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I want advice to start writing well before it's too late!



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Wed Aug 29, 2012 3:43 am
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Avelyn says...



L wrote:Well, here's the problem:

I want to start writing properly. I never write anything good, and definately nothing i'm actually proud of. I wouldn't dream of posting anything on here (unless it was a nightmare, an embarrasing nightmare.) And i was wondering if I can have all round advice and tips.
just on how to write a story, in general.

If you know what i mean, could you pass on your experiences? I had an idea i'm going to start about 2 people...hang on the storyline's strange. Well 2 people who have to keep moving around (for an unknown reason...possibly being chased...i odn't know) and they keep meeting people who have their own great stories/backgrounds/problems...it was just something i could do when i got in and i was angry about something. I could make people up they have met and write about something i was angry about that day. That person would either have the same problem or an over exaggerated problem.


Did that make sense?

Oh i hope it did to someone... :oops:


First off, it's never too late to be a good writer. :]

Based on what I am reading, I think that to start off, you need some confidence.
You need to believe in your work, and to take your writing more seriously, and THEN start working on the other stuff.

You can't be afraid to share your writing. There's one thing you should know: You WILL be criticized. Now, don't fret about it. :] Use that criticism to your advantage.

^.^ btw, I think that the sketch that you wrote above is a generally good idea, you just need to fill in the gaps a bit :]

Remember, be confident with yourself!
gl<3
  





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Sun Jan 06, 2013 5:32 pm
Panikos says...



L wrote:Well, here's the problem:

I want to start writing properly. I never write anything good, and definately nothing i'm actually proud of. I wouldn't dream of posting anything on here (unless it was a nightmare, an embarrasing nightmare.) And i was wondering if I can have all round advice and tips.
just on how to write a story, in general.

If you know what i mean, could you pass on your experiences? I had an idea i'm going to start about 2 people...hang on the storyline's strange. Well 2 people who have to keep moving around (for an unknown reason...possibly being chased...i odn't know) and they keep meeting people who have their own great stories/backgrounds/problems...it was just something i could do when i got in and i was angry about something. I could make people up they have met and write about something i was angry about that day. That person would either have the same problem or an over exaggerated problem.


Did that make sense?

Oh i hope it did to someone... :oops:


There's no foolproof way to become a good writer other than to let it come to you. Reading your post, it sounds as though you want to write for the sake of being a good writer, rather than the sake of enjoying it. I know that's not something you can control, but if you find yourself an idea you'd love to write - or even your own story, like a diary or something - and immerse yourself in that, the rest will grow with it. The best way to become a good writer is to enjoy it, because I believe that writing style and technique is something that has to evolve at its own pace. You can't force it.
So, my advice is to try and not be so self-concious about your writing, and just do it because you want to. Don't think that you have to post it up on this site, or that anyone has to read it - just build it up by yourself until you have enough confidence to show it to the world; the idea you have has some great potential and it should be good for developing characters, which are essential for any great novel.
Just enjoy it, that's the most important thing. The rest will take care of itself. :)
The backs of my eyes hum with things I've never done.


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Sat Jan 19, 2013 8:43 pm
Amily says...



It seems to me that you should pay attnetion to the plot evelving, as well. I mean how one situation transfers into another. To try to use some retrospective means, etc.
  





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Sun Jan 27, 2013 7:55 pm
wordsandwishes says...



Well, what I find helps me be a better writer is:
1.Reading more books. It gives me a better idea on how good novels are written.

2.It also helps if you re-write them a few times. A good novel is never going to turn out perfect the first time around.

3.Don't give up if a story starts losing its *oomph*, but get the second opinion of a fellow author, it always helps to get another perspective.

4.Don't worry about what your future readers might want, trust me, most of the time they don't even know themselves. Just go with what feels best for you.

5. Know your characters. The book will make more sense if the character has a distinct motive for what they do in the story.

Hope this helps you L!

w&w

P.S I also have an idea for your book title: "Reality Check" (it's just a suggestion though).
Last edited by wordsandwishes on Wed May 15, 2013 7:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
  





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Mon Mar 25, 2013 2:48 pm
Trollboy says...



Don't leave white stains in your books.
#beentheredonethat
  





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Mon Mar 25, 2013 3:05 pm
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Kale says...



Yeah. It sucks to ruin a book because you spilled some whiteout.
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Fri Apr 19, 2013 2:49 pm
therealme says...



