Advice for a First Time Author

Discussion in 'General Writing' started by Alice in Wonderland, May 17, 2007.

  1. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Okay, for a self-avowed troll you're a little over-sensitive...

    I'm pretty sure the hill under discussion is your position in this argument, not your creative pursuits as a whole.
     
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  2. nastyjman

    nastyjman Senior Member

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    ----

    I always live by the saying "respect your fellow writer," be they professional or amateur. I don't like talking shit about any writer (even James Patterson who gets a lot of it).

    Also, another saying I live by is this: "The only writer to whom you should compare yourself is the writer you were yesterday."
     
  3. Spencer1990

    Spencer1990 Contributor Contributor

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    What the fuck are you talking about, man?

    I was talking about this silly argument you've constructed. I was trying, nicely, to point out that you were just going to get yourself worked up trying to fight this battle.
     
  4. Spencer1990

    Spencer1990 Contributor Contributor

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    Homer Potvin likes this.
  5. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

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    Sigh. Checking out.
     
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  6. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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  7. BayView

    BayView Huh. Interesting. Contributor

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    Did you think that we didn't know what the word "formula" means in this context? Or...?

    What is it you're arguing? Can you give a simple, straightforward thesis for your posts on this topic?
     
  8. malaupp

    malaupp Active Member

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    Whenever I was freaking out over my story not being long enough, my mother would always remind me of Charles Dickens. Dickens originally struggled with publishing A Christmas Carol because he thought it was too short. And if he'd given in to those worries, one of the most well-known literary works would have never seen the light of day.
     
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  9. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    The best advice I personally received (as opposed to what I read in articles and books about writing) came from my very first beta reader, who is an accomplished writer himself. He said this:

    "Remember, you won't be standing at people's shoulders as they read your book, explaining whatever they don't understand. The explanation has to be there, in the writing itself."
     
    Last edited: Apr 24, 2017
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  10. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    Yikes! One of my favourite stories!
     
  11. truthbeckons

    truthbeckons Active Member

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    You really do wilfully interpret people in whatever sense confirms your worst beliefs about yourself, huh? You were told to abandon a specific argument that didn't make sense. If anyone were actually telling you the things you seem to be taking from their posts, they'd be in trouble with moderation for telling other writers to give up, on a friggin' writing forum where even complete beginners are here to learn the craft.

    Why are you convinced people are telling you that your writing is pointless? I've seen it twice now and it bewilders me. Why torture yourself over the question of whether there's any point or not, in the first place? If you enjoy writing, there's a point to it. If you're committed to learning and getting better, there's a point to it. It's that simple. If you really want to write, you don't need to go looking for reasons to believe that there's no point. In any case, that's a conversation for you to have with yourself, and it's rude of you to keep putting the words in others people's mouths.
     
    Last edited: Apr 24, 2017
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  12. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    I love when I run into a particular piece of advice that hits home, and makes me look at my own writing from a different perspective. That's what that Rider-Waite tarot card, The Hanged Man, is all about. The guy is hanging upside down, but not in a tortured way. (He's relieving pressure on his vertebrae. :) ) He's looking at the world differently from the way he'd done before. He looks relaxed and happy. I quite like this card.

    hanged.png
     
    Last edited: Apr 24, 2017
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  13. Cave Troll

    Cave Troll It's Coffee O'clock everywhere. Contributor

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    Thought Police would you kindly...
    This time you have loosed your cudgel in the
    form of ad-hominems and ridicule, to a simple opinion that is not your own.
    if it offends then that is on you. It was not directed at you and it does not mention
    you once. Even the links are not offensive at all, but you still want to wage a
    self righteous war. What part doesn't make sense? The examples I supplied
    are what the opinion implied. Sick of your petty need to be right, and in this
    case there will be none to be had. Ideas are not facts that can be proven with
    argument, or down shouted.

    Well you have your fun, as it is going away. That is right picking fights over
    an idea is what you do best. There will be no apology, nor stoop to your level.
    Since you can't help but have hurt fee fees over anything and everything
    that you do not agree. So have fun with someone else, as you have driven
    this one away with your Thought Policing.
     
  14. Tenderiser

    Tenderiser Not a man or BayView

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    [​IMG]
     
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  15. OJB

    OJB A Mean Old Man Contributor

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    Thank you for the kind words @jannert.

    I know I take a more academic view of writing and read, but I love reading stories and trying to find the deeper meaning, if there is any, behind it. This is not to say I don't like reading commercial books; in fact, one of my favorite authors to read is Kendall Ryan, and all she writes is simple Erotic novels.
     
  16. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    :stop:

    Here is the original post:

    I was a Creative Writing major in college, and there is one thing that my professor taught us that I still use now (10 years later...ugh now I feel old lol)

    Avoid the use of "it was" as much as you can.

    For example, take this sentence:
    The house stood alone on a hill. It was falling apart in places, and the townsfolk said it was haunted.

    To this:
    The house stood alone on a hill, derelict and falling apart in places. When the townsfolk spoke of it, they talked of hauntings and ghosts.

    As I write, I try to leave out as many "was"s as possible. If I can't think of a way to re-write it, I leave it and come back to it later. But I find that this method has made my descriptions more vivid. My professor always said that "it was" is the lazy writer's crutch.

    What good writing advice have you received?

    I repost it in the hope that this thread can get back on track. Page 9 is looming, this thread is veering, and we all know what that means. We have had to post twice now that this thread needs to chill out. Whatever the hellz was going on in the last couple of pages, drop it. Everyone. Seriously. The pound of proverbial flesh will not be worth it, I promise. This is my attempt to keep the thread open. Here it is for all to see. Please allow me success in this.
     
  17. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    Best piece of writing advice I ever got was, "Get a haircut and get a real job. Clean your act up and don't be a slob. Get it together like your big brother Bob. Why don't get you get haircut and get a real job?"

    (this PSA has been brought to you by George Thorogood and the Destroyers... he was talking about music but you get the idea)

    upload_2017-4-24_18-18-45.jpeg
     
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  18. Stormburn

    Stormburn Contributor Contributor

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    Well, just heard a new one, and, with the way my short stories are going, its true for me:

    You haven't written something until you've rewritten it.
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2017
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  19. Spencer1990

    Spencer1990 Contributor Contributor

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    I'm not sure I'd trust whoever said this if they seriously used "wrote" when it should have been "written." Lol.
     
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  20. Stormburn

    Stormburn Contributor Contributor

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    Snaps, it was written. Sometimes English is a second language to me. Thanks!
     
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  21. big soft moose

    big soft moose An Admoostrator Admin Staff Supporter Contributor Community Volunteer

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    The best advice i was ever given was if you want to be a writer you've got to write ... it sounds trite but how many would be writers are there out there talking about how they'd write a novel if only xyz , if only they had the time, if only they could go part time, if only they didn't have to work so hard yadda yadda yadda... if only your aunt had balls she'd be your uncle , if you want to be a writer, write.
     
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  22. Safety Turtle

    Safety Turtle Senior Member

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    I don't need anyone to tell me that...probably need the opposite at times :p
     
  23. malaupp

    malaupp Active Member

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    Same. I'm always so sure I suck. I'm terrified to edit my own work, cuz I'm certain I'll reread it and discover it's horrible.
     
  24. Simpson17866

    Simpson17866 Contributor Contributor

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    The way I think about it is "I love how much it sucks finding problems the second time around."
     
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  25. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    You'll be fine. That's the best part!
     
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