How to write?

[Chaotic_Asura]

I am not sure if this is something that is happening to me only or if it happens to others also. But anyway the title is literally my question. I want to ask how to write? I have the idea, I can also build my own world, I also know english (If some might think that I am facing this issue becz I don't know the language). But I don't know how to write that idea into words. Like whenever I try to build the scene, I get stuck, I am not sure, from where I should start, like if I am trying to describe hell, I know what it should be, I can visualize it, but I don't know how to write it?

 

[CupofJoe]

This is only my advice. Others will have their own way.
Write something. Don't worry if you think it is good or bad, or incomplete.
Just write.
Then look at it and think what you can add next. Or before.
Do it note form if that works for you. And then, if you feel like it, try and link those notes together.
Even use pictures. I'm a very visual thinker, so more than once as I'm prepping and blocking a story it will end up having images I've stuffed into the story that I think fit. To remind me what I want to say or how I want it to feel.
And don't expect everything to click all at once. Give yourself time and even enjoy it.
There is the adage that it take 10,000 hours to get good at something. I don't believe that, but I'm willing to bet that no-one you think of as a good writer [or good at anything else for that matter] took less than 10,000 hours to get there.
For me I like writing. I'm not looking to make it a career or to get rich and famous. I just like writing.

 

[Diana Silver]

If writing settings is proving a difficult start, then maybe write about a character instead? Who is it? What are they doing, who do they meet? What are they saying to the guard on duty at the city's entrance? Take just a random day out of their life, it doesn't have to have anything to do with any story you might have in your mind.

I would go a little bit further than CupofJoe, in that my advice would be: set out to write something really bad. Write the worst trainwreck of a scene that isn't even internally consistent and doesn't go anywhere. Throw some words at the paper. See if they want to get together in a gramatical sentence - but if not, that's also fine.

Because it might possibly be that you're overthinking this, and letting your vision of writing something good get in the way of writing something. All the while, writing something - however silly and flawed- is always better than writing nothing.

 

[Finchbearer]

Are you a reader? Sometimes reading gets me inspired and it’s as though I remember my own writing voice again. If you get that spark of inspiration, act on it!

 

[Penpilot]

For me, story can be thought of as simply a person with a problem that needs solving.

To find your story, identify that person, identify that problem, identify why the problem needs to be solved, identify the obstacles standing in the way of this person solving the problem, and have them fail a bunch of times trying to overcome the obstacles.

This is a bit of an over simplification, but if you think about these things, it should give you a nice start.

 

[Chaotic_Asura]

Are you a reader? Sometimes reading gets me inspired and it’s as though I remember my own writing voice again. If you get that spark of inspiration, act on it!

Yeah, same goes for me. The more I read, the more I start getting entangled in the story, and I think the character should have acted like this, the story should have moved in this direction, So yeah.

 

[Chaotic_Asura]

For me, story can be thought of as simply a person with a problem that needs solving.

To find your story, identify that person, identify that problem, identify why the problem needs to be solved, identify the obstacles standing in the way of this person solving the problem, and have them fail a bunch of times trying to overcome the obstacles.

This is a bit of an over simplification, but if you think about these things, it should give you a nice start.

Actually the problem isn't the story idea with me, I have the idea, actually a bunch of them, but the problem is I don't know how to write them, like literally write them. For example, say our hero is about to enter a new realm, then I know what the realm is, what it should be like, but I am having problem writing that realm.

 

[Chaotic_Asura]

This is only my advice. Others will have their own way.
Write something. Don't worry if you think it is good or bad, or incomplete.
Just write.
Then look at it and think what you can add next. Or before.
Do it note form if that works for you. And then, if you feel like it, try and link those notes together.
Even use pictures. I'm a very visual thinker, so more than once as I'm prepping and blocking a story it will end up having images I've stuffed into the story that I think fit. To remind me what I want to say or how I want it to feel.
And don't expect everything to click all at once. Give yourself time and even enjoy it.
There is the adage that it take 10,000 hours to get good at something. I don't believe that, but I'm willing to bet that no-one you think of as a good writer [or good at anything else for that matter] took less than 10,000 hours to get there.
For me I like writing. I'm not looking to make it a career or to get rich and famous. I just like writing.

Same for me, I want to write to satisfy my own self. Because all the story I read, in the end, I start criticizing the path the character takes, So honestly I just want to write a story that I like.
Hm, but you point is correct, that instead of worrying about whether it is good or bad, I should just write.

 

[Chaotic_Asura]

If writing settings is proving a difficult start, then maybe write about a character instead? Who is it? What are they doing, who do they meet? What are they saying to the guard on duty at the city's entrance? Take just a random day out of their life, it doesn't have to have anything to do with any story you might have in your mind.

I would go a little bit further than CupofJoe, in that my advice would be: set out to write something really bad. Write the worst trainwreck of a scene that isn't even internally consistent and doesn't go anywhere. Throw some words at the paper. See if they want to get together in a gramatical sentence - but if not, that's also fine.

Because it might possibly be that you're overthinking this, and letting your vision of writing something good get in the way of writing something. All the while, writing something - however silly and flawed- is always better than writing nothing.

Yupp, that's what I am gonna do from now.
Also, huge thanks to all of you guys for helping me break this bottleneck of my writing hobby

 

[pmmg]

No one begins there journey at the destination. It just takes time to develop the skills and find your voice. And nothing gets you there quicker than doing it.

If you feel your writing skills need updating and want a fast path to it, I would suggest reviewing others is the fastest path to it. Look what others are doing right and wrong, and try to be useful in explaining it to them and showing examples.

