Writing Tips (continued)
By Claire Delacroix (who also writes as Claire Cross)
© 2005 Claire Delacroix Inc. All Rights reserved
One of the most depressing things for me is to meet new authors who say that they can't try a writing technique because "it's against the rules". It's true that there are plot elements and techniques that work more readily than others in any given genre, but you can do anything in a book. The more you challenge convention and expectation, though, the better your writing has to be.
Once upon a time, it was publishers who were risk-averse, not authors. We're supposed to be the unpredictable and creative ones in this partnership, and it's time that more of us let down our hair. If we all write books the same way - using the same point of view, the same analogies, the same storytelling conventions - the our books will become virtually indistinguishable. What makes a genre of fiction vital is a wealth of different voices. What seems to be missing in today's market is that hunger for experimentation - there's a reason why editors always say that they are looking for "fresh voices". We need to find our voices, we need to defend our voices, and we need to be creative in telling our stories. If you are an aspiring writer, take a hard look at your current manuscript. Do you challenge expectation? Do you show a dexterity with language? What makes your book distinctive? What makes it different from the other romances already out in the marketplace?
Remember that we are creative beings. Writers are artists. In writing fiction, as in creating art, there are no rules that cannot be broken. Whatever prose you commit to the page, whatever work you submit to a publisher, should not only be the best of your writing but should be intensely your own. It should not only be your own creative expression, but your distinctive telling of a story that is yours to tell.
The only advice I can give to you is this: if being a published writer is your dream, then dream big. Dream in color. Take a chance and forget the rules, if your gut and your story demand it. No one can tell your stories in the way that you can tell them - that's why they're your stories. That's why they've been entrusted to your care. They've been given to you because you have the unique gift to tell them as they deserve to be told.
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