Twilight Flyer
Journeyman
You stole my thunder.
Yes, write for yourself first! If you write for yourself, you will never fail.
Everything else is just gravy.
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- Thread starter Philip Overby
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Yes, write for yourself first! If you write for yourself, you will never fail.
Everything else is just gravy.
Ghost
Grandmaster
Write. Right now. Go do it!
That's all.
That's all.
I think we're on
13) Gather a small group of people to critique the hell out of you.
13 A) Don't fish for compliments, demand a crucifixion.
13 B) Grow Hulk-like skin.
13) Gather a small group of people to critique the hell out of you.
13 A) Don't fish for compliments, demand a crucifixion.
13 B) Grow Hulk-like skin.
Leif GS Notae
Lore Master
14) Stop writing like a reader.
Never go from beginning to end, always be aware that you can write other scenes out of order (and it is far preferable to do so) instead of writing yourself into a corner halfway through because that one thought you had 3 months ago will "come back to you later". It is far easier to tie scenes together than it is to trudge along a path in hopes you'll find your muse again.
Never go from beginning to end, always be aware that you can write other scenes out of order (and it is far preferable to do so) instead of writing yourself into a corner halfway through because that one thought you had 3 months ago will "come back to you later". It is far easier to tie scenes together than it is to trudge along a path in hopes you'll find your muse again.
gavintonks
Scribal Lord
Understand words and what they mean do not guess
emotion / look it up and plan the story to encompass the emotions as well as your characters as it keeps the story flowing knowing how they should react in a given scene
Understand you are writing for someone to read, not your own personal soap box, let the story flow
emotion / look it up and plan the story to encompass the emotions as well as your characters as it keeps the story flowing knowing how they should react in a given scene
Understand you are writing for someone to read, not your own personal soap box, let the story flow
gavintonks
Scribal Lord
you are vieing for peoples time / play a video game read your book? which is more exciting
BWFoster78
Mythic Scribe
Here's a good line editing tip:
15. Read your work sentence by sentence starting at the end of the piece and working backwards.
When you read from the start, you have the tendency to get caught up in the story. Going from back to front forces you to concentrate on each sentence individually.
15. Read your work sentence by sentence starting at the end of the piece and working backwards.
When you read from the start, you have the tendency to get caught up in the story. Going from back to front forces you to concentrate on each sentence individually.
BWFoster78
Mythic Scribe
Sorry, Leif, I don't agree at all. If it works for you best to skip around, that's fine. However, that is not the way everyone works. If I get an idea for a really cool scene in my head, I'll get it down on paper just so I don't lose the thoughts, but, overall, I start at the beginning and work my way to the end. This method works a lot better for me than skipping around would.
Ooh, good tip, I'll try that one next time I edit anything. I've had that problem before. I do occasionally find, reading back through something I wrote a long time ago, that I'd written a word twice, used a similar-sounding word to the one I actually wanted by accident, used the wrong name or pronouns for a character or something like that. I can see how going backwards sentence by sentence could remedy those sorts of problems.
Oh I'm posting, I'd better include a tip:
16. Set achievable goals, like "I'm going to write 500 words a day this week" or "I'm going to finish this chapter by Tuesday." Achieving them makes it easier to keep going and gives a morale boost.
ArielFingolfin
Lore Master
I think that's one that varies from person to person, or even story to story. I've done both.
17. Stop trying to describe something you can't see clearly. If it's not clear to you, it won't be clear to the reader. Instead of trying to write a description of something you only have a hazy idea of, stop and build it. Then it'll be a hundred times easier to use.
N'ehhh . . . . I'm with Leif on this one. When you write, sometimes there's a section which is all setup and another which is payoff. It helps to have a clear picture of what's demanded in that payoff section before you write the setup, and sometimes that's best done by writing it first. So with that in mind, I'm going to go with:
18) If you think only one technique will work for you, try practicing new ways of writing your story.
Christopher Wright
Mystagogue
19. Do it the way you want. Be prepared to accept the consequences.
This is actually my golden rule of doing pretty much anything in the arts.
This is actually my golden rule of doing pretty much anything in the arts.
gavintonks
Scribal Lord
read your writing out loud
BWFoster78
Mythic Scribe
The opposite is just as often true as far as I'm concerned: something that happens in the setup impacts the events of the payoff.
In my opinion, writing is an intensely personal creative experience, and there are many variables that go into what makes a writer successful: how they think, how they process information, what motivates them, how they organize themselves, etc. Which leads me to:
20. While it's fine to experiment with as many methods as you feel may help you, anyone telling you that there is only one way to do something in regards to your creative process is probably wrong.
. . . y'know, this could go on a while. So this will be my last post on the matter. But more often than not, I find that I'm the one telling myself there's only one way to do something. By your advice, I'm wrong - and I am. I've seen enough on these forums to think the same misconception is held by most authors, which is why I suggest practicing new techniques, and not convincing yourself that you have to stick to one.
Jabrosky
Banned
I may have said this before in another thread, but one technique I find really helpful for writing short stories is to start knowing only what's going to happen in the first scene or two. Once you get those out of the way, the rest of the story's plot may unfold in your head. I don't know how applicable the technique is to novels though; I would think there would be a lot more to keep track of in a longer story, so writing something down may work better.
gavintonks
Scribal Lord
understand the scene you are describing is a 3d image experiment with different viewpoints and imagine explaining to someone from inside the heat of the battle, not just a commentary from the outside, turn it around and find the most engrossing view that will keep readers begging for more, many writers without fantastic skills have aced it because they have an exciting or original viewpoint
at the same time keep the view consistent
at the same time keep the view consistent
gavintonks
Scribal Lord
remember the basic stories if it is a love story sell it as one
Kit
Scribal Lord
Television, video games and Facebook= The Unholy Trifecta of Time-Suck. Limit these, and suddenly there is time to write.
Leif GS Notae
Lore Master
Thank you BW, you've given me #21
Stop giving tips and advice to people who are either not willing or too afraid to change today. Use that energy to concentrate on your goals and dreams.
Much like Musashi, silence is far better than tipping your hand. Much like growth, you cannot offer a hand to someone and pull them to a level, you must watch them get there themselves. So thank you BW, you help give me focus by making me remain silent. I shall make sure to stay away from the tip threads. It will make me a better writer.