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Post by Butterscotch on Jan 23, 2005 8:18:53 GMT -5
Just post some good writing advice that you've heard, or just figured out for yourself.
For me, the best advice I ever read was to avoid using adverbs, and use strong verbs instead. I try to use the best verb that I can, and I think that helps my writing.
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Post by Cary on Jan 26, 2005 10:55:44 GMT -5
My advice:
Sometimes when you write, the words will flow smoothly, hardly with any thought. When it does, go with it. But when the words don't want to flow forth, then take your time with the writing. If you think an idea is weak, then don't write about it yet, take time to think, try to draw insperation from somewhere. Sometimes the best things come when you wait or take it slowly.
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Post by Butterscotch on Jan 26, 2005 10:57:09 GMT -5
Good advice Beez.
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Post by Cary on Jan 26, 2005 11:31:06 GMT -5
It's what I've followed since like... I think about the 15th chapter. The point in the story where my writting greatly improved. Before that, I just typed whatever I had, even if it wasn't very good. So thus my writting improved.
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Post by sakuramoon on Feb 3, 2005 4:40:28 GMT -5
Hey Beelz I need some writing advice too. ;D
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Post by Cary on Feb 3, 2005 11:04:54 GMT -5
Write on a computer. That way you are more inclined to go back and improve things and add little details.
I may have forgotten by now, but I can reread a chapter and tell if I wrote it by hand or by computer because the computer chapters just flow better.
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Post by sakuramoon on Feb 4, 2005 3:57:42 GMT -5
you have aboslutely not advice for me Beelz?  |
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Post by Cary on Feb 4, 2005 6:35:18 GMT -5
That was advice for you Rini.
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Post by sakuramoon on Feb 4, 2005 8:09:24 GMT -5
okay, I do write on a computer, however I have to write it down by hand first. If I just sit down to a computer to write a story, I can't write anything like that. I don't know y, but the ideas come easier to me w/ paper and pencil. and it's just the way I've always written my stories. maybe I need a better technique huh??
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Post by Butterscotch on Feb 4, 2005 8:11:00 GMT -5
Well, sometimes advice that works well for one person won't work for another. Just try and figure out what works best for you.
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Post by sakuramoon on Feb 4, 2005 8:13:05 GMT -5
I was actually hoping that he would give me some advice on my "actual" fanfic. but that's okay, it was great advice. I'll try it, but it usually don't work for me.
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Post by Butterscotch on Feb 4, 2005 8:15:04 GMT -5
Well, advice pertaining to your story would be slighty off-topic for this thread, which is just general writing advice.
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Post by Cary on Feb 4, 2005 8:16:54 GMT -5
Yes, it does seem to me to that things come easier when I write by hand. But the problem is, what comes to my hand isn't as good as what comes to my computer.
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Post by sakuramoon on Feb 4, 2005 8:23:36 GMT -5
Beelz, *sighs* okay, look. I meant that, that's my technique for writting my stories and it's been working for me for years now. I didn't mean that u had to do it too. Do whatever works for u, it's just like Butter said, this technique might not work for u.
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Post by Cary on Feb 26, 2005 21:36:30 GMT -5
ATTENTION: I KNOW THIS IS REALLY LONG, BUT IF YOU ARE IN ANYWAY SERIOUS ABOUT WRITING I SUGGEST YOU READ IT. AND I SUGGEST YOU READ IT A SECOND TIME. AND THEN I SUGGEST YOU GO AND PONDER OVER IT UNTIL YOU COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM SAYING IN YOUR OWN WORDS IN YOUR OWN HEAD.
I have an excellent idea that burst forth into my head. I just realized that this skill I am going to describe is what I have been constantly fine tuning and is the main reason why my writing is getting constantly better.
Are you ready for it? The skill that if you practice guarentees constant improvement in writing?
Are you absolutely ready for it? It is a concept which is not easy to grasp.
Okay, here it is...
The skill that above all others you want to constantly work on is the ability to identify which details that you see in your head that the reader will not see when they read. Knowing these will tell you what details to include in your story, and those that are excessive. It will help you understand what the reader will form in their own head by reading your story, instead of simply putting the words you wrote to the image in your head. The image in your head will rarely be the same as the one the reader will generate. This is a natural function of writing. The key is to control it as best as you can and even take advantage of the reader's own imagination whenever possible.
What is considered to be my best chapter so far, my most recent chapter of Nightmare, chapter 46, was writen after I fully realized this concept. Therefore, the details included are much more successful in improving the reading experience of the reader instead of the writer.
When you say someone laughs, you may see it in your head as a little girly giggle accompanied by blushing, "hee hee hee," but that is not the way the reader will interprete it. They will read it, and the person will flat out laugh, "hah hah hah" in their mind. And in all likelyhood, that incorrect laugh they heard will greatly damage the world they are trying to immerse into, the world that you wrote.
That is what is important to great writing. Not recording what you think are the key details to what is going on, but what the reader needs to fully experience the image in your head.
Now for the part that makes this absurdly complicated to understand. Yes, what I have said so far is the easy part.
One of the things that immediately came to my mind when I thought up this concept was the book series, "Animorphs". There are four major alien species in the books, Andalites, Yeerks, Hork-Bajir, and Taxxons. Though it took a long time, in the order I listed them, the book covers finally had a drawing of each alien species on them. Every single species looked very little like I had imagined it. But the writer still did good, because the details she provided were imagination generating details. The images I had in my head were better than the one's she had drawn out. This was an instance where it was more important, and more successful, to let the reader form the image in their own head, with only limited amount of assistance from the writer. Yet don't think that is easier, no way, in reality, doing this is much harder than giving the person a complete image. For that complete image would be weak and dry in the readers head, and they would likely overwrite it anyway.
I hope I haven't baffled you too much. To fully understand what I have just said, you must ponder what I have told you myself. Like the last part I mentioned, I can not successfully give you a complete image of what I am trying to describe. The only way for you to truely understand is to use your imagination and form your own coherent thoughts. Use the power of your own mind to put this together and add to your understanding of this concept. If you cannot do this, then there is no hope of you ever becoming a successful writer. And I will give no apologies for that statement.
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