How to Become a Writer - First Three Steps
Let’s Talk About Stories: How to Become a Writer - First Three Steps
Like any craft or way of life, you have to collect the tools necessary to begin creating. Reading is that tool required to be a great writer. Simply as infants, we did not walk by configuring in our tiny brains the act. We were taught. And I believe that books are our teachers; the good and the bad works guide us to become great storytellers. Reading can awaken your vocabulary, enhance the rhythmic patterns of prose, and help you assemble a completed arc for a story. Below are some vital points as to why you need to read to be a distinguished writer.
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As the infamous Stephen King said in his memoir, A Memoir of the Craft: On Writing,
"If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot."
Reading helps you learn: dialogue, character development, world-building, grammar, etc. I've put together three important steps to follow to enhance your writing journey:
Understand the Fundamentals of Building a Story
Study Diction
Adjust and Practice, Practice, Practice
Step One: Understand the Fundamentals of Building a Story
Writing isn’t about the motions, it’s about the story you are conveying to your audience. The truth you need to share with the world: demanding to be heard, learned, and expressed. Reading enables you to study the difference between a story that is fleshed out and others full of fluff or hold no real meaning. When I finish a book that didn't follow through on metaphor, character arcs, or overarching theme - I'm deeply unfulfilled. You don’t want to be that kind of writer. When you conclude a book that leaves you empty, it's because the writer didn't do their job. Most of the time, it all comes down to character development. Learn how to set up your character arcs to convey a full story. Ask: why should we care about these characters?
My recommendation is to start with The Hero’s Journey. This has helped aid my storytelling, and it could help yours as well! Check out this video from the Netflix show “Myths and Legends'' - if you haven’t watched it, I highly recommend it!
And where do we learn stories? - from the myths, tales, and books that came before us!
Step Two: Study Diction
While reading, I have cultivated a wider vocabulary and encountered the melodic flow of diction within sentence structure. I could not have gained these understandings without reading. We learn from those before us - what flows and what does not. We conclude the stories that have been done, and we imagine what could be executed better.
For example, take this sentence from the classic novel, “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde:
“His eyes deepened into amethyst, and across them came a mist of tears.”
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde’s prose is poetic, and I found myself in awe reading through this story at his descriptions. This creative expression of crying opened my eyes to the impact words cultivate within the experience for a reader.
For an even more profound example of his magnetic prose,
“His nature had developed like a flower, had borne blossoms of scarlet flame. Out of its secret hiding-place had crept his soul, and desire had come to meet it on the way.”
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde paints a portrait with his words. The diction engulfed me. Upon reading it, I learned how strong and appealing this style is to me in stories.
Step Three: Adjust and Practice, Practice, Practice
Reading has become a more fluid habit in my daily life, which has exponentially reconstructed my writing. I have been executing more poetry because of the mere inspiration. But more than that - reading has awakened my vocabulary, enhanced the rhythmic patterns of prose, and aided in assembling a completed arc for a story.
This leads me to another point: be particular about what you read. There are plenty of books that do not imbue the essence of great storytelling. Yet - we can learn from those in what not to create as well. But as Oscar Wilde said,
“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”
Oscar Wilde
If I continued on the same reading journey I was on five years ago (maybe two YA fantasy books a year). I would not have rounded out who I am as a writer. My writing would have been unfulfilling due to my underdeveloped prose and storytelling capabilities. I would never have learned: style, tone, metaphor, etc. to tell a story with catharsis.
My reading has rapidly increased, and it has changed my creative writing tremendously. I am currently finishing a second draft in my first poetry book. Stay tuned for more on that in the future! I try to read three books a month: one is solely dedicated to the book club, the other is typically a classic, and the third is for pure enjoyment! I also listen to at least one audiobook in a month.
You have stories to tell, so don’t hinder your capabilities by not learning through reading. To be a GREAT writer, educate yourself with the books that came before you to create a work of art.
“The reason one writes isn’t the fact he wants to say something. He writes because he has something to say.” - F. Scott Fitzgerald
