Steven M. Nedeau
Thanks for the question, Micah. I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you.
What do I do to improve my craft?
That is a great question. I wonder how far out of the norm my answer will be.
First of all, I'm a strange egg. I'm an extrovert and an engineer and a fiction writer. I've been involved with most mediums of art, painting, drawing, dance, acting, music, and writing. I think because of this, my efforts to improve my craft (writing in this case) may differ from most other writers.
One thing I do is read, like many other authors. I read anything I can get my hands on and can fit into my busy schedule. I enjoy 'how to' books and have several about writing. Maybe because I'm a bit older and just starting my career as a writer, I'm still a little insecure about my abilities . But, I'm also an engineer, I study the writing styles in the fiction books I pick up and I find that I can be critical sometimes when it comes to punctuation and sentence structure. It makes enjoying a book difficult while I am reading. The real enjoyment comes later as I recall the tones and depth of a story.
Here's an example: I hated Neil Gaiman's American Gods while I was reading it. Only at the end, where I could review the entire book as one story, could I appreciate it for the beauty that it was.
I also try to look at life around me, not to describe it instantly, but to enjoy it, to feel it, so that when I want to use it later it will come from deep inside.
I watch bad movies. I watch good movies, too. But bad movies make me angry. The studio spent all of this money and this is the crap they make? The bad movies inspire me to write reasonable solutions for the problems my characters encounter.
I speak to people. I talk to readers about the books they love and then I read them. It gives me a deeper view of the people I meet. It's important to me to learn what they are looking for. I don't consciously use that information in my writing.
I guess I've written a lot of words I didn't really need.
In summary, experience life, study hard, enjoy people. :)
What do I do to improve my craft?
That is a great question. I wonder how far out of the norm my answer will be.
First of all, I'm a strange egg. I'm an extrovert and an engineer and a fiction writer. I've been involved with most mediums of art, painting, drawing, dance, acting, music, and writing. I think because of this, my efforts to improve my craft (writing in this case) may differ from most other writers.
One thing I do is read, like many other authors. I read anything I can get my hands on and can fit into my busy schedule. I enjoy 'how to' books and have several about writing. Maybe because I'm a bit older and just starting my career as a writer, I'm still a little insecure about my abilities . But, I'm also an engineer, I study the writing styles in the fiction books I pick up and I find that I can be critical sometimes when it comes to punctuation and sentence structure. It makes enjoying a book difficult while I am reading. The real enjoyment comes later as I recall the tones and depth of a story.
Here's an example: I hated Neil Gaiman's American Gods while I was reading it. Only at the end, where I could review the entire book as one story, could I appreciate it for the beauty that it was.
I also try to look at life around me, not to describe it instantly, but to enjoy it, to feel it, so that when I want to use it later it will come from deep inside.
I watch bad movies. I watch good movies, too. But bad movies make me angry. The studio spent all of this money and this is the crap they make? The bad movies inspire me to write reasonable solutions for the problems my characters encounter.
I speak to people. I talk to readers about the books they love and then I read them. It gives me a deeper view of the people I meet. It's important to me to learn what they are looking for. I don't consciously use that information in my writing.
I guess I've written a lot of words I didn't really need.
In summary, experience life, study hard, enjoy people. :)
More Answered Questions
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more