Analyzing Writing

Over on Facebook, Carol Mchugh asked me to explain my reference to analyzing writing. She notes, quite correctly, that teaching folks to do analysis is not an easy thing. It’s also vital if you’re going to be able to turn out consistently good work. The reason I analyze what I do and what other writers do is simple: if I do something well, I want to know how I did it, so I can repeat it and build on it.

What I recommend to students is a simple process. Take any novel you’re going to read and get yourself a notebook. At the end of each chapter take a minute, two minutes tops, and jot down any notes on that chapter in your notebook. Put things down like “I like how the author introduced that character,” or “Combat sequence didn’t work.” Don’t take a lot of time to do this. You’re just pointing out things to explore because you want to continue reading the novel. You still want to get a sense of the book as a whole, and stopping to deconstruct it at this point will ruin that.

Once you’ve finished the novel, take that notebook and go back to explore all of the points. If you liked how a character was introduced, figure out why that was. Sometimes it will be ideosyncratic: the character likes the same team you do, or has the same favorite color or is in a situation that resonates with you. More often, however, you’ll find the author has developed a technique that makes it easy for readers to connect with him.

You go through the whole book looking at the things you like, and you figure out how to make those techniques work for you. The things that didn’t work, you figure out why they didn’t work, and you figure out how to make them better. You find places to use what you learned and improve it, both good and bad. Keep a notebook of the techniques—it’s like a carpenter amassing tools.

After that, you push yourself to do more. Any one trick can be combined with another, or another two or three, to create an entirely different effect. You can also look at other writers and see thing that they do which you have never done. Figure out why you haven’t done that, then find a way to challenge yourself. If, with every project, you don’t think you’ve bitten off more than you can chew, you’re not working hard enough. You can only develop if you challenge yourself. It’s the only way you’ll get better, and if you’re not getting better you’re losing ground.

Why?

Because all the writers who are coming up after you have your work as their foundation. They’re starting with all of your tricks as given. Okay, maybe you still have a year and a half or two years on them, since you’ve done new stuff that’s not hit publication yet. That’s really not much of an advantage, and one that will shrink as the digital revolution shrinks the time between writing and publication.

Part of the reason I produce the The Secrets is because it forces me to analyze what I do. I like the fact that other writers find the work educational. I think it’s a great tool for writers to jumpstart careers and to accelerate development. Not only does it help with writing, but the career-planning issues help make sure we’re all focused on delivering stories that people will actually want to pay for. Yes, I know some folks write for their own satisfaction, and I think that’s great. However, I like being able to keep score (comes from being a gamer) and commercial success certainly works as one way to keep track of how well you’re progressing. It’s kind of like that zen question: does a story that never gets read actually exist?

In every other endeavor, like athletics, folks get to go back to fundamentals, or watch tape of performances, break things down, scout out a way to success, and use coaches/mentors to get them to their peak. Analyzing what others do, analyzing your own work, and then pushing yourself to excel is the only way to have a career.