Study.
When I see this word, I automatically think of school probably because I'm still in school and my life, when not writing or spending time with my family, is engrossed in countless hours studying for school-related things.
Sometimes this is what I look like in the middle of the night:
But this word can also have other meanings, particularly when it comes to the writing process and learning the craft.
I know what some of you are saying...
When I first started on my writing journey, I knew nothing. I mean, NOTHING about what it takes to actually finish a novel and get out into the publishing world. The sad thing was, I didn't know that I knew nothing. LOL I thought, oh...I can do that. I've been writing for most of my life, getting a novel together would be a natural next step. Oh boy, how dreadfully wrong I was.
Like with all craft and all areas of work (and writing is definitely 10% luck and 90% perspiration), it takes an enormous amount of resilience and the drive to learn in order to make ourselves better than we were. Studying the aspects of writing, of publishing, and how these two can come together harmoniously can sometimes be a daunting task because it's hard to figure out where to start.
Not until I actually started pushing myself to learn more, not only about the craft in general, but of the process as a whole, that I realized how much potential I could have. That's another bonus of the whole studying thing: confidence. The belief that I can do something that I previously thought was unattainable. By taking it upon myself to learn more, I can open up more doors to better not only my craft, but me as a person as well.
I look back on that first attempt at a novel now and I literally bug out. LOL It was SO baaaaad...and now, looking at my new WIP, I see the areas of my writing style that went through significant improvements and can now see parts of it where more improvement can be used. Learning about the different elements that went into writing a novel has also helped me to objectively view not only works of others, but my own as well. The "writer's eyes" as some call it.
What experiences have you had in study of the writing process and the industry in general?
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