Well, in the midst of Nanowrimo, (I’m over 22 000 words now, thank you for asking) I purchased several books on writing that come with the highest recommendations from Randy Ingermanson. I’ve put most of them away for Christmas (aren’t I good?) but kept out the one of which it is said “If you only read one book on fiction writing, this is it!”

Naturally it is the one at the top of the list if you clicked the handy link above, Dwight Swains “Techniques of the Selling Writer”.

It is a tough read on some levels. I’ve wet my feet a bit in the technical side of writing, and anything that comes with it’s own special terms is intimidating to the novice. I’ve heard most of the terms before, but in a “friendlier” context. It makes a difference. It also doesn’t help that the book isn’t visually designed well, and the font screams “This is written by a professional! You are NOT worthy!” But these are the mistakes of the publisher, not the author, and I respect Ingermanson’s opinion so I kept reading.

I was surprised to find that more important than technique in writing is the intense emotion of the writer for his work. Not what I was expecting from a book with the word “Techniques” in the title. Rather than encouraging me though, reading this left me still on shaky ground.

See, I used to write just out of passion, for the delight of it, to make the world bend to my whim. And I knew it could be done better, so I started taking it seriously. I took fiction 101 from Ingermanson’s site, am currently taking a college writing class, attempting to write an entire novel in one month and just spent over 100 dollars on books to learn to write better. I know these are tools, and they are good and are helping me to write better. But Swain says technique has no value without passion.

It comes back to passion again. What am I passionate about? What do I have to say? The techniques can help me to say it well, but they can’t provide the content for me.

The advice is to keep the creation side (the joy, the passion) separate from the critique side (technique, structure). Forget all the rules and write from the heart, then put on the editing cap and have at ‘er. But this advice consistently comes from men, who are better at compartmentalising their lives. It is a tough skill I am going to have to develop; rediscovering my passion and pouring it into the creative process, then putting it on the chopping block.  Ouch!