Young Writers Society

Do you intentionally choose the words you use or do you go with the flow?

How do you come about with different sentence structure? Does it come naturally or do you try and use a variety of sentence structures?

It usually comes naturally.

Like: The wind blew gently through my head. The smell of violets and roses penetrate my nostrils with its sweet fragrance. This would've been great to- if only the sun was up to play.

Unlike lost, I actually use a combination of both. I'm conscious of what I'm writing and I try to manipulate it into what I want to say, but at the same time I have the words in my head and a rough image. However, sometimes in deseperate times. I actually have to squeeze out those words. But don't do that, it deteriorate the writing. I also believe the mood and the mind set you are in is very important, like I can't write a uplifting and cheerful sentence when I'm in a horrible mood and vice versa.

How people write depends on a lot of factors that is related to the individual, I believe.

I have to write fast to get the best quality of my writing. If I write slow then I have the exact same stuff going through my head, except only half of it makes it onto the page.

I'd rather practice things like sentence structure so I can study and put it into practice, and then have it come naturally than to consciously think of it as I go.

I think a lot of writers let it flow first, and later take a step back, and look at the words they've used, the dialogue, the imagery etc.- it's called editing.

That's the cool thing about writing; it's one of the few arts that is suppose to seem bad, at first. You can play with it, mold it, scribble, erase, and it's all in fun.

Sentence structure, eh? Honestly, my best advice to you, is to write. I actually don't know what a structured sentence is... I might know one that isn't, if I see one.

There is some advice a writer can give a fellow writer, but when it comes down to it; it's really a matter of trial and error. Just make sure you're having fun whilst doing so.

I normally just let the story go with the flow, have a few characters and just buzz out the story. And very quickly.

Then suddeny a awesome reviewer comes along and reminds me that I don't have a plot worth speaking of. So I change the plot and charge right back into the story. Full steam.

Then yet another reviewer comes and reminds me that my new plot isn't at all better than the old. And thus I came to know the feeling of déjà moo

Floooowww bby~

Honestly though, if I have a direction that I want a scene to head in, or a rough idea of what I want a scene to accomplish/get across, that's all I need. I'll have a few pieces of dialogue stuck in my head already, but other than that, it's all up to my brain sending messages to my fingers as we fly.

It was said above that editing is where the conscious thought comes in, and I'd have to agree. I proofread, fix up the obviously awkward sentences and any mistakes (that I catch. I have a tendency to miss them), and we're good to go.

Thinking too hard about exactly what words you want to write next as you're writing tends to be a bad plan of action. Takes away from the quality of the writing, stilts the character voice, and generally just stifles the work (emotionally and prose-wise).

To me, writing is like being caught in a drunken haze; half the time I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing or where the story is going. The slower I try to write, and the more careful I am with picking out words, the harder it gets to establish a flow. It's like building brick walls around yourself, and by the time you're done, you realize that it's utterly impossible to change the bricks around or the whole structure will fall. I'd rather knit a scarf as long as the Nile and clip off stray threads when I'm done.

In other words, the more you think about what you're doing, the less you have the ability to actually think... if that makes any sense. One thing I've noticed, though, is that re-reading and reviewing your own work always helps, as long as you take a bit of a break from it, because there are certain errors that only you can identify, and others might not notice.

Some interesting views. Keep going on... you're inspiring me, oh and other newbies like me.