For myself, I tend not to write a lot of details. When I do, I try to stick to three details and out. Its not a formula I rigorously apply, but I can tell when something sounds off beat in my head. Since I figure I trust the reader to know what mountains, trees and rivers look like, I don't spend a lot of time on them, unless there is some reason too. I also try to put it in the experience of the characters. Would the POV character find this tree odd? If not, then its just a tree.

Anyway...fastest path to better skills is reviewing others. <--call it rule 5.


(Ah, what do you know, it was rule 5 Goldies Rules and other things )

 

[Incanus]

I struggled with this issue for decades. Tried writing as a kid, a teen, in my twenties (once or twice), and in my thirties (maybe once or twice again). I really hated the results. At the time I concluded that I just didn't have whatever it was that was needed to be a decent writer.

Now I know better. It was just a very difficult skill to learn and improve upon. I really wish I'd figured that out when in my twenties. I'd have written quite a bit. As it is, I'll be lucky to complete three or four books before leaving this world behind.

A little drive, a little bit of 'taste', a whole lot of patience, and you can do this.

 

[JBCrowson]

As others have said. writing something is a must for you to make progress. You say you can visualise but can't write your world / scenes / characters. Maybe try starting with a photo or other static image. Write a one line description about it. Start it basic

"There is a tree beside a river", gradually refine it and add to it, "An oak stood in a sun drenched meadow beside the headwaters of the Cluna River"; "The first elderling tree Durial saw was beside a river formed form the meltwaters of the Fox Glacier"; "Cutting down the elderling tree and camping in the meadow between its stump and the river were the first steps Durial took towards leaving his old life behind".
Do this for a bunch of pictures until you feel comfortable putting words to the images, but also choosing phrases that begin to hint at setting, plot or character. Then pick one of your mental images of your world and do the same thing - just put down some words about the image. Do lots of versions for each image and then see which ones seem to fit together.
Keep at it and it will get easier and your creations better.

 

[Super Fantasy]

There are a good variety of ways to write.
Depends on what your writing about.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

It's easy to make this more complicated than it needs to be. Writers are, as a general rule, silly people. At this point, all you are doing is telling the story. You're not telling it to anyone in particular. You're just writing, "Once upon a time..." and then you begin to answer questions. What? Where? Why? When? How? Nuance, technique, don't fuss about any of that just yet. "Once upon a time a troll lived under a bridge..."

Begin at the beginning, continue until you reach the end, and then stop. Repeat. Repeat again. And again...

Writing can only be learned by doing.

 

[Empathy001]

My best advice is to try and look through the eyes of your character. is your idea more of a wide-shot of an area, or an intense moment between your characters? Maybe if you're struggling to write it as a narrator, try writing (or at least thinking through) it in first-person through the eyes of a character. Again, taking inspiration from popular book series, Percy Jackson is a good example for reference. plus, you could even make your character an unreliable narrator for some extra flavor.
Personally, taking it through with a friend out loud helps me, but everyone works and writes differently, so I recommend trying lots of different strategies until you find one that works for you. You got this, and don't give up!

 

[skip.knox]

After years of reading comments from aspiring authors, here and elsewhere, I feel fairly confident in this assertion:
When people say, I can't write, what they really mean is I can't write stuff I like or am proud of. That is a very different statement.

The advice is as simple to give as it is difficult to follow:
1. Write stuff
2. Read what you wrote
3. Dislike it?
4. Great! Now rewrite until it's better.
5. GOTO 2
Eventually, and boy doesn't that adverb cover great spans of years, you get to where what you wrote is good enough (you still won't call it good) to show to other people. You'll still focus mostly on writing better, but at least you won't be able to claim that you cannot write.

 

[Prince of Spires]

Supposedly Hemingway summed writing up as "There's nothing to writing, all you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." Just to show that even great authors don't always think writing is easy.

A few things. When writing, don't compare your first draft to what you see in print books on your bookshelves. Those are someone's final drafts, created by professionals who spent years honing their craft, which then went through a rigorous editing process before finally appearing before you. As Neil Gaiman said, your first draft is just you telling yourself a story. Then in your second draft you pretend you knew what you were doing all along.

When I look at my own writing, I can easily change 10% or more of the words between the first and final draft. And that is after having finished 5 novels. My current WiP, I wouldn't be surprised if over 50% of all words changed between first and final draft.

So when you just start out, just write and don't worry if it's bad. You can always improve it later.

The biggest thing to consider is that each writer has his or her own process for getting the words down on paper. Don't trust any writing advice that says you must always do X or Y. Treat it as a suggestion to try. The only exception is that writers write. The only way to really improve your writing is to write.

One thing to look at is how much you want / need to know about your story up front. Sometimes referred to as plotting vs pantsing, or outlining vs discovery writing. Some people plan out their entire story before they can start writing. Others start with an idea and just sit down and write. And you have all different types in between. See what works.

2 other tips:
- You could try writing a short story first. They're easier in that they have fewer moving parts. Just write a few. Take a small idea and just write it out as if you would tell a story to a friend.
- try fan-fiction. Fan fiction is relatively easy to write because you don't have to worry about world building or getting to know characters or story arcs or anything like that. Just take an existing world you like and know, and tell a story in that. Again, short is fine. Just get it down on paper.

Lastly, accept that your first few stories will be bad. They are for everyone. Writing is a skill, just like playing an instrument. No one can pick up a guitar and play an amazing solo first try. It takes practice. Writing is no different.

 

[Finchbearer]

As Neil Gaiman said, your first draft is just you telling yourself a story.

I always thought it was Terry Pratchett who said that.

 

[Prince of Spires]

I always thought it was Terry Pratchett who said that.

Seems like you're right (at least google agrees with you). My bad...

 

[Finchbearer]

Seems like you're right (at least google agrees with you). My bad...

Whenever I think of that quote, I see Terry with his hat in my mind. But I can absolutely imagine Gaiman using that quote for himself too…