James Hudnall - The Secrets of Writing

The Secrets of Writing

By James Hudnall

Copyright 2015 by James Hudnall.

Smashwords Edition

Visit: thehud.com

THE SECRETS OF WRITING

James Hudnall

Also by James Hudnall

Hells Reward

Espers: The Storm

Espers: Interface

Espers: Undertow

Espers: Crossfire

Chiller

2 To the Chest

Streets

The Age of Heroes

The Psycho

Sinking

Blue Cat

Devastator

Shut Up And Die

Aftermath

For David Lloyd, friend and first collaborator.

Thanks for everything.

Special thanks:

Todd Mulrooney for the cover.

Maya Eilam ( mayaeilam.com ) for the Story Shape infographics.

Batton Lash ( supernaturallaw.com ) for the Section illustrations.

Kurt Vonnegut for Story Shape theory.

INTRO

FOREWORD

When I sat down to write this book I became possessed. I thought about it every waking moment. I even had dreams about it. It really took over my life. Since I was a kid I wanted to be a writer. I didnt become one until I was 28 with my first comic, Espers. As I became more experienced, the theory and practice of this art form became more interesting to me. I became fascinated with exploring the form in other media like books and film.

Then I set this book aside, for almost 20 years. I felt there was more I needed to learn. I came back to it now and again, but I finally felt it was time to finish it. What I felt was needed is now in the text.

Since I started out as a comics writer there will be a lot of references to comics. But this book is for writing in general. Most of my references are to films because that is what most people have been exposed to. Writing is writing. There are different expectations from different media. Each as its strengths and weaknesses, but the principles of writing are the same.

My goal was to create a comprehensive, easy to understand, book on writing in general, with a slant toward the comics industry. You can use the principles outlined in this book to write comics, novels, movies, plays, you name it. Ive tried to dissect and analyze every aspect of writing and storytelling I could think of. I went back and read a whole stack of books to refresh my understanding of other peoples theories so I wouldnt leave anything out.

Ive tried to make this book simple by keeping the terminology simple. Terms like Protagonist and Antagonist have become Hero and Villain. I avoid politically correct terminology and refer to generic characters as he. Audience was used instead of Reader because youre not just writing to one person but many. Hopefully, many people will experience what you write. Theyre your audience.

Occasionally Ill discuss books or comics, but again, Ill stick to popular work so youll have an easy time finding it if you havent read it.

Hopefully, youll find this book as useful as I have. Putting my thoughts in order and brushing up on text books has given me a lot of fresh insights. Youre never too old, or too experienced, to learn new things. Sometimes you also need to refresh your knowledge.

No one, no matter who they are, is above learning new tricks.

Experience is important, but not always enough. You can learn a lot by doing, but some new tricks might evade you. Thats why its wise to keep abreast of all the literary journals and theories out there. And talk to other writers. Swap notes. Its good for you!

You may find it annoying that certain maxims are repeated over and over again in this book. Its because these principles need to be permanently etched in your mind. You need to remember these things better than any of the Ten Commandments. But, while everything in here is true, there are always exceptions. Consider the following to be the basics and take it from there.

Breaking rules is a creative choice. But first you need to learn them or youre an amateur,

REMEMBER: There are no rules to writing, only principles.

THE BASICS

It isnt the job of the artist to give the audience what the audience wants. Its the job of the artist to give audience what they need.

Alan Moore

SO YOU WANT TO BE A WRITER

A lot of people say they want to be a writer. A lot of people say they plan to be a writer. A lot of people dream of being a writer.

Writers write. They dont talk about it. They dont dream about it. They do it. Its the only way you will ever be a writer. By doing.

The only way to get good is to do more writing. And never stop trying to learn. Never stop watching plays, movies, and shows if that interests you, to study the techniques and structure. Never stop reading comics or books to learn from them. Books especially, because there is where things can get a lot more dense and magical. All forms of writing have their unique advantages and disadvantages over the other. It would be wrong to decide one medium is inferior to the other because they all require the same fundamentals. There is worthless dreck in all media, so none is without its share of crap. But all media has its classics as well. I have worked mainly in comics in my career but have transitioned to prose and film. You can do it all. But you have to write.

A big mistake many creative people make is getting upset by other peoples success. Its none of your business. Your career is your business and if its suffering then stop wasting your time obsessing about other peoples. Its a waste of energy. Energy and time are better spent.

Spend it creating.

Your biggest enemy will be one person. That person is you. You will hold yourself back more than anyone. You may think thats not true, but youre the one you has to do the hard work. Youre the one who has to stop procrastinating and making excuses. You are the one who gets lazy and slacks off or plays video games or does drugs instead of producing a masterpiece.

You are the only one stopping you. So defeat your weaknesses. Get fit in the head and focus.

Heres the good news. It has never been a better time to be a writer because you can do it more easily than at any time in history. You dont need a publisher anymore. You dont need anyones permission. There are all sorts of new places to publish your work no matter what form it takes. All you have to do is create it.

Of course, there will be work to do after that called promotion. That will be harder than writing your book. But heres the great thing about being a writer. Once you finish something, it will exist as long as you keep it alive in some form once its published. Once its in the cloud or print, it exists and will exist for a long time. How long depends on may things, but the beauty is, you can write something when youre young and still make money off it when youre old.

But you have to write it first. And that goes back to what I said above. Only you can stop you. So dont stop yourself.

Do you want to be a writer? Then write something.

This book is here to help you. I try to give you all the tools you need to do the job.

But its up to you after that.

Write!

WHAT IS A STORY

We are, by nature, a creative animal. Were driven to make our mark on the world in some fashion, beyond our need to survive. Some people satisfy their creativity in the business community. Some fill it with music or dance. Were going to focus on that most ancient of trades, storytelling.

Humankind, as we know it, has been on earth for at least 40,000 years. We can safely assume that somewhere in the midst of that time, people started telling stories. It all probably originated around the campfire when we lived in caves and hunted with flint spears. Stories began as one hunter bragged about some saber-tooth he killed or a fish that got away. As peoples tastes became more sophisticated, the demands on a story grew. There needed to be more at stake, more exciting things happening, That required technique.