Style Your Biggest Weakness as a Writer

Discussion in 'General Writing' started by SunnyDays, Jan 29, 2012.

  1. J.T. Woody

    J.T. Woody Book Witch Contributor

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    Lack of organization (though I am getting much better at it).
    Discipline. I told myself I should write every day, even if its just for 30 mins..... but I dont..... -sighs-
     
  2. mg357

    mg357 Active Member

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    i am a male writer and i can't write a female lead characters that by far is my biggest weakness.
     
  3. Irina Samarskaya

    Irina Samarskaya Senior Member

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    I really like dialogue.... like really like dialogue...
     
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  4. Irina Samarskaya

    Irina Samarskaya Senior Member

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    Try studying female psychology, hang around lots of girls, or develop schizophrenia! If you can put yourself in someone's shoes, change your values while that person, and otherwise become that person... I think you're capable of writing even the most specialized and memoir-worthy characters (such as great martial heroes or concentration-camp-survivor!).
     
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  5. Homer Potvin

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

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    Best advice I've heard all day. Screw reality!
     
  6. methsoup

    methsoup New Member

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    repetition
    as i do creative writing, i tend to write about the same thing but in different ways.
     
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  7. zoupskim

    zoupskim Contributor Contributor

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    I want to write ALL THE THINGS!

    Once upon a time there was a demon lord who dreamed of star fruit.

    She danced a song steam of love until everyone who hated her grew ripe and luscious with knowledge.

    And they lived in peace forever, for she learned to just look at the beauty of the act of it all.
     
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  8. rincewind31

    rincewind31 Active Member

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    I'm just 'too' talented, and I cant spill for shit.
     
  9. severine

    severine Member

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    Pacing. I really struggle with getting from one scene to the other. It's a whole Thing I have problems with, so I typically leave it to become a Second Draft Problem™️.
     
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  10. Alan Aspie

    Alan Aspie Banned Contributor

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    There is absolutely no need to describe characters.

    Their own action and behaviour can describe them.

    Other characters reactions to them can describe them.

    Don't go. Jump.
     
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  11. saxonslav

    saxonslav Member

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    I'm fairly sure I get from one scene to the other too fast but I really don't know how to add more content without just forcing in filler.
     
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  12. severine

    severine Member

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    Yeah that's my problem. I write a series of connected paragraphs and then I'm like ??? how to link. I always get it sorted during redrafts but still.
     
  13. prettyvisitors

    prettyvisitors Member

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    Probably my subconscious taking ideas from other stories before I realise my idea is totally unoriginal.

    Also, romances.
     
  14. saxonslav

    saxonslav Member

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    Weakness number 2, I don't redraft, I just furiously edit tiny bits a day after writing each part.
     
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  15. severine

    severine Member

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    Well that's one way to do it! I do that occasionally but I also find it helps to take a step back and ignore the work for a few weeks and then read it again with a fresh pallