Stages of a Fiction Career: The Art of Writing

Fiction writing is one of those fields that takes a certain drive to continue with. Everyone will quit on it at some point in their career, whether it be our own decision or not. Stephen King was hit by a van and was out of writing so long he feared it would never come back to him. Even if we aren't hit by a van, new careers that look better may arise, and the job as a fiction writer will look less appealing.

In the spirit of beginnings, here the first stages a fiction writer will go through.

Reading

Often we become writers by reading. It could be a children's horror story by R.L. Stine or Bruce Coville, or maybe a fantasy by legends like J.R.R. Tolkien or Ray Bradbury. What it all amounts to is the first inclination to put the words on paper. They may first appear in dreams, of which are so complicated that they stay with us through the day; and we want to write on them but we don't know how. Dreaming is the first stage of being a writer, as imagination, ideas on language, and the other pieces essential to a quality story come to us first by dreaming up ideas when we're sleeping, at school, or even work.

Reading directly leads to forming our own worlds. If we like the fantasies of L.E. Modesitt Jr., George R.R. Martin, or the Middle Earth tales of J.R.R. Tolkien, we will begin to form ideas on how to make a world just as-or more-elaborate.

The First Story

That first story we copied from a scrambled note we took at work or school. A writer can think the idea is so good, has such potential, that it leads directly to a few hours of disciplined work. The first story can be anything from short fiction to a novel or an epic that never ends. The novel will likely be abandoned unless the writer is incredibly disciplined from the outset. The short story could be finished in a matter of days. Still, neither will be submitted to a publisher: We are just learning the core of what it takes.

The Decision

We come to a road after the first story. The writer may think it's so bad that they never look at it again, shoving it in the closet with all the dirty clothes. The decision will still occur; it wasn't made at that moment. A new story will evolve in our minds, and the writer of this story will think that, perhaps, they can create a superior one. This is crucial in the decision to be a fiction writer: If we want to create more we are hooked on the word addiction.

Showing

We may never get a sale if we quit, but the chances of getting that first sale or award winner can come from showing the work to others. The writer will find this hard, like facing someone you have a major crush on, but this is a minor stop in the road. We can show it to others in person and, as the old saying goes, if someone actually gives us an honest review we should marry them. If we submit it online, we are more likely to be hurt by the results.

The Word Addiction

If we find that initial success, that one person who thinks that your writing has promise, then we just might be slaves to the word addiction for a long time. We may try huge, daunting projects with our newfound grace at the typewriter or computer. We may continue for years before quitting in disgust. And no matter how many times we quit, we may never stop thinking of writing.