Top 5 Writing Tips I Learned from Craig Johnson
I’m lucky.
No, I didn’t win the lottery. (Unfortunately.) And no, this isn’t one of those brag rants, now famously dubbed a “brant” via the Twitter minds. I’m lucky because I studied under one of the world’s all-time greatest writers. Not once… but twice. On an island, no less.
Since I’m a big believer in to whom much is given, much is expected, here is a list of the top 5 writing tips I learned from the Longmire creator himself, Mr. Craig Johnson.
1. There are only two kinds of writing: good and bad.
Oughf! Talk about tough news to swallow. This advice is so brilliantly simple, though, you’ll wish you thought of it yourself. But you didn’t. Craig did.
The writing process is often overcomplicated by oodles of genres: horror, sci-fi, humor, thriller, fiction, women’s fiction (because, you know, it’s not “officially” fiction by female authors without that oh-so-important women in front of it), romance, revenge of the scorned ex-wives, etc.… (kidding on the last one, sort of). Today’s aspiring writers can simplify the process and just focus on writing well. Don’t worry if your writing fits into a specific genre. Or even which genre it falls to. Worry if it’s good. Because at the end of the day, if your writing isn’t good, it’s bad.
2. Read your work out loud. And have someone else read it out loud to you, too.
I had never used this technique before learning it from Craig. Spoiler: It works.
Reading a section of your writing silently only takes you so far. The real magic comes from saying the words aloud. This gives you a feel for the pace, the tone and, more importantly, it lets you know if a word arrangement could use a good tune up. T-rust me. I’ve rearranged entire sentences (and chapters) after reading them out loud.
What’s even more powerful than reading your work out loud? Having someone else read your work out loud to you. Craig has a secret weapon when it comes to this: his wife. (We could all only hope to be so lucky.) His wife is always his first reader. And he knows he’s in trouble whenever she mutters, “Is there a better way to say this?” after reading a line or two.
3. Outline, but improvise.
“Writer’s block only happens when you don’t know where you’re going.”
That is another great piece of writing advice from Craig. Enter: the outline.
I’ll be the first to admit I wasn’t always a big outliner. Or ever. Craig changed my attitude on that for the better. Your outline doesn’t need to tell the entire story. Nor should it. The best part of a telling or writing a story is the improvisation. But an outline does ensure you always know where you’re headed. Bad news for procrastinators. Good news for serious writers.
4. READ, READ, READ… oh and READ!
Good readers are good writers. And good readers always have a book around. It’s rare to see great writers like Craig without a book in their hands.
You can tell Craig is well-read just by looking at the titles of his books. They are all based on famous quotes or classic pieces of literature. Take The Cold Dish, for example. It’s based on the famous quote, “Revenge is a dish best served cold.” The earliest known use of this phrase dates back to French author Eugène Sue’s novel Memoirs of Matilda published in 1846. Craig even mentioned the quote in his book synopsis: Longmire faces one of the more volatile and challenging cases in his twenty-four years as sheriff and means to see that revenge, a dish that is best served cold, is never served at all.
Simply put: You cannot read enough. No really, you can’t. Good reading drives great writing. So get your read on, baby. Read new books. Read old books. Study the classics. They’re “classics” for a reason. Read authors you love. Read authors you don’t love (as long as they’re good writers). Read books by those who you aspire to write like, even if there’s no chance in hell you’ll ever write like ’em (here’s looking at you David Sedaris). Whatever you do, just read.
Bonus! Here are two excellent educational books recommended by Craig: Wallace Stegnor — On Teaching and Writing Fiction and Ron Carlson — Writes a Short Story. (You can thank me later.)
5. Tell me about yourself… is very a powerful line.
Craig’s books offer intricate details that only an astute researcher could come to learn. How’d he do it, you ask? He got his butt out of his office and talked to people. That’s how.
“Tell me about yourself is a powerful statement.” He would know. He writes multidimensional characters like a champ, especially American Indian multidimensional characters. According to Craig, “A lot of times Indians are portrayed as these stoic cigar store ‘How’ kind of characters and that’s not the Indians I know. The Indians I know work in about 17 different layers of irony and if you’re not aware of that irony you get to be the butt of that irony.”
If you want to know more about something or someone you want to write about, just ask. Set up a coffee meeting. Buy them a glass of wine. Or, if you’re feeling extra generous, buy ’em two glasses! (In wine there is truth…) Ask great questions. And then ask even more great questions. Actively listen. And learn. Everyone has a story to tell. As the writer, it’s up to you to get to the heart of it.
