I think that's it, actually. Or at least it was for me. Generational stuff came into it as well. I wouldn't be seen dead liking stuff my parents liked, in terms of music, movies, etc. Now I listen to 'their' music as well as 'mine,' and I've enjoyed old movies immensely. Yes, they are different from what my generation created, but they are good fun.
“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”
.... and STOP! This thread is abso-fucking-lutely NOT going to mutate into a thread about the fucking elections. I will delete every single post even remotely associated, I don't care how sideways the member tries to sneak it in. Take that shit to Facebook where it fucking belongs.
Wow - you got a lot of responses! I think prose and poetry are tricky and definitely should be a product of the writers own expressed thoughts with possible edits to grammar only. However, I just posted my first poem on this forum so if I get a few critiques, we'll see if I still feel the same way.
I know it says I'm 20, I just did that when I signed up because sometimes sites don't let people under 18 join. And I know I'm only 13, but I've been writing for quite a few years and my style's been mine since I was about seven. Even so, my style hasn't changed - I just don't really have a style anymore. It's like trying to read something that's been coated with invisible ink, and my own writing is boring to me in a way that it didn't used to be. Some things never change. I'm not going to be twenty years old and not love Confederacy of Dunces, and I'm not going to grow up and love Shakespeare - there are just some things about a person that are simply a part of the way they look at the world, the things they likes, the things they don't.
What I meant in that thread is I'll read something, then I can't shake that author's style for about 6-12 hours. My style always usually comes out in the wash after a while, but for some reason, it's almost as if the critiques have my style locked up and they won't give me the key.
Sometimes transitions can be difficult. If you're trying something new--like trying to write more clearly without giving up the youthful charm of your prose--it's going to take some time and effort. If you've had the same writing style since you were seven, it's probably time for it to mature a little. And while that's happening, you're probably going to be a bit frustrated. I'd say you should just keep writing and not worry about it too much. If you talk yourself into thinking you can't do something, you can't do it. Just relax. You'll be fine.
Actually, you will come to appreciate things you aren't even aware of right now. When I was 13 I loved bacon. Who doesn't love bacon? At the tender age of 15 I spent my first Summer Vacation from school on my own, traveling across America. Quickly out of savings and down to my last dollar, and having too much pride to call my parents to wire me money, I took a job at a pig slaughter house in Kentucky. Two weeks that changed my life, and my perception of bacon. On a hot August afternoon you can smell a slaughter house from miles away, and if you think pigs are too dumb to understand what they're in for, well, you underestimate them. I still won't eat meat from a pig. With every experience you will find that the 13 year old version of you was utterly blind to the world.
Goldenclover, it is fantastic that you take writing as seriously as you do at your age. I wish I had. You have something that so few of us late-starter writers have: time. That being said, you are at a highly formative part of your life. In three years everything will change. In another three years it will do it again, and again, and again until somewhere between 20 and 40, depending on a lot of things. Don't expect to keep the same voice though these very tumultuous years. It won't happen. Do as others have suggested: keep writing, keep reading, love what you read and write. Of course you should try to refine your craft as best you can, and you have received some very good advice to this end already. I just wanted to echo the encouragement that if you continue to work very, very hard, it will likely come to you. You will create your voice. It may not be the voice you used to have, but it will be yours, likely better than the one you used to have. Best of luck and keep at it!
The thing about rewrites : when I critique I often wind up rewriting bits as an illustration of what i'm suggesting , but I hope its always clear that the purpose is illustrative not dictatorial , ie i'm say "you could do it like this" rather than "I've fixed it for you" I tend to do this because its a lot easier to illustrate what i'd suggest than it is to wordily explain it When i'm on the receiving end if a critiquer has rewritten bits in the same spirit, I'll look at it and take the bits i want on board - but its still my decision what goes and what stays (if they are being a jerk and saying 'you must write like me or you're crap' i'll bin their critique and move on) With regard to voice - i'd suggest just writing, and writing, and writing some more - give yourself permission to write crap but eventually you'll find 'your voice' (or at least your voice for this piece - i find my voice changes depending on what i'm writing)
I think it is great that you are so into writing at your age. Don't get frustrated. You have to realize, at your age, you are a giant sponge right now. Your vocabulary and grammar will grow considerably in the next few years. Your life experiences will also change your style in some way. Be prepared that you might not ever have that voice again. This is not a bad thing. Recently, I picked up a story I wrote when I was 14. Thirty-five years have passed and I couldn't believe how bad my writing was. The dialog was making me blush because it was so corny now. I still love the story and I might revisit it someday. There are so many ways to improve it right now. Just enjoy yourself and don't get too down about it. I liked the suggestion above about having your English teacher give it a look. He/she is in the process right now of moving you to the next level. They would probably be more helpful to you.
