Jackarandajam
Inkling
Purely motivational threads are awesome, but I want to do something a little more specific here:
What are the top techniques and tools you've discovered related to the craft of writing that drastically improved your work?
also a bonus question:
Is there a piece of bad writing advice that hindered your progress for a time?
Here's my two cents, really excited to learn from everybody else!
1. Write it out, throw it away: Not being afraid to bring up another tab and rock through a few thousand words to practice the execution of a weird scenario, or experiment with different ways the scene could go, is something I had to learn; every word that comes out of me isn't precious or magical, and writing something as pure exercise can be really helpful, both as general practice and possibly as characters or scenarios that go in the grab bag for later use.
2. Storytelling is the art, writing is the medium: It was a HUGE mental switch for me.
Someone who wants to become an orator isn't just "practicing talking," Oration is a specific art and skillset that uses talking as it's medium.
In the same way, if I want to write a book, I need to be studying the art of Storytelling. Talking as much as you can doesn't make you a great orator, although it may help in some ways; you instead have to practice applying orator techniques to improve in what you're actually trying to accomplish. in the same way, I can "butt in chair" and "write every day" until I develop sores and carpal tunnel, but if I'm not practicing the application of storytelling methodology, which requires reading books on the craft and applying the techniques, I could very well be wasting a lot of time.
3. Study and practice the boring basics: Writing a story other people will enjoy reading isn't just about sharing my magical imagination juice via the keyboard. I have to learn how to present clearly in order for a reader to be able to go where I desperately want them to; fully into the story.
A writer has to structure an idea as it needs to appear to someone else. From the microcosm of word choice to crafting proper sentences and on, presenting every idea in cascading order with crystal clear word choice is vastly more important than "avoiding repeated words in paragraphs" or some other nuances that can be worked out later in the editing process. Learn the technical stuff. I genuinely believe that most writers who are serious about the art should be able to have conversations about English grammar that most people wouldn't understand, from bare infinitives to copular verbs.
Finally, the bad advice I had to unlearn:
Anything that has to do with not reading.
"I don't read in my genre because it will corrupt the purity of my imagination" was my particular flavor of bad practice early on, but since then I've heard it all:
"don't read outside of your genre, it will distract you,"
"I hate the classics, I'm not going to write in old English anyway"
"Literature is too snobby for me"
"I don't like reading, I base all my writing off of techno music and people say it's the best stuff they've ever read"
Listen, I get it. Some stuff is hard to read. All I'm saying is this; being an omnivorous and insatiable reader is good for writing, and the more the better. The language used to covey a story is only one tiny part of what a story is. There is a treasure trove of plot structure, character building, intro hooks, etc. in even the most archaically worded classic.
The ONLY rule about reading that I've found to be true is "Garbage in, Garbage out." My writing will improve only if what I'm reading is well-written.
I make a practice of pushing myself into higher levels of reading. If I don't understand a highly regarded work of Literature, I look up an explanation on the googles and then I read it again and try to catch what I missed. I've never regretted this practice. Do with this what you will.
What are the top techniques and tools you've discovered related to the craft of writing that drastically improved your work?
also a bonus question:
Is there a piece of bad writing advice that hindered your progress for a time?
Here's my two cents, really excited to learn from everybody else!
1. Write it out, throw it away: Not being afraid to bring up another tab and rock through a few thousand words to practice the execution of a weird scenario, or experiment with different ways the scene could go, is something I had to learn; every word that comes out of me isn't precious or magical, and writing something as pure exercise can be really helpful, both as general practice and possibly as characters or scenarios that go in the grab bag for later use.
2. Storytelling is the art, writing is the medium: It was a HUGE mental switch for me.
Someone who wants to become an orator isn't just "practicing talking," Oration is a specific art and skillset that uses talking as it's medium.
In the same way, if I want to write a book, I need to be studying the art of Storytelling. Talking as much as you can doesn't make you a great orator, although it may help in some ways; you instead have to practice applying orator techniques to improve in what you're actually trying to accomplish. in the same way, I can "butt in chair" and "write every day" until I develop sores and carpal tunnel, but if I'm not practicing the application of storytelling methodology, which requires reading books on the craft and applying the techniques, I could very well be wasting a lot of time.
3. Study and practice the boring basics: Writing a story other people will enjoy reading isn't just about sharing my magical imagination juice via the keyboard. I have to learn how to present clearly in order for a reader to be able to go where I desperately want them to; fully into the story.
A writer has to structure an idea as it needs to appear to someone else. From the microcosm of word choice to crafting proper sentences and on, presenting every idea in cascading order with crystal clear word choice is vastly more important than "avoiding repeated words in paragraphs" or some other nuances that can be worked out later in the editing process. Learn the technical stuff. I genuinely believe that most writers who are serious about the art should be able to have conversations about English grammar that most people wouldn't understand, from bare infinitives to copular verbs.
Finally, the bad advice I had to unlearn:
Anything that has to do with not reading.
"I don't read in my genre because it will corrupt the purity of my imagination" was my particular flavor of bad practice early on, but since then I've heard it all:
"don't read outside of your genre, it will distract you,"
"I hate the classics, I'm not going to write in old English anyway"
"Literature is too snobby for me"
"I don't like reading, I base all my writing off of techno music and people say it's the best stuff they've ever read"
Listen, I get it. Some stuff is hard to read. All I'm saying is this; being an omnivorous and insatiable reader is good for writing, and the more the better. The language used to covey a story is only one tiny part of what a story is. There is a treasure trove of plot structure, character building, intro hooks, etc. in even the most archaically worded classic.
The ONLY rule about reading that I've found to be true is "Garbage in, Garbage out." My writing will improve only if what I'm reading is well-written.
I make a practice of pushing myself into higher levels of reading. If I don't understand a highly regarded work of Literature, I look up an explanation on the googles and then I read it again and try to catch what I missed. I've never regretted this practice. Do with this what you will.
Scribe
Auror
Myth Weaver
