Comments on: Tech Writer to Fiction Writer 7: The Plot Thickens

By: P Dugan

P Dugan — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:05:33 +0000

Thanks for the article. With one exception this advice is solid. But it really disturbs me when people insult art by calling it a limp mess of “stuff” or any other name designed to belittle or demean. That’s just a messed up way to think about it. This kind of attitude is frighteningly close to prejudices one group holds against another group. It’s received thought, not thought through, and mostly erroneous because the source of the attitude doesn’t come from an honest place — it comes from self-interest. The truth is, Art is a tool to express and communicate thoughts, emotions, and ideas. That, simply, is all. Genre, for lack of a better word, is a tool designed to entertain. Different ends require different means. Sure, most “literary” writers are mediocre and make a hash out of it, same as most genre writers. There’s no need to perpetuate an attitude, especially when the attitude doesn’t contribute anything toward understanding but rather makes the understanding more difficult.

I’ve spent decades studying various arts, and I can tell you there is a spot for both art and entertainment. And it would be even better if they were unified instead of falsely competing against each other.

As a matter of fact, this is the subject matter of my newest writing project.

Thanks. Just my two dollars and two cents.

By: Colin

Colin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:56:26 +0000

Thanks for that, Bruce.

By: BHJ

BHJ — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:17:16 +0000

As a Star Trek character once said, “I feel your pain.” Start getting some self-training through blogs, sites and other references. Work at it some, then work some more.

As a tech writer, by now you can probably structure and present “stuff” just about as fast as it becomes available. My point in this series is that tech writers and other “geeky” people are already familiar with processes, structures and so on. Writing is another process and structure. To begin with, if you can talk, you can write.

Yes, the creativity might seem distant right now. Just keep on going down the road and you’ll probably be surprised.

Jump right in and start learning, just as if you had a new project. There’s lots of confusion at first, but with your training and experience, you get it sorted out pretty quickly.

Hope this helps.

By: Colin

Colin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 10:08:47 +0000

Hello Bruce

I landed on your blog from your guest article on Larry’s. When I saw “tech writer”, I just had to post ) I’ve in tech writing for the past 30+ years, and also enjoy writing non-fiction – tried my hand at short stories, but geez, the creative juices don’t flow so easily }

I’ve subscribed to your RSS feed, so I’ll be back.

Best regards.
Colin

By: BHJ

BHJ — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 23:35:42 +0000

Done. It’s just removing the text in the WordPress “Excerpt” field.