This is the writing advice of Cassandra Clare, author of 'The Mortal Instruments'. She is one of my favourite writers and is very successful. I read her advice and it has helped me improved a lot with my writing. Hope this helps! I know it helped me :D

http://www.cassandraclare.com/writing-advice/
"It is our Light, not our darkness, that most frightens us."
  





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Fri Oct 24, 2014 6:53 pm
theyouth says...



Copied from

http://www.openculture.com/2013/01/jack_kerouacs_30_revelations_for_writing_modern_prose.html

Here - perhaps the most dusky gem produced of Jack Kerouac -

Article starts here:

It is a delicate dance, between the inner voice and outer editor—whether that taskmaster is oneself or someone else—and the great attraction to Kerouac is his damn-it-all attitude toward tasks and masters. His improvisational prose is the point (I’m sure someone will tell me I missed it). Kerouac doesn’t just write about freedom, he writes freedom, and for most of us tight-assed worrywarts, his voice is healing balm for our writer’s inner excoriations. 1957’s On the Road is an incredible experiment in process as product (it’s not only a novel, it’s an art object)–a three-week burst of non-stop, uninhibited creativity, so legend has it, and unequaled in his lifetime. And yet despite his aversion to tidiness, Kerouac, like almost every writer, made lists; one in particular is thirty guidelines he called “Belief & Technique for Modern Prose.” I’ve excerpted what I think are ten highlights below, either because they seem profoundly beautiful or profoundly silly, but in a way that only Kerouac the holy fool could get away with. This is not “advice for writers.” It’s a catalog of states of being.

1. Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joy
2. Submissive to everything, open, listening
3. Try never get drunk outside yr own house
4. Be in love with yr life
5. Something that you feel will find its own form
6. Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind
7. Blow as deep as you want to blow
8. Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind
9. The unspeakable visions of the individual
10. No time for poetry but exactly what is
11. Visionary tics shivering in the chest
12. In tranced fixation dreaming upon object before you
13. Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition
14. Like Proust be an old teahead of time
15. Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog
16. The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye
17. Write in recollection and amazement for yourself
18. Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea
19. Accept loss forever
20. Believe in the holy contour of life
21. Struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind
22. Dont think of words when you stop but to see picture better
23. Keep track of every day the date emblazoned in yr morning
24. No fear or shame in the dignity of yr experience, language & knowledge
25. Write for the world to read and see yr exact pictures of it
26. Bookmovie is the movie in words, the visual American form
27. In praise of Character in the Bleak inhuman Loneliness
28. Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the better
29. You’re a Genius all the time
30. Writer-Director of Earthly movies Sponsored & Angeled in Heaven
  





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Sat May 12, 2018 6:13 am
walkeramanda00 says...



For good writing, first, you should start observing things.
  





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Fri Nov 30, 2018 2:53 pm
bigsisfarmer says...



Ok, I haven't read everyone else's, but this it just the way I started to write and learn. (And I'm nowhere near perfect so keep that in mind.)

My suggestion is to start by imitating. Find an author you like, or even a book, and study the words that they use, and the style as well. What makes that author stand out? Try this with several books and authors.

I recommend one of these books to be a classic. While classics can be harder to read, they convey complete realism and visualization. Study how they describe people and their surroundings, then try to rewrite it in a easier to understand form.

Outline:
This is absolutely the worst part about writing, but it gives you a direction to go in so that you can worry more about the words that you are using. It doesn't have to be strict or chapter by chapter, just know where you have been, and where you are going. (You can also add in foreshadowing if you do this.)

Just write:
Just start writing. You will make mistakes, you might completely screw up, but that's how we writers learn. Eventually, you will start to develop your own writing style.
Rewrite. Don't just edit, rewrite. Look at your first draft, then take that and reshape it. So many more ideas will come to you when you do that.
Don't hesitate about posting. This is where we learn and grow. "Iron sharpens iron." When posting, you can get feedback, enhance your work, and remember the lessons for future writing.

Good luck!
I want to read your works!

Message me about anything! I'm always willing to talk.
  





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Sun Oct 13, 2019 1:50 pm
Horisun says...



If I could give you one piece of advice that I know is certainly true, is that if you want to write, don't be scared that it won't be good! Because you will get better, and then you will get even better! J.K Rowling didn't become a best selling author overnight! Shakesphere didn't go down in history in one go! You just need practice. We all do. And don't worry about posting on here. This sight isn't a place to show off, it is to improve! So don't feel afraid to share your work!
She/Her
  








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