Growing as a Writer

Before I started this blog, I did a fair amount of research on how I was going to approach it. I mainly relied on the YouTube channel Perfecting Blogging with Sophia Lee as she has had a significant amount of success, and gives clear points on what to do. One of them was to continue educating the self in both blogging itself, and whatever topic the blog covers. I’ve always been an autodidact, but I realized I needed to be more purposeful in my pursuit.

Over the last week, I’ve been listening to the 2025 Lecture series from Brandon Sanderson on world-building and writing Sci-fi/Fantasy novels. It’s not the first time that I’ve listened to this lecture series, but I was pleasantly surprised to see an updated recording of the class. Out of all of the resources I’ve read about writing, his lectures make the most sense.

I would say it’s because I agree with his philosophy on writing itself. He treats his student writers as chefs, instead of cooks, and loves this metaphor to highlight the fact that all writers are different. All of the writing tips & tricks are tools to pick and use as the writer needs at any given time. A tool may be useful now, or “20 years from now.” This admission and his commercial success weighs his statement with experience and wisdom, whereas I would doubt anyone claiming that they have the ‘best’ or ‘true’ writing method. The best advice that I gained from his lectures (that I feel rather good about after consistently producing content for 2 weeks) was ‘to write until it’s second nature.’ If you are interested in fantasy writing, and haven’t discovered this author or his lecture series, it’s worth the listen.

Learning to Write

There’s an issue with how writing is taught in public education, as most is watered down to the most basic of tips that can be broadly applied to many people. I believe most students struggle with writing papers and answering assignments because many teachers and professors assert that the foundations of writing are absolute and infallible, presenting them as steadfast rules that should never be broken. Teaching beginning writers with this mentality limits their potential, and even their understanding because they aren’t able to conceive of the possibilities.

On the other hand, I understand why the basics are taught sternly in order to help beginners gain the tools needed to write easily in their own voice. It’s the same as a fine artist learning shapes and colors and dimensions. Writers need to learn the pieces of the language they’re writing in, and the general forms in which it’s presented. Compulsory education is only the beginning of learning to write. There’s technical writing and creative writing. Style, diction, and syntax change based on intention and audience.

While I was tutoring, more often than not, I would need to explain that the ‘rules’ in class are actually ‘guidelines.’ They’re the general bricks to lay the foundation of our writing skills. One of my posts in July will be a scholarly dose of resources for the burgeoning writer. I’m predominantly focusing on producing creative and healing content with only one scholarly post each month (June: Ancient Gemini). I am gradually learning and improving my work flow.

Learning to Grow

Even after consciously dedicating myself to my writing craft for 20 years, I still have more to learn. Growing is not a temporary status reserved for the young. In my youth, every red mark on my paper slashed my heart. Every ‘Yeah, that sounds good” with no actual feedback deflated my balloon. When my closest loved ones stopped caring about my art after my third attempt to produce my work, I almost gave up, too.

It still can be. Each time I open the feedback from my friend who became an editor, I have to huddle into a ball and not react or change anything the first time I read her notes. I let feedback sink in before I go back. Even Brandon Sanderson said that he only uses about a third of the advice he gets, even from well-established professionals in the business. He urges his students to not defend during feedback, which is profoundly difficult for a passionate writer, and just write it all down. I’ve come to realize that the red mark is a hiccup for the reader.

Growing from Feedback

Even if I don’t want to implement the exact advice or change that the beta reader suggested, if they didn’t understand my intention, I should still potentially tweak it for clarity. If they extrapolate and start theorizing about the rest of my world and story, it means I have enough to gain some interest. Sanderson talks about the pros and cons of writing groups, procuring feedback from different perspectives.

For instance, when I read Wayward to my grandparents, which was the first time I went to read it out loud, I broke up and could hardly hold back my tears. They both cried with me. It let me know that others who have lost someone dear to them may also find solace in my words.

While I would love to earn a liveable wage as a professional writer and will be working toward it vehemently this year, I have already found my peace that not everyone needs to read or even enjoy my writing. I wish for my words to reach the eyes and ears of those who need them. I’ve calmed down on ‘wanting’ people to read and hear what I have to say. Life is busy. I know I barely have time to eat or sleep, and I only have one child so far.

I’ll admit I have not read any new works of fiction in many years, tired of seeing the same tropes in the same formula because it was trendy and selling. I stopped sometime around the Twilight movie releases and all of the fantasy books had vampires. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed the Twilight series as a teenager years before it was a film, introducing it to both my mom and sister, but I’ve been finding more enjoyment from rereading the classics and my favorites. I suppose I could say that commercial fiction had gotten stale for me and hard to navigate, but good ol’ literature has always had something to chew on. 

This week, though, as I produce a poetry set, launch TikTok and YouTube, and work on my next segment of world-building…I’m going to start reading a chapter at night before bed. Through exploring the writing community on X, I found a few novels that could be interesting.

Thanks for reading! I’ve enjoyed listening to Brandon Sanderson’s lectures while DoorDashing. What do you continue your education about?

Disclaimer: I am not endorsed or sponsored by anyone. None of these writers or creators asked me to share.

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