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I'm writing a story in first person present right now, which I don't usually do, because it feels natural for this story which is closely based on the sense experience of a particular person. If you don't have a particular reason for it though I'd stick to standard form.
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Oct 16, 2012 22:58
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An upper limit to words is a good training tool, but the lower limit in the last Thunderdome really threw me because I had to find more to say without bloating it. Which turned out to be an interesting exercise.
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Dec 9, 2012 03:10
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A mistake that leads to good discussion isn't a... well, ok, it is a mistake. But it still led to good discussion.
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Dec 9, 2012 03:53
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If you can't get through more than a few thousand words at a time, write short stories instead. Developing your skills will help you when you embark on a novel later, or maybe you'll discover you don't need to write a novel to say what you want or tell the stories you want. Jorge Luis Borges was one of the major writers of the last century and never wrote so much as a novella. e: beaten so I'll add that I think a lot of people get hung up on writing 'a novel' because it's the standard form for professional written fiction in our society, and this burns them out because it's a huge amount of work, especially for a new writer. Peel fucked around with this message at 02:07 on Dec 26, 2012 |
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Dec 26, 2012 02:04
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If you really want to, and you think it'll be entertaining, then do so as much as you would do anything else entertaining. It's not going to kill you. But it'll be inferior as a method of practice or as an artistic product to original fiction, so if you want to be a 'writer' you should do original work too. Like Gecko I like 'training wheels' as an analogy.
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Dec 31, 2012 04:16
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Perhaps the most important difference is that Gaiman and Nolan and so on get real critical feedback on what they write, rather than a tvtropes hugbox.
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Dec 31, 2012 04:57
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Helsing posted:So what do folks here think about present vs. past tense writing? I honestly don't notice the tense after a short acclimatisation when it shifts dramatically, and I'm not at all convinced the choice of time often has the effects authors like to ascribe to it. So write whatever's easiest for you and see where it takes you. My favourite story was written in first person present which was a departure for me but felt totally natural for the content. Writing it any other way felt intuitively wrong. Soulex posted:I got directed here via a critique and I could use some help. Never pad out your story for the sake of it. Every word should do work. This doesn't mean your writing needs to be ultra-compact - adding tone and rhythm and atmosphere is work. But if you think you can tell the whole story in 10-25k, try that and see what it gives you, you might be surprised. If nothing else it will be good practice for longer pieces. God knows we have too many hideously bloated books out these days.
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Oct 30, 2013 11:43
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Q: I've been worldbuilding my setting for a while now and- A: Stop. Go to Word. Go directly to Word. Do not pass the Wikia creation form. Do not collect 200 pages of poo poo nobody cares about. I'm assuming here that this project dates from uni/college or later. If it dates from high school or earlier, abandon it immediately. Peel fucked around with this message at 11:23 on Jul 28, 2014 |
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Jul 28, 2014 11:21
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Oh man, somehow I missed the '10' before the years. Abandon it now. It's stagnant garbage. Work on something new, write some complete, coherent tales that don't need ten years of work. When you're done with those you can return to your Passion Project but you won't want to because you'll be a better writer who can see all the things wrong with it. Whatever's salvageable you can fish out to use in better stories.
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Jul 28, 2014 20:15
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Meinberg posted:That's an important lesson to learn, in a lot of things. Just because you wrote a bad story does not mean that you're a bad writer. Yeah, this is really important to remember or you'll just be paralysed with fear when you try to write. It's your second bad story that makes you a bad writer.
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Aug 19, 2014 09:46
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In the future the time-wasting grind of word-by-word writing will be largely automated. Soft literary 'theory' will be replaced by a rigorous neuroscience of language and aesthetic pleasure, which will be used to design computer programs that can take up the task. Without this artificial barrier to entry, writers will be free to focus on their most important resource: story ideas.
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Sep 5, 2014 17:44
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After the great crash brought about by Obama's socialist policies, America becomes the first anglophone country to join the third world. However, due to ubiquitous spelling and grammar checkers, even uneducated Americans can write at a functional level. The lucky make a steady income writing epic fantasies and steampunk zombie novels as 'self-published creators' in the Amazon wordsmitheries. The unlucky trawl the Internet for fans of those works, and spam them with offers to write up their speculations.
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Sep 5, 2014 19:43
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There's no such thing as 'good enough' for Thunderdome as long as you're willing to wear a goofy avatar for a bit if it doesn't work out, and keep plugging away. You still have a baby avatar so why not?
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Nov 20, 2014 20:03
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docbeard posted:Thunderdome. This may seem like the comedy option but I'm serious. For me, the combination of deadlines and prompts and low stakes short circuits that I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO WRIIIIIIITE mindset perfectly. This worked for me too.
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Jan 16, 2015 15:43
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Writing good is trendy, I think you should follow your own path.
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Apr 28, 2015 04:35
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| # ¿ May 20, 2024 12:07 |
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Literature is vital, you are its beating heart, and the next great American novel is inside you yearning to break free.
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Sep 20, 2015 10:57
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