"We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect."
— Anaïs Nin
Introduction
Welcome to this, the first issue of The Writers’ Lodge. Writing can be a lonely business, so this newsletter is aimed at those in need of support, guidance or a just a friendly word or two from others who are on the same path.
Each month you’ll receive a minimum of two newsletters, direct to your inbox, in which we’ll consider different aspects of the process of writing and editing a long piece of fiction, with articles and exercises designed to help the writer establish whether they’re on track or in need of course correction. My hope is that together we will also create a supportive environment, with opportunity for subscribers to share their doubts, fears and (if they wish) their work, for the group to discuss.
Do you know anyone who might want to join us on the journey? Why not invite them along?
Why do we (want to) write?
"To survive, you must tell stories."
— Umberto Eco
Before we get into the nitty gritty of how to write, I thought it would be helpful to go right back to basics and consider why we write.
Writing can be joyful, but finishing a novel — or indeed any long-ish project — can also be a slog. It’s a solitary process, sometimes lonely. There are days when the words aren’t flowing, when your characters have abandoned you and the plot seems to make no sense at all. Sometimes you look at what you’ve written and want to delete every word. And, when you’ve finally reached the end of a first draft, you have the prospect of the edit ahead of you, which brings its own challenges. So why do it at all?
The act of telling stories seems to be a fundamental thing, and in fact it’s not hard to see why. Imagine seeing one of your fellow hunters failing to return after disappearing into a cave in search of food - you’d want to tell anyone who’d listen that it was a place to be avoided! It was of great mutual benefit to share our experiences with others, as soon as we’d developed the language to do so. And we have that impulse still, we tell our friends and family what we’ve seen during the day, or what happened that time we unthinkingly cut through an electrical cable without unplugging it first (true story, and the answer is a huge bang followed by all the lights going out - I was very lucky). We want to inform and educate others, to make them laugh or entertain them, to build connections and foster empathy, to ask for help, or offer it by way of example. Telling stories allows us to do all those things, and more.
But why tell stories that are made up? Why write fiction at all? If we look at our hunting example, one can see how the story of the death-dealing cave would serve as a warning to others — a message to tread carefully when heading off into the unknown — even if it weren’t literally true. Ditto slicing through an electrical cable (did I? You’ll never know for sure1) — the warning is there either way. So we tell stories to make sense of the world and share our experiences.
And of course fiction entertains too, anyone who’s devoured a novel in one sitting or binge-watched a mini-series can vouch for that. Stories can take us to magical places it might otherwise be difficult (or even impossible) to visit, they can introduce us to people we’d never normally meet. They can intrigue and perplex, they can make us gasp with wonder or shiver with fear (safe in the knowledge that we can close the book or switch off the TV if it gets too uncomfortable), they can help us to empathise with people very different from ourselves and go some way towards letting us understand their emotions. And so, we tell stories in order to connect with people, to broaden our understanding of the world we live in, to inspire others, or even to better understand ourselves.
When put like that, it seems obvious, doesn’t it? Why wouldn’t we tell stories?
What other people say
“I don't know what I think until I write it down.”
―Joan Didion
Ask most authors (published or otherwise) how long they’ve been writing for and they’ll say ‘forever’ or ‘as long as I can remember’. I certainly fall into that category — I don’t really remember a time when I wasn’t a reader, and for as long as I’ve been a reader of stories I’ve wanted to write them too.
But I rarely, if ever, really stopped to ask myself why. For me the question never really occurred, it was like stopping to ask ‘Why breathe?’ or ‘Why eat?’ — it seemed fundamental to who I was as a human being, and the question seemed redundant. Whatever the answer, I was going to do it anyway.
A little while ago I asked the same question on Twitter.
The answers I got were illuminating (and by clicking on the above tweet you can go to the thread and read them all).
Many people talked about a compulsion to write, a feeling that writing fiction was the reason they were on the planet. For some that extended to the work itself; some people felt the stories were ‘out there’ and it was their ‘job’ to give them form, to put them down on paper. A huge number talked about writing being their ‘happy place’, it was playful, something that made them feel ‘free’. For others it was the world of stories that made them feel ‘in control’, or otherwise helped them to make sense of the world. Some spoke about writing being cathartic, a place to put their anger, and others talked about writing the stories they would like to read. Crime writer Liz Nugent rather poignantly told us “I was watching Shadowlands the other day and there was a line in it, ‘we read so that we are not lonely’. I think I write so that I’m not lonely.” Many, many people talked about writing as the only way to get clear their head of all the ideas, character and stories that were buzzing around in there, a sort of mental spring clean, while others felt it helped them to make sense of the(ir) world.
But how about you?
"You can make anything by writing."
— C.S. Lewis
When the going gets tough, as it inevitably will, it can really help to know why you’re writing (or why you want to write, if you’ve yet to take your first step). If you’ve not done so already, take a few minutes to think about it, and really dig deep. Are there stories within you that you need to get out? Is there an issue you want to explore, a set of characters that fascinate you? Is writing your happy place, or would you like to see if maybe it could be? Do you want to be published, to see your book on a shelf in a bookshop? If so, why? What is it about having a book that you’ve written out in the world that excites you so much?
