Ugh, A Storytelling System

I do think it is important for people who want to write and are driven by that desire to study the art and craft of writing. There are many paths to the same end and while some are maybe more efficient or do a better job of imbuing a writer with the craft and art, they will bring you to a place where you have a deep and intuitive understanding of the maxim, show don't tell. Really, the heart of writing.

One method I've heard a few times is sitting down and typing out the work of favorite authors in order to understand language, word choice, voice, etc. Probably not a bad idea.

However, the world, and for some reason Pinterest in particular, is flooded with websites that offer how tos on everything from your opening line to creating conflict to you name it. And all of them manage to take one point of the craft and art of writing and boil it down to a handy set of bullet points. There is even one writer offering people a free storytelling system.

Helloooo... these are infomercials that add up to distractions from what you need to do to learn how to write. The information is shallow, often useless, sometimes wrong, and designed more to sell you something. But it's often free, you might say. Yeah, they are trying to build their own publishing platform off your back. The more blog visits they get the better their chances of getting published. So, to do that do you tell the truth--writing is hard and takes work--or do you promise instant rewards and an easy system?

My other problem with these folks is that they undersell and misunderstand what it means to be a writer. To be a writer is to be an artist. It is to be a crafts-person. It is to have a love of solving writing problems in an artistic yet succinct way. It is to see the world from the eyes of an artist and writer. It is many things that requires greater depth and sense of self than a bullet point list on the five types of characters your novel needs, the 40 words you should never use, the ten phrases not to edit out, and so on.

Writing is not a DIY votive candle or quick bread recipe. It is art.