I write in a lot of different genres, and for a while I thought that meant I couldn’t quite become an expert in any of them. But then I started breaking down what it really means to be an expert. We can all become experts in whatever we want to, but it is not without hard work, dedication, and a dogged persistence that will carry you through the give-up days.
But first, let’s consider why we might want to become an expert in the first place.
Becoming an expert means many things:
- It means you can write a story in a shorter amount of time.
- It means that when an idea for a novel or an essay comes to you, you have the tools within you to envision the shape it will take in your brain (which is actually very deliberate practice).
- It means that you can spot problems with your story and fix them.
- It means that you will write better stories.
- It means that your audience will recognize that you write better stories.
- It means that you will sell more books and reach more people.
Expertise is a bit of a slippery term in the first place. What is expertise? Who decides when you’ve become an expert? How do you really know yourself?
Expertise is defined as the expert skill or knowledge in a particular field. So probably the most telling way you can know whether you’re an expert or not is by asking the question: Have I worked to acquire expert skill or knowledge in the field of writing?
If the answer is no, get started. If the answer is yes, don’t quit. We can always improve. So don’t ever stop trying.
In my analysis of how writers might become experts, I’ve identified five strategies. I’ll be talking about each of these five strategies in more depth at a later time, but for now, I’d encourage you to get started with each of these:
1. Read craft books vigorously.
I have a whole book shelf dedicated to writing craft books—probably more than 100 books. Some of them have been better than others, but I’ve learned something from each one of them.
Some of them have to do with writing children’s literature, some have to do with writing better descriptions, some have to do with crafting better settings, some have to do with telling better stories, some have to do with writing personal essays or narrative nonfiction or poetry.
There are so many writing craft books out there, for every genre. Pick one up for your genre and start reading. What you learn will change the way you tell stories.
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2. Study books in your genre.
There’s a secret among the literary realm, something that has been passed down from generation to generation, and it is the power of reading books. When you read books that are specific to your genre, you inherently absorb the techniques and structure of that genre. When you read many, many books—say 500, which is generally accepted as the number of books you should read to become an expert in your genre—writing those kinds of books becomes second nature.
Some people say they don’t like to read in their genre because they’re afraid their story will too closely mimic another one. That’s not a valid concern, it’s just an excuse. Read in your genre. Take notes about your genre, and you will find yourself writing better books faster.
[Tweet “To become an expert writer, study books in your genre. Take notes on techniques. Absorb.”]
3. Practice.
Do the work.
But in order for practice to be effective, you must practice deliberately. That means you must have measure of competency. Don’t just write books as your practice. Practice particular sections of books—like descriptions of a house or dialogue or characterization. Measure your progress. Take notes on what’s hard and what isn’t and then practice more of the hard.
[Tweet “To become an expert writer, practice what’s hard for you until it becomes easy.”]
4. Analyze yourself for weaknesses and then purposefully fix them.
This is not an easy thing to do, but it’s necessary. When I noticed that the settings in my stories could use a little work, I grabbed all the craft books on writing better settings that I could find.
Most of these craft books have exercises in them. I did the exercises. I took a notebook with me wherever I went, so I could write down a description of a place. I now have a “settings” notebook where my observations are listed. I don’t plan to ever stop this, because we only get better with purposeful practice.
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5. Find a teacher.
We often can’t progress past a certain point without the help of an expert.
I have big plans for This Writer Life, and one of them is to release some courses on every part of the writing and publishing process. I’d like to become a legitimate creative writing school that everybody—not just those who have it in their budget—can attend.
I want to teach people how to write more than 2 million words in one year like I did this year. I want to teach them how to write more than 5,000 words an hour. I want to teach them how to win a poetry contest.
I have plans for some rigorous writing courses in the future that will challenge and improve writers from the moment of idea conception to the moment they publish.
I say all this not so you’ll necessarily look to me as your teacher. I hope you will, of course. But a teacher can be a colleague in the writing world. A teacher can be a mentor or a friend. A teacher can be yourself, if you’re persistent and dedicated enough to do all the above, consistently, persistently and relentlessly.
[Tweet “To become an expert writer, find a good teacher and study hard.”]
Week’s prompt
Towels
