: Re: How do I improve my "impact" in writing? I don't know the exact word for it, but I hope I make it clear what I mean by "impact" soon. My favorite pieces of writing are Rosa Luxemburg's

@Sent2472441

Vote Up Vote Down

I think if any of us could tell you how to write like a Nobel Prize winning author, we wouldn't be in this forum :)

But, seriously, this kind of writing takes a great deal of experience and practice. John Steinbeck wrote dozens of short stories, novellas and novels before he wrote The Grapes of Wrath -- which I believe is the greatest novel ever written, but that's my opinion. I remember reading the end and crying for an hour!

Also, Steinbeck wasn't only a very experienced writer, he LIVED The Grapes of Wrath. He witnessed terrible injustices and that novel was a political statement. Politicians even described him as the most dangerous man in America because his writing had such 'impact'.

There's (unfortunately) no A. B. C. process that will enable you to write like that. But there are things you can do that will start you on the path:

Read widely. Read literary fiction. Study the greats. Consider a degree in creative writing or literature where you will be forced to break these great novels down and understand, in depth, what they are doing and how.

Write short pieces. Literary fiction is much harder than commercial fiction, so start small. Enter competitions and keep entering until you win, it will help you see if your writing is progressing.

Write from the heart and from experience. It's better to write about a small experience you've had (like finding a mouse half dead in your kitchen and having to decide whether to kill it) than to trying to emulate something like The Grapes of Wrath when you haven't LIVED that. Impactful writing comes from deep in your soul, from your emotional experiences. You have to have lived them to write them well.

HTH and good luck!

(0)

Login to post a comment!