improve your writing, I implore you to not only read and reread your own work but to scour the internet for other peoples’ work. Take up a job where all you need to do is read. I find that reading the work of everyday people, rather than authors who have dedicated their careers to writing, is the best way to learn what you like and what you don’t. You’ll learn some important skills very quickly. 

I already believed that the best thing an aspiring writer can do is write nearly every day; however, I do think writer’s block is a real struggle that is hard to push past. Sure, it is true that people are capable of writing something every single day. If it isn’t a book, maybe it’s a short story or article or even just a journal entry. All forms of writing still count and are beneficial. In this sense, I can see how others say writer’s block isn’t real. At the same time, I have sat down to write something myself and was met with a completely blank mind for ideas on the thing I actually wanted to write. Therefore, I think writer’s block must exist, but I guess the best thing we can do in that situation is simply to turn to something else. Take a break from that project and just write about yourself or anything else. Maybe that presents an idea, maybe it doesn’t. It’s still useful. 

I think this is why writing classes tend to focus on creating and sharing work. It plays off of the idea that you should read and write as much as you can. In the spirit of being more creative, a goal that I want to give myself in 2024 is to start and complete a book. I do not have high hopes for myself, and I am not sure that I will ever release this to the public. But I want to prove to myself that it is possible. I think sometimes the most constructive things we can do in life are activities that do not aim to please anyone other than ourselves.