Cookies of Delight

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An author recently asked a question on social media that I see pop up fairly frequently in writerly community spaces, giving voice to a fear that I think is fairly common.

The question (to paraphrase) was: What if I'm afraid my writing is boring?

I paused when I read this question, because it's not a fear I've had for a long time with my own writing. And when I reflected on why this was the case, I can point to two influential pieces of writing advice from two other authors that have been incredibly important to maintaining self-confidence in my own writing.

The Cool Stuff of Literature Theory

The first is a quote by Steven Brust that my friend Whalley introduced me to in 2018, that I immediately saved and have referred to confidently ever since:

“The Cool Stuff Theory of Literature is as follows: All literature consists of whatever the writer thinks is cool. The reader will like the book to the degree that he agrees with the writer about what's cool. And that works all the way from the external trappings to the level of metaphor, subtext, and the way one uses words.

In other words, I happen not to think that full-plate armor and great big honking greatswords are cool. I don't like 'em. I like cloaks and rapiers. So I write stories with a lot of cloaks and rapiers in 'em, 'cause that's cool. Guys who like military hardware, who think advanced military hardware is cool, are not gonna jump all over my books, because they have other ideas about what's cool.

The novel should be understood as a structure built to accommodate the greatest possible amount of cool stuff.”

In my own brain, I've continued to call this the RULE OF COOL (simply because it's easier for me to remember). Everyone is going to have a different idea of what is exciting, what is cool, what makes a story really good. And no author is going to be able to write to every single audience. So it's most important to first write about what you think is cool.

If you don't show up for yourself in your own writing, how is anyone else going to think it's cool as well? Your foundation should be what delights YOU first and foremost.

The Rule of Cool can be a powerful compass for centering a writer in their own work. If you're wondering if something is boring, check in with yourself first. Is this character someone you would be interested to read about but would absolutely hate to meet in real life? Does this worldbuilding explore your niche fascination with the formation of limestone karst caverns?

Someone else might not agree that what you've written is cool. And that's fine. Find what makes a story cool to you. Center yourself there.

And that brings me to the second half of this:

Susan Dennard's Magic Cookies

Susan Dennard has a lot of very lovely and thoughtful writing craft articles on her website, including this one about how to ensure every scene has something exciting going on with it. She calls this giving yourself a magic cookie, and applies it to becoming stuck while drafting.

I have thought of these as the COOKIES OF DELIGHT in my own mind, like it's some kind of Hieronymus Bosch painting, which more closely mirrors my experience of my own brain.

I won't get into things fully of what Susan Dennard recommends (instead, I highly recommend you check out her article above for more information).

But the concept of giving yourself a magic cookie is another way of looking at The Cool Stuff of Literature Theory. If you're finding a scene boring, there's a chance you haven't given yourself something cool in there yet, and it's time to reflect on why that might be.

So applying these two things together, here's the arbitrary and entirely non-enforceable rules to help keep the self-doubt demons at bay about whether your writing is boring:

• Write the things that you find deeply interesting and exciting.
• When you're bored, it's time to pause and consider a different approach.
• The only rule of coolness that matters is your own when drafting.

Note these very cool rules do not apply to concepts such as strong pacing, character development, etc. So go out and write with confidence. As long as you find your own writing cool and fascinating, there are going to be other people out there who do as well.

And everyone else doesn't matter. There's always going to be someone out there who doesn't agree with you about what is interesting. And there's going to be people who do.