Write a Story
by John Dann MacDonald an American writer of novels and short stories. He is known for his thrillers. A prolific author of crime and suspense novels, many set in his adopted home of Florida, he was one of the most successful American novelists of his time. MacDonald sold an estimated 70 million books.
“I am often given a big smiling handshake at parties by someone who then, with an air of gleeful conspiracy, will say, ‘You know, I've always wanted to write fiction.’ I used to be polite. But these days I reply with the same jubilant excitement: ‘You know, I've always wanted to be a brain surgeon.’ They look puzzled. If you want to write, you write. One learns to write by writing. There is no other way to do it.”
You have to start knowing yourself so well that you begin to know other people because a piece of us is in every person we can ever meet. Demonstrate stupendous diligence, with word-love, plus empathy. Out of that can come objectivity, but it’s never total. When writing, the flavor and meaning is constantly being searched for. The writer is usually not at all certain how the story will turn out.
One sends stories out into the world that are full of spirit. They are children, making their way in spite of what you have imposed on them. A concerned writer would give a pretty penny to get them all back home and take one last good swing at every one of them—page by page. Digging and cleaning, brushing and furbishing, tidying up. Other writers may be better than you are. We wish it was easier than it is. It is that simple.
Then what? Story. Story. Story! A story is something happening to someone you have been led to care about. It can happen in any dimension—physical, mental, spiritual—and in combinations of those dimensions— It doesn’t matter what area in which you write. The main thing is story. Once you have it, you can write it. Many stories start with… “It was a dark and stormy night…” Now you are started…
Writers are in competition with sensational books published by the household names of authors who have never really bothered to learn their craft. Beware of “author intrusion” where the reader suddenly realizes they are reading. The reader is distracted from the story. Here are some failings:
Selfish: “My God, Mama, look how nice I'm writing!”
Distraction: “His eyes slid down her...”
Lecture: The mini lecture in the story.
An image can be neatly done, be unexpected, and not break the spell. Demonstrate a good ear for exactness and truth that can give dialogue. Do not write to please someone else. Write to please yourself. When that happens, you will like your work, and others will respond to the story.
08/03/25