Ray Bradbury started early as a writer, penning his first
story when he was 11 years old. He created the habit of writing each day, and
kept submitting his growing number of stories to the popular pulp magazines. At
22, he finally succeeded in getting a story published.
A long writing career followed, with 27 published novels,
including the popular Fahrenheit 451, and 600 short stories, including the
collections, The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man. Through his
writing, Bradbury helped shift the focus of sci-fi from the monsters from outer
space to the scarier monsters within ourselves and our society.
Years later, as a famous and respected writer, Bradbury
distilled his thoughts about the writing craft in a series of essays, later
collected in the book, Zen in the Art of Writing. I recently read it and
enjoyed the enthusiasm and confidence that came through in his writing.
The book’s title is based on a book, Zen and the Art of
Archery, by Eugen Herrigel, a German philosopher. While teaching in Japan in
the 1920s, he took lessons to master Japanese archery, which combines physical
and mental skills. One day, he discovered a
‘shortcut’ technique that enabled him to hit the target, again and
again. However, his teacher chastised him because this outcome was the product
of having ‘much too wilful will’, rather than aiming to reach a state of being
‘without purpose’, in the zen of the moment.
In his essays,
Bradbury, like a zen archer, focuses on process rather than product.
Writing and story ideas
Dig into the personal
and true to find your ‘individual truth’.
Delve into your personal ideas storehouse to write about your best and
worst experiences, items from childhood, sensory impressions, conversations.
Look for ‘honest’ ways to express emotion—love, admiration, excitement, hate.
Be a omnivore reader. Nearly any material can provide
writing ideas. Read the works of authors who write like you, as well as those
whose writing differs from yours. Read poetry each day. Poems can provide story
ideas, expand your senses, and give you examples of powerful, beautiful
metaphors and similes. Find story ideas in practical articles. Don’t try to
understand everything in an article. Be a dilettante, letting your reading
connect with your subconscious, memories and beliefs. Reading a travel article
about an isolated beach may lead to you recalling an important childhood
experience or brainstorming what could happen there, and to whom.
Establish a rich writing habit
Write daily, aiming for quantity rather than quality. A
consistent, regular writing habit lets you achieve a relaxed state, where the
words flow. In his early career, Bradbury set himself the target of writing
1,000 words each day, plus completing and sending off at least one short story
each week.
Write fast in order to write honestly. Hesitation causes
writers to trade truth for style or let self-consciousness creep in.
Free associate by drawing up a list of words (e.g., titles
or nouns), selecting one word from the list, and freewriting.
‘Blurt’ your ideas when writing your first draft, without
over thinking or editing prematurely.
Turn a first draft into a polished story
- Shape your material in terms of what matters to readers.
- Sensory richness. Make your story feel authentic by
including rich sensory details: Colours,
shapes, sizes, smells, sounds, textures.
- Character and dynamo. What do your characters want? Dream
about? Knowing this puts the dynamo or energy into your story. When you know
this, your characters will develop much of the story for you.
- Emotion. Highlight your characters’ emotions, passions.
- Tension. Incorporate conflict, opposites. Make characters ‘fly together in a great
clang.’
- Release. Finish the story with a crucial action that releases
the tension you have built. The action
should ring true in terms of your characters, their desires and needs.
from Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury Joshua
Odell Editions
