I enjoyed this shortish (under-14-minute) video from the Bookfox channel on summarizing nine writing tips (or “hacks,” as Bookfox calls them, because everything is a hack these days) from science fiction maestro Ray Bradbury. Give it a watch and let me know what you think.
If you don’t have the time to watch, here is the list (but you really should watch the video, which expounds on each):
- Use the jackdaw method. Learn from the scavenger bird and collect ideas from everywhere.
- Write a short story a week. Quantity creates quality. (No wonder Bradbury was so prolific.)
- Collect metaphors.
- Read these three things every night: one poem, one short story, and one essay. Do this for 1,000 (!) nights.
- Make a love/hate list. Combining loves and hatreds can create good stories.
- Learn from the lizards. Bypass your intellect. Rely on your “lizard brain” to write more, think less.
- Write about ideas.
- Don’t be afraid to cut. Bradbury’s first draft of his classic novel Something Wicked This Way Comes weighed in at 150,000 words. He ended up cutting 50,000 words from it before publication.
- Three rules to live by. No spoilers here. You’ve got to watch the video for these.
Which of these tips/hacks resonate with you? Which are too crazy and outrageous?
As for me:
- I already do number 1 (the jackdaw method). I’m a scavenger of ideas. They are in my notebooks, in my iPhone notes app, and even on random pieces of paper. Some of these ideas have informed stories.
- I think I could do a short story a week (number 2). But first I need to finish revising half a dozen short stories in progress before I attempt this method.
- I’m not sure about the 1,000-day reading project (number 4). That’s three years! But maybe if I take it a day at a time…
How about you?
Andy writes! 