It's time for a new thread I'd like to call "Read Good Writing."
As is the general thesis of this blog, I am trying to foster your inner writer. I know, I have no right to act as your teacher, and you don't need my help, and your band is totally gonna make it once your bass player gets ungrounded by his dad. Yeah, got it.
I'm no expert. Never claimed to be, and I don't want you to get that impression. I am also not trying to say that my methods are the correct ones, or that my path is for everyone. I think my status as "15,755th-best-sci-fi-writer" on Amazon's "300,000 under 300,000" list confirms that. But there are fundamentals to being good at writing that are universal.
Namely: To be a good writer, you have to read good writing.
This is not to say that you cannot enjoy bad writing. In fact, it is one of my hobbies. But you should take the time to dive into better writers on a daily basis. It should be your resting state, to be eyeballs deep in prose and form that is lightyears ahead of your own.
It can be frustrating, I know, to accept that there are people out there in the world better than you. Not just better, but so far ahead you have no hope of catching them. I hate to admit it, but I will never be a Lin Manuel Miranda. Heck, I'll probably never be a Damon Lindelof.
But I have to read. Reading builds pathways in the brain that develop into writing muscle. In the same sense that you can't do brain surgery by practicing on cauliflower, you can't learn to be a better writer by reading the back of a DVD.
So, in the spirit of honoring better writers, I'd like to direct you toward Shani Silver. I knew Shani when she was just the cool girl at Shul. Now she's a bonafide brand, and five seconds with her work will show you why.
SHANI SILVER - MEDIUM
Who are your favorite authors? Who's talent makes you so angry you want to punch a hole in existence? Let me know!