I saw this on tumblr and thought to repost it here as I wanted to stew on her words of wisdom for a bit.
I've never considered myself a writer (diba guts?! hee) but I do write- for money, for reflection, for fun... so I guess that makes me a non-writer writer? Lol. Ya. ANYWAY.. moving on..
Zadie Smith's Rules for Writers
1. When still a child, make sure you read a lot of books. Spend more time doing this than anything else.
Thankfully, I was a voracious reader as a child. VORACIOUS. We had this reading program called "Rocket Readers" in 4th grade. My rocket was soaring high in the heavens (ie: top of the bulletin board), while my classmates were still inching their way out of earth (ie: bottom of the bulletin board). Young adult works are my favorite genre.
On the other hand, what kind of a rule is this if you're NOT a child anymore and you didn't read?
2. When an adult, try to read your own work as a stranger would read it, or even better, as an enemy would.
Is bad that I'm too lazy sometimes to read my own work? An enemy I assume wouldn't bother reading my work.. so I guess this rule definitely applies to me.
3. Don’t romanticise your “vocation”. You can either write good sentences or you can’t. There is no “writer’s lifestyle”. All that matters is what you leave on the page.
What's a writer's lifestyle? Is this anything like the life of an artist? Process and journey are important, but I suppose if you make a living off of this, then the result is equally, if not THE most important. Also, how can you claim to be a writer if you don't leave anything on the page?
4. Avoid your weaknesses. But do this without telling yourself that the things you can’t do aren’t worth doing. Don’t mask self-doubt with contempt.
Doesn't this follow in life as well? Art imitating life.. or the other way around. I don't know about avoiding though.. how about confronting and acknowledging the weakness, then working to turn it into a strength?
5. Leave a decent space of time between writing something and editing it.
Sure, this makes sense. You need to step back from your work.
6. Avoid cliques, gangs, groups. The presence of a crowd won’t make your writing any better than it is.
Hmmmm.. I don't follow. Is this for example, a rule for fictional writers who are trying to learn a character by walking the walk? If its simply in relation to being able to produce a written piece.. I don't understand why someone would think that being in "cliques, gangs, groups" would attribute to great writing. Depth of life experience?!
7. Work on a computer that is disconnected from the internet.
Hahahahhaha YA. Tell me about it.
8. Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you.
Agree. Writing is one of those things I do for self-reflection, grounding, etc. Unfortunately, when my life gets full, "important" activities like this are so easily replaced with "urgent" ones like work.
9. Don’t confuse honours with achievement.
"a thing conferred as a special distinction for proficiency" vs. "a thing done successfully, typically by effort, courage or skill". Agree. The line between the two are so easily fuzzed up.
On a different note, I like how achievement is defined as something that needs COURAGE.
10. Tell the truth through whichever veil comes to hand – but tell it. Resign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never being satisfied.
Woah. And where did this sudden depth come from?! Lol. Hmmm.. though that's the beauty about writing isn't it? An author can make up whatever world he or she wants in writing, but in some twisted way or form, the words speak a certain truth about the author.
A number of other authors share their rules for writers, read them here.
I know a number of my blog readers are also writers in their own right. So I'm curious to know, what are the rules you would share for writers?
i'd like to think i belong to the (non-existent) category of "recreational writer," but one thing i'm realy trying hard to master is the art of not overwriting - i.e. peppering it with unnecessary modifiers just for ting-ting's sake :P
ReplyDelete"I like how achievement is defined as something that needs COURAGE." So true! Love this line (in lieu of the distinctions on 'achievement' vs. 'honours').
ReplyDeleteWell,I'd like to think that writing is both personal and otherwise. With the former, it reeks of personality, style and schema. As for the former, once shared (kinda like the philosophy about the tree falling silently in the forest) it begins to exist (and take on variety of forms). It is witnessed; its contents fostered as it is masticated.
Bearing these in mind, it is the responsibility and the goal of the creator to manage something that bears some form (even if it were just a semblance) of integrity and truth. You can pretend, but does it communicate so? Take note, the fine line between pretense and being pretentious.
Ano raw?!... Hahaha... so far, these are my immediate reactions to your most fascinating entry. Hmmm... I should definitely list down my own rules with my own writing.
thanks for sharing this, pi. haven't read zadie smith myself, but i know she's supposed to be this genius writer (her first novel, white teeth, won the pulitzer prize yata. she was only 24).
ReplyDeletei agree with not hanging around any cliques or groups. that said, it helps to have maybe two or three similarly-minded writer-friends who can regularly read your works with both sympathy (for what you're trying to do) and brutal honesty.
working with an internet-less computer is probably the best practical rule i've ever come across.
my own rule would be to create a daily routine for writing, and stick to it. i like what philip pullman said in an interview: (something to the effect of) there's no such thing as writer's block - carpenters don't have carpenter's block. writing is an occupation like any other.
NUMBER 7!!! SO TRUE!!!
ReplyDeletei guess a writer's lifestyle depends on what kind of writer you are. copywriter, journalist, scriptwriter, novelist, all-around freelancer... these types of writers and more all have different lifestyles.
one rule i read somewhere that really stuck with me was not to get caught up in the myth of inspiration. waiting for inspiration to strike, or waiting to be in the "right mood", doesn't work.
neither does creating very specific conditions for writing and limiting yourself to those, aka "i write best in the evenings/sipping a cup of freshly brewed tea/listening to chopin." sometimes all you need to do is just start to WRITE. anything. and sooner or later you'll find that you've just written paragraphs, or even pages, of really good stuff.
another one is not to self-censor while you're writing. write first, edit later.
i love how this sparked a flood of comments from my friends. the last time i got this kind of response from you guys was from aui's picture. i love my intelligent locaret friends lol.
ReplyDelete