Exercises
My plan is that with each Issue of The Writers’ Lodge I’ll give you some exercises to do. I know from experience that the temptation will be to skip this section, or to tell yourself you’ll do it later, when you have more time. That’s certainly what I used to do, when reading ‘How to Write’ books. But I also know that spending a bit of time with these assignments can be hugely beneficial, and my aim is that they won’t take too long. So, grab a cup of tea (or bookmark this for later). Here goes…
How would you have replied to my tweet?
Ask yourself why you want to write fiction and take a few moments to write a tweet-length reply to my question. Make sure your reply is fewer than 280 characters (and yes, that includes spaces and punctuation)!
Why not add your tweet to the above thread? Use the hashtag #TheWritersLodge
What will success look like?
Taking a few moments to think about what success will look like to you can be hugely beneficial. It can be different for everyone, but ask yourself, what are you hoping to achieve with your writing? Anything from ‘getting to the end of the first draft’ to ‘being a number one bestseller’ is valid. Don’t be afraid to think big, or to think small, and don’t be embarrassed — no one will see your answer (unless you want them to). But do write your answer down, and if you can boil this down to 280 characters so much the better.
Share your work, share your thoughts
As The Writers’ Lodge grows it will become an interactive, supportive community. So why not share with the group?
Introduce yourself. Who are you, where are you? What are you working on, or hoping to? Is this your first project?
Share your responses to the exercises above. Why do you (want to) write? What will success look like for you? Be brave…
What topics would you like to discuss in future issues of The Writers’ Lodge?
Next time: Ideas
In the next Issue we’ll consider Ideas.
What are they, how to get them, what to do with them once we have them?
How to know if an idea is worth working on.
Keeping a notebook, and keeping it organised.
Is there (still) such a thing as ‘originality’?
What do we mean by ‘high concept’ in fiction, and is it important?
Plus
Meet the Author
An exclusive Q&A with Will Carver, whose books including Nothing Important Happened Today, Girl 4 and most recently, Psychopaths Anonymous.
Subscribe
This issue of The Writers’ Lodge is free for all. To access future issues, please subscribe. I’ve kept the price affordable, so for less than the cost of a weekly coffee (about £2* per week, payable monthly at £9 per month) you’ll receive the updates and full access to the archive, plus you’ll be able to leave comments and be part of the growing community.
*Or, pay for an annual subscription and it works out at just £1.80 per week!
Special offer!
As an added incentive to early adopters, for those signing up before March 10, 2022, I’m offering:
20% off the cost of a monthly subscription, OR
40% off the cost of an annual subscription (both valid for the first year of membership).
For a limited time I’m also offering the opportunity to become a ‘Founding Member’ of the community. Sign up at this level and I will read and give feedback on up to 5000 words of your work (either written or via Zoom, spaces limited).
“I get a lot of letters from people. They say, "I want to be a writer. What should I do?" I tell them to stop writing to me and get on with it."
— Ruth Rendell
Happy writing!
Yes, I did.
Hi, I’m Ian, and by day I work in a finance role at a university, but in my spare time I have found the love of writing creatively. I started writing a few years ago and had grand plans to write a novel, only finding many false starts. I started out with masses of ideas only to find myself getting nowhere. Then one day not long after we went into lockdown in 2020. I heard an interview with an author who said, "You are not a novelist until you finish something. It doesn’t matter how bad it is, you have to finish it. The exciting things come in the re-write."
The very next day a motivational speaker asked, “If you were guaranteed not to fail, what one thing in your life would you like to do?” My answer was out of my mouth before I could even think about it. I said ‘write a novel!’ Then what was stopping me? I did no more than to dust off the old paperwork, and re-read what I had done previously. By Christmas I had completed my first draft. (Well, it was my umpteenth draft, but I actually got it to the end.) Now I don’t know what to do with it, and I guess that’s where I need your help! I don’t know if it’s any good? I don’t even know if I’m wasting my time? This is why I’ve come to the Writers’ Lodge.
Why do I want to write? Because I love creating. I love making things out of nothing. watching as ideas blossom; characters appear out of nowhere and do things that you wouldn’t expect them to do.
You asked what would success look like? For me, success would be seeing a novel I wrote, being read and enjoyed by somebody else. If I could earn a living from writing, then that would be a bonus, but it isn’t my main motivation.
As for topics, - What do you do with a book when you get to the stage where you think it’s finished? - Also editing tips would be great topic. - I too would appreciate something on dealing with inner demons. I’m glad I’m not alone in these thoughts!
Who am I: I'm Jude, I have been a full time carer for just over two years - just me, a cranky mother and a psychopathic cat. I am compulsively flippant, especially when socially uncomfortable. I have been working on a novel for the past eight months. Its the first time I have stuck at one piece for that long, and its the first time I have had a main character that I really feel, rather than a list of attributes with a name.
Why I write: Honestly: at school the first thing I got praised for was my story writing. At work & in the pub I will tell a good yarn and people are engaged and laugh or gasp in horror (usually it happens the intended way round). Plus my brain will make things up and ask lost of what ifs, and needs an outlet. So mainly because I am a show off trying to avoid a break down.
Topics :
How do you know when your inner critic is being useful & when its being an insecure saboteur?
Anything to improve my synopsis writing skills