by Ruth Harris
Style was once described as “looking like yourself on purpose.”
I don’t know who said it but the words and the idea behind them always made sense to me. Certainly Barbra Streisand, Audrey Hepburn and Tilda Swinton are examples. So are Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol. They don’t look like anyone else and are instantly identifiable — and millions admire them and even want to copy them.
But what does style have to do with bad writing?
Star hair cutter, Roger Thompson (he was Vidal Sassoon’s first Artistic Director), told me that the dilemma is people are afraid to look like themselves. They come to the styling chair with a photo or a clipping and request a hair style like Jennifer Anniston’s, Beyonce’s or the model on that month’s Vogue cover.
Never mind that their own hair is super curly, stick straight or thick and wavy and will never work with the style they dream of unless a hairdresser equipped with curling iron, blow dryer, gel and hair spray is with them 24/7.
They fear owning their own hair, body, face when, in fact, the key to standing out and shining is to do exactly that.
So what does fear have to do with bad writing?
Stephen King has an answer to the question: “I’m convinced,” he says, “that fear is at the root of most bad writing. . . Good writing is often about letting go of fear and affectation.”
When you write, are you afraid of what critics/your Mom/a reviewer/your crit group will say? Do you feel pressured to prove to the world how smart you are and how brilliant your prose?
Do you shrink from ideas that seem too far out/too freaky/too scary/too ordinary/too done-to-death? You know what I mean: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl. You don’t want to write that. Not again.
Or do you? Never stopped lots of romance writers from making a lot of money, did it?
And you do know, don’t you, there there are maybe 7 basic plots?
Are you holding yourself back because you’re afraid? Of what? Of the nay-saying phantoms in your head? Of what “people” will say? Do you cringe from imagined hostile reviews?
Is your writing suffering because you’re afraid of what people you don’t even know much less care about are going to think?
Now you’re beginning to see what I’m getting at, aren’t you?
But, you say, if I let go, if I indulge my nuttiest, weirdest, furthest-out or done-a-million-times idea, people will laugh at me, sneer at me, think I’m crazy, call me untalented.
The fact is, you’re right. The fact is, they might even think of worse things to say.
Bias against creativity results in bad writing
There’s a bias against creativity.
Only a few examples needed to make the point: Jackson Pollock was ridiculed and called “Jack the Dripper.” Picasso’s Cubist paintings were considered “shocking.”
Two experiments at the University of Pennsylvania involving more than 200 subjects discovered that people resist creative ideas because they challenge the status quo:
- People dismiss creative ideas in favor of ideas that are purely practical — tried and true.
- Creative ideas are by definition novel, and novelty can trigger feelings of uncertainty that make most people uncomfortable.
- Anti-creativity bias is so subtle that people are unaware of it, which can interfere with their ability to recognize a creative idea.
So now what?
The obvious answer is that a writer must face his or her fears. Which we do anything to avoid. Booze is popular. So is chocolate.
But an article I read a while ago about an in-demand sports psychologist gave me an idea for a different approach.
Why not accentuate the positive? Why not conquer fear with confidence?
The psychologist’s theory is that if a golfer is a good putter, s/he should practice putting until s/he becomes a superb putter? This shrink’s approach was not to focus on correcting an athlete’s weaknesses, but on polishing his/her strengths.
Writers can take the same approach: write what you’re good at. To bring the end of this post back to the beginning, as you polish what you’re already do well, you’ll will inevitably hone and define a style. It will be as individual as a fingerprint, as recognizable as Streisand, Tilda or Audrey and you will develop it by doing what you like best and by practicing what you’re already good at.
by Ruth Harris (@RuthHarrisBooks) May 26th, 2024
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What about you, scriveners? Do you think you might fear creativity? Do all the “rules” you get from online sources like this one make you afraid to go out on a limb and experiment?
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featured image, “Mural” by Jackson Pollock
Intriguing question, Ruth. I’m of the mind that I celebrate creativity, but I suppose I might not have the distance from my own work to know whether I’m nipping myself in the bud. Thanks for the food for thought.
I’m comfortable writing science fiction and it gives me a lot of freedoms in terms of story lines. Good to know that’s all right!
The world has enough external critics to drown us all ten times over; we don’t need to employ self-criticism and self-censorship on top of that.
The world prides itself on putting everyone down, telling us, “You can’t do that,” “You’re too stupid to do that,” “You don’t know anything,” “Nobody wants to hear about your interests,” “You did that wrong,” “You’re crazy to think that way” – it goes on forever. It all stems from two things: jealousy and laziness. Those who criticize most harshly are too lazy to do the work to make successes of themselves (however they may define “success”) and become jealous of those willing to put in the work to learn the craft (whatever craft that may be).
My answer to that world is “Who died and made you God?”
It’s similar to the Little Red Hen, who asked for help from the dog, the cat, and the duck to plant her wheat so she could make nice bread. None was willing to do any work, so she did it all herself. But they were more than willing to help her eat the bread. Those who criticize will be eager to take part in your glory, too, though they not only contribute nothing, but instead shove obstacles in your path. (Overcoming those obstacles can make you stronger, though …)
Do your own thing. Write your own story. The word “authority” has the word “author” in it: Own your own creativity, and the rest of the world be damned if it doesn’t like it. You’ll be surprised at your own marvelous creations. You have only yourself to satisfy. You have no obligation to satisfy anyone else.
If I’m being honest, the answer is yes. I hadn’t thought of it as fearing creativity, but when I look at it through the lens you described I see it.
The thing is I don’t even really know what I want to write about. I grow tired of my ideas very fast. I wish I could figure it out. I’m debiting hard whether I should start a draft of an idea I’ve had planned but feel uninterested in at the moment.
I have no clue what my strengths are.
This post reminds me of Appreciative Inquiry, which focuses on strengths and formulating the right questions to get you where you want to go–rather than focusing on a problem to solve.
Good words, Ruth. For me, the fear is that I won’t measure up to my own standards. Your words still apply. Thank you. 🙂
“…doing what you like best and by practicing what you’re already good at.”
Ruth, you and Anne are always brilliant, simple, and on target.
A lot of newer writers get overwhelmed b/c they try to master too many techniques at once. If you become confident in one skillset where you already have a degree of proficiency, that becomes the solid foundation from which to take the next step into new techniques.
BTW, for a month or so, I didn’t receive your emails or received them late (Wed or Thur instead of Sunday). RSS cybergremlins? Today your post arrived on time in my email–yaay!
Debbie–Yup: we are plagued by cybergremlins. Somehow our RSS feed url gets broken at MailChimp, and Nate keeps fighting the good fight, but he doesn’t know why it happens. It’s got so we’re surprised when the notices actually go out on time the way they did today.
Yes, I can appreciate this blog, Ruth. No question, fear of yet another thousand critics keeps me from writing some things. My books have lost me friends, after all. I expect every long-time author experiences this, and it’s a relief to see it discussed in your blog, Ruth. Thank you for that!
Thanks Ruth. That feels right. Before I started writing I used to dream about it then wake up feeling a fraud – even though i was just writing in my dreams. Then I turned 50, and for some reason stopped caring and started writing – and it’s been hugely enjoyable.
They say ‘dance like no-one is watching’. It’s the same I reckon for writing…
‘Write like no-one is watching’
I think that’s been most of my problem my entire life. Worrying about what so-and-so would say or think about my stories, what I did with my life, how I raised my children, and on and on. It’s only been the last three years that I’ve said, “Oh, well. Enough is enough. I’ll do what I want.”
I don’t think that I’ve ever had that problem. It took me awhile, but I’ve settled into my chosen general genre of fantasy. This allows me the best of both worlds, in that I can introduce real world issues into my fantasy, but tweak it so that it becomes specific to a particular type of people.
Plus, being at the age that I am (59) I don’t care at this point whether people find issues with my content. I basically gear my writing to what I feel comfortable with as a reader.
This is wonderful. Creativity just shows up in a creative person. For me I ended up in a design field; but always had a passion for writing. I pushed boundaries a little bit— here and there— and got recognition. There was a box in my industry that I wanted to burst through—you know, to do my own thing—and I think I did. Your article made me realize I can do that in writing too… the step-by-step is not my MO. I’d like to be the author of Alice in Wonderland, but I’m not. So how do my buttons and bows in writing make me stand out in the crowd— with a completely new hair cut?
thanks, loved this!!
Lp
When I’m thinking about starting a new writing project, I’m afraid that I won’t be able to keep it going and it will end up being a barely-begun little stub. If I’m lucky I’ll get to the point it becomes self-compelling, but sometimes it’s all I can do to persuade myself to grind out several hundred words a day.
This is after 7 books! Writing is hard work.
Thank you for such an inspiring post, Anne. I frequently doubt myself, and the next time I do this, I shall remember your words…
Makes sense to me, Ruth! I also don’t think a writer can truly develop their voice until they write honestly and without fear.