by Xan van Rooyen
From Stephen King’s frequently cited On Writing to that random author on TikTok giving a 15-second “why you should never start with a prologue” spiel, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the abundance of writing resources out there, especially when so many of them seem to give conflicting information. It certainly doesn’t help that soundbite adages like “write what you know” and “show, don’t tell” get bandied about without any context, often resulting in misunderstanding and frustration. It is even worse now in the age of AI when authors are trying to prove their writing isn’t slop—to use the em dash, or not to use the em dash?
Suffice it to say, with the number of books, workshops, courses, programs, apps, and self-proclaimed experts all ready to tell you exactly how to write the next bestseller—often holding that information behind a paywall—it can be a nightmare trying to figure out the good from the bad, and the useful from the irrelevant, all while working to hone your craft and develop your own authorial voice.
As a newbie writer (and an autistic one at that who needs to know EVERYTHING about a topic), I felt like I was drowning in a sea of resources without knowing what I wanted or even needed. Looking back now, I know I wasted precious hours reading articles and trawling forums for nuggets of wisdom that never helped me much. But it was only by wading through all the internet and local bookshop had to offer that I gradually cobbled together my own life raft. Without proclaiming myself any kind of expert, I’d like to share a few of the strategies I’ve developed for navigating writing resources. As with any advice, use what you find useful and discard the rest.
Understand the Basics
As a lifelong reader, I thought I understood the structure of a good story and how to write one. I was wrong. If a book is well written, the reader will rarely pause to see the mechanics of the story at work. The reader will be immersed, emotionally invested, and voraciously turning pages without realizing they just reached the first or second turning point, or the dark night of the soul. They’ll fall in love with complex characters without pausing to appreciate how well the author has tied their developmental arcs to the escalating plot as the characters’ wants vie with their needs.
Despite having devoured books since childhood, I had no idea about three- or four-act structures. I had no idea about how to craft a relatable character, or tie it all together in a story where worldbuilding, plot, and character development all come together in an intricate braid. So, establishing the basics is essential: There are dozens of excellent resources online and in books dissecting and discussing story structure. Use these to learn about the building blocks of story. Experiment with these blocks to develop your understanding. Then decide what feels like the best fit for the stories you want to tell, and delve deeper into that specific structure or approach. Set aside the rest.
Learn from What You Love
I signed up for MasterClass Online Classes one year in order to work my way through every single writing course and author workshop they had to offer, and wow did I learn a lot I had no intention of ever applying! While none of those hours were wasted—discovering what doesn’t work and what you don’t like can be valuable too—I really wish I’d taken a better approach and stuck with the courses by authors whose books I loved, and whose writing contained something I wanted to emulate or apply in my own practice.
After spending the better part of a year in these courses, there are a scant few I find myself returning to time and again when I need a reminder or want to refresh a particular aspect of my craft. When I do return to those resources, I make new notes, extracting the most salient pieces of information relevant to my current project—as not even my most beloved resource will be applicable to every writing project. A fantastic worldbuilding template for a novel series, for example, is far too much for a short story. Likewise, a beat sheet for a short story probably won’t help with successful pacing for a 150k-word epic fantasy.
I also recommend signing up for workshops, listening to podcast series, or buying books offered independently by authors whose work you enjoy: for example, Maggie Stiefvater has her own writing course (which you can purchase through her website) and V. E. Schwab runs a fantastic podcast called No Write Way where she investigates the creative journey and process of a diverse array of authors.
Don’t limit yourself to other authors though. You can still learn a lot from artists even if they don’t create in your preferred medium. One of my favorite music artists is Crywolf. When he offered a songwriting course delving into his creative process with an entire section dedicated to lyric writing, I immediately signed up. I learned an incredible amount about my own creative process by following his exercises designed to free the imagination. I learned even more about prosody, poetry, and the rhythm of words in his lyric writing sessions. This course didn’t turn me into a songwriter, or even a poet, but it did make me more conscious of my creative process and help me consider my prose more intentionally at the sentence level.
Be Open-Minded, at First
If you feel stuck in your writing, especially if you know you have a specific weakness, then I encourage you to explore ALL options addressing your particular need. For me, my weakness is plot and pacing. I love characters and find it easy to create emotional arcs for my characters. I have a much harder time tying all that into a plot that makes sense and keeps readers turning pages. In my search for a method that worked for me, I researched story structure, switched from three-act structures to four, used every template I could find, and tried out the snowflake method (I detested it!). I even tried using software like Scrivener and Obsidian, thinking it would help me if I could see the story a different way. While I learned from each of these explorations, nothing really resonated until I discovered Story Genius by Lisa Cron.
Cron explains the connection between plot and character with the use of scene templates in a way no other book had and it suddenly made sense, giving me a literal Aha! moment. While this book has been a game changer for me, one of my closest writing buddies, whose books I love and who regularly beta reads for me, hates the Story Genius method and refuses to use it. As for that awful snowflake method—one of my favorite authors and close writing buddies swears by it and uses it to craft the books I instantly fall in love with. So, be open-minded, explore, and investigate anything that catches your interest or that you feel might help—but then be honest about what works and what doesn’t, which approach you enjoy and what feels like pulling teeth. Don’t worry about what your writing bestie or that bestselling author says—stick with what works for you and allows you to enjoy the process of creating the best book you possibly can.
Form Your Own Unique Approach
Take what works for you and discard the rest. It sounds simple, but it’s not. Developing a method that works for you, not just once but over and over again, takes time and honesty. As I learn more and more about the craft of writing, I’ve come to realize that trying to use any one method in isolation is never going to give me the results I want. I have had to develop my own unique approach by amalgamating all the strategies I’ve learned over the years.
You are also never going to find one resource that addresses it all, especially if you write speculative fiction. Worldbuilding for fantasy and science fiction stories is an art unto itself. Story Genius, as much as it has helped me understand how to tie character arc to plot, gave me absolutely nothing in terms of worldbuilding and doesn’t address macro structures for approaching a multi-book series either. For worldbuilding, I return to the N. K. Jemisin course I took on MasterClass or I bust out Wonderbook by Jeff VanderMeer. When first starting to conceptualize a new story, I return to Maggie Stiefvater’s lecture series and use her four-act structure to help me see the broad strokes of where my narrative might be going. When I feel creatively stuck, I use one of Crywolf’s exercises intended for songwriting to give my imagination a work out. And sometimes, I have to admit that none of my tried and tested methods are working, and that I might need to try something new. That’s okay. As we learn, we grow and change, and so our methods might need to change too.
The frustrating truth of the matter is that there is no one method, no single template or approach, to guarantee the book you write will snag you a six-figure deal or become a bestseller that wins over readers and critics alike. And thank goodness for that because otherwise we would lose the magical art of storytelling. There is no one way to write a book because there is no one way to tell a story. The diversity of approaches, of narrative structures, of character arcs and the types of stories this gifts readers should be celebrated, not reduced to a formula easily replicated by generative AI.
While honing your craft and striving to be the best writer you can be is important, if not essential, it is equally important to remember that you are as unique as your story is. Humans are messy and imperfect, and the art we create will reflect that; as it should, because that’s where the soul of the story only you can tell truly lies.
Some Helpful Links
V. E. Schwab’s Podcast: One Write Way
Additional Free Resources:
