How to Write a Good Story

Interlude: Fun stuff (I)

This chapter is an interlude to the advice from all kinds of professionals and amazing people, by me.

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Improve you writing the fun way

Have you ever got to the point where your writing becomes more a task than a party? I know it's not all that uncommon to get stuck in a rut, or to face the ever evil, ever horrific writer's block, so here's my personal 'what to do' for moments of tedium (or horror):

1. Read something amazing.

Sometimes I get stuck in the middle of a chapter, and the next bit just won't come (writer's block?) and in these moments, I go and read some of my favourite favourites. For practical purposes, I suggest you go read something amazing, aaannd genre specific. Are you struggling to write a poem? Go read amazing poetry by your most favourite poets, or go visit the poetry magazine online. Are you struggling to pin down a fantasy novel? Well, then let me shine a light on the most amazing authors the world of fantasy has ever known, and guide you gently into the lap of their glorious books:-

Patrick Rothfuss - Anything he writes (even blog posts) should be enough to inspire you and/or get you thinking right again. If ever works of fiction were close to perfection, his books 'The Name of the Wind' and 'A wise Man's Fear' are. 

Joe Abercrombie - If you want to be instantly blown away, read this. In fact both of these authors have the most amazing first chapters EVER. 

Of course, you could read the old faithfuls (and in fact, if you call yourself a fantasy author and haven't read these, then shame on you): A Song of Ice and Fire (series) by George R R Martin. Brilliant when going for 'how do I create and introduce an interesting character' or 'how do I kill off this character and make it acceptable (or terrible) to the readers'.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J R R Tolkien. This will be good if you're looking for a way to give the reader a clear-cut exciting and fantastical storyline. I put the Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis in the same category. 

Okay, so I won't bug you with my endless list of fantasy novels, just in case you actually write romance, or sci-fi, etc. The point is, the best way to learn, to get your mind thinking in the right way, to improve without rigorous study, is to immerse yourself in books so excellent that they take you into another world, and when you return, you find your grammar more inline, your mind filled with lots of ideas for books, and your soul inspired!

If you write other genres, poetry, romance, fan-fic, etc etc, please share your "have to read this" list in the comments below. I'd love to hear which books are good for which genre.

If you want a full list of my 'OMG YOU HAVE TO READ THIS' books, check out my profile :D

(more on improving the fun way, next)