creative writing - How does a code monkey become a novelist?

I have always loved creative writing, but honestly do not see software engineers that write fiction all that often. Heck, I do not see software engineers that read fiction all that often either.

To those who have done it:

• Did the transition from coder to novelist come as a result of laborious study and training(professional/self), or did you employ some other strategy?


• What characteristics of the coder mind set lend themselves to writing fiction well, and which ones are a hindrance?


• Are there any habits or "mind hacks" that you can recommend for getting the coder mind in shape to do serious fiction writing?

Answer

First, a disclaimer: I'm not a novelist, not by a long shot. I've written some (local award winner) short stories as a teenager and I'm working on my first novel, but that's it. On the other hand, I've been practically born an engineer :)

Having said that, I guess there are many different approaches to writing, as many as there are people. As a programmer you probably have developed rational thinking an analytic skills, that can be extremely handy when attempting to write.

I'm approaching writing from that perspective. I'm very interested in books that deal with narrative structure - in a way, I'm trying to figure out "how stories work". For example, The Writer's Journey deals with the classical myth structure and archetypes. I also liked Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach.

But the book I connected with most is Writing Fiction for Dummies. Yes, it's a For Dummies book, but it's written by a guy who is both a published, award-winning novelist AND a PhD in astrophysics and/or math (not sure). His approach is called "The Snowflake Method", in reference to the fractal structure of snowflakes, which he uses as an analogy for the structure of fiction.

He has a very interesting blog and website with articles (just ignore the ugly design). I'm in no way affiliated with them nor with the books, I'm just a reader and fan :)

In summary, I think as engineers wearing the fiction writer hat, we should definitely take advantage of our strengths.