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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40425
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40425
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

There is no special secret technique to writing. No methodologies that you must follow. No "right way". The best ways to learn about writing are **reading** and **writing**.

When you read, you are exposed both to ideas, and to how those ideas are expressed. Take note of how things are done, try to understand what the author achieves. This can refer to how characters are introduced, how a scene is set, how an event is foreshadowed, etc.

When you write, read what you've written, see what doesn't work, change it until it does. When you're not sure what exactly isn't working, or how to repair it, ask a friend, or a writing group, or this Stack Exchange. Anyone who reads, not necessarily someone who writes, can help you spot a problem.

If you look through the questions here, you will notice that many are answered not by "you should do X" but by "author A did X in a similar situation, author B did Y, author C did Z. X, Y and Z appear to have N in common." Which goes back to reading. Similarly, when people talk of structures, like the Three Acts model, or about tropes, those are extrapolated from writings - they are not rules that someone set in stone. **The "rules" are descriptive rather than prescriptive.** It can be helpful to be aware of them, but you don't have to formally learn.

Two sources I find helpful, though again, not strictly necessary, are [TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/) and _The History of Middle Earth_. TV tropes is a source on common tropes, with examples of their utilisation in stories (written, filmed, etc.). Having read a book, you can look at it through the TV Tropes prism, break it into components, understand a bit better how it all comes together. As for _The History of Middle Earth_, it is a discovery writer's journey towards a masterpiece. The early drafts, the ideas that got scrapped - it's all there. Which helps understand the process, a bit, but mostly, for me, it's just really encouraging - you can see how the first drafts are rather meh, but at the end there's one of the greatest masterpieces of literature.

As for the process, "think of a story, begin writing, and make modifications" is pretty much what all of us do. Some of us put more effort into the "think of a story" part, with full detailed outlines. Others just have a beginning and proceed to discover where it leads them. Everyone edits and makes modifications. Some do things in a particular order that works for them, but might not work for you. Writing is not a violin, where you must first learn to hold the bow. You already know the "hold a bow" part - combining words into sentences and sentences into paragraphs. Now go ahead, make music, and learn to make better music as you go.

Original score: 14