Writers Beware: There is No Formula for Writing
As someone who runs a writers' conference (https://www.killernashville.com), teaches classes, speaks before groups (https://claystafford.com/contact), and interacts with writers at social events, I’ve noticed that many writers, especially beginners, seek out rules or formulas to make the writing process more organized and accessible. These rules may include things like expressing the theme on page ten or including a particular event on page thirty. Many books and seminars offer these formulas, promising to help writers create flawless and captivating pieces of literature that all will love. However, these theories are often designed to separate writers from their money and don't help the writing process. I won't give names, but I will say that these people are charlatans and snake-oil salespeople. They're good at taking your money but not at writing. These formulas hold no value in terms of literary value or value to a writer.
Are these formulas entirely without merit? No. Like all things that sound wonderful in their façade, they are based upon literary conventions that apply to a writer’s work. For example, there is such a thing as an inciting incident. This is where something happens to propel the story in a new direction. It usually occurs near the front of the story, but not always. And that is the key phrase, “but not always.” And it certainly does not have to happen on page ten or page twenty-five. It might happen in the first sentence. It might happen halfway through the book. But if it happens halfway through the book, the writer might be advised to ensure the first half is entertaining and not lopsided. But, if it works, it works. Keep it.
What a writer needs to write well is to put in the work necessary to do it. This comes in seven separate ways: working with teachers who want to help the writer tap into her creativity, studying books on basic grammar, studying what other writers have to say about writing, studying literature by reading it, coming up with a great idea, having the discipline to write it down, and getting feedback from peers. These seven steps are the only formula you need to make yourself an original, readable, and entertaining author.
Be very careful if you think that something must always be done, must be done in a certain way or place, and conversely, that something must never be done. Original writing is not plugging information into strict shortcuts or formulas. It's easy to desire a shortcut. It’s easy to want something hard and firm and specific when we’re writing. It’s daunting to fly by the seat of your pants, but that’s what writing is. Somewhere in the finished product is order, but it is your order and the story’s order, not a pedantic rule imposed upon the story or you from the outside. Buyer beware: like anything of value, persistence and striving for excellence are the best shortcuts to making your writing original.
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