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Learning to Write Fiction (For Beginners)



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Wed Nov 22, 2006 1:55 pm
Sureal says...



Learning to Write Fiction (For Beginners)

This article is really aimed at those who are new/ish to the world of writing fiction, although others may wish to read it, if only to disagree with what I have to say.

Most of what I’m writing here comes from my own personal experience, and as everyone is different, what worked for me may not work for everyone (this is where the ‘others disagreeing with me’ thing comes in).


1) Write lots; write fast. When you first begin to write your stories are not going to be amazing. You simply won’t have the experience needed. It is therefore important to get that experience.

At this point in your writing life, you’ll want to write short stories rather than novels. Don’t make them long short stories either - relatively short ones will probably work best for you. You’ll get a chance to try out new techniques, new styles, new characters, new settings, new genres and so on. Try not to get bogged down on a single story at this point. Write a story, see what people say about it, and then write up your next idea.


2) Re-read and edit. This is a rule I ignored when I first began to write (for a rather long time), which is a shame. As soon as I did begin to re-read my stories once I had finished then (rather than just posting them straight up onto the net) my writing improved dramatically.

Go back over your story. Try and improve all the spelling and grammar mistakes you see (but don’t get obsessive about it - at this point, you’ll want to work on your writing style, not your grammar… that can come later). The main focus, however, should be on the writing itself - what reads well? What doesn’t? Change and revise your story as you see fit.


3) Critique yourself. Look at your finished story. What don’t you like about it? Try comparing your short story to your favourite books to get a feel of what you’re lacking. Look at how your favourite authors have gone about that particular area of writing (eg. If you feel your dialogue doesn’t flow well, try having a look at how J.K. Rowling does it - for example, you may notice she uses ‘said’ a lot more than you).

Try and improve this aspect in your next story.


4) Be proud. This is vital for your writing (or, at least, it was for me). If you’re proud of your writing, then chances are you’ll want to write more. Don’t get arrogant about it though - if you do, you may not take the advice of others too well.


5) You don’t need critiques from anyone else. Well, okay - that’s not true. At least, not completely.

At this point, you really should be your own harshest critic. And although the advice of others is certainly useful, you’re unlikely to incorporate all of what they say into your future stories. When you first start to write, you’ll find that you improve with each story if you critique yourself (see point 3). There isn’t a lot that others can help you with.

This is not say you should ignore critiques. Take the advice and edit your story with it in mind. And do try to incorporate the advice into your future writings. But it won’t be until you’ve got a few stories under your belt that the critiques of others will really begin to fully help you.


And that’s it for me. Others may elaborate on my points, add their own, or perhaps disagree with what I’ve said. Like I said, different approaches work for different people - the above is what helped me (or would have helped me if I had done it, as in the case of point 2), but may not be perfect for everyone.

At any rate, I hope you enjoy your new hobby of writing - although I should probably warn you: it’s addictive.
I wrote the above just for you.
  





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Wed Nov 22, 2006 4:20 pm
RoxanneR says...



I also ignored the whole 'Youmust re-read and edit all your work thoroughly before you post it anywhere!' "nonsense" and it got me nowhere. Even if you think your story if perfectly correct grammer-wise, you may still be a tiny bit wrong. I find it easier if my mom proof-reads my work before I post it anywhere.

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Thu Nov 23, 2006 2:13 am
Snoink says...



Hmm...

1. I have to agree and disagree. When you're writing, you're going to write a lot of crap, so you probably just want to get all the crap out and learn stuff. But, though I've played around with short stories, I try to do novels. That makes the word count get up and it gave me the experience of editing things, based on what my characters, at the time, wanted. And that's good. So write whatever you want to write -- if you want to write novels, do it! :D

5. Well... don't rely on other people completely for critiques. That's not cool. Why? Because it basically violates 4. So you end up hating yourself because your works suck. Which they do, but you needn't be downcast because of that. O_o And you need to learn how to self-edit first so you know what to expect what your critics will say.

And yeah. ;)
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach

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Fri Nov 24, 2006 8:04 pm
aeroman says...



The only thing I disagree with is the whole short story/novel thing like Snoink said. I really dislike writing short stories; I like the plot and character development that is so much greater in a novel, but that is just me. There are a ton of great short stories. I'm just not a fan of writing too many of them. Write whatever you want, whether it be a short story, novella, or a novel. Make sure it's what you want to write, otherwise you will not have the passion you need to make it good.
They haven't invented the missile that can kill an ideal.
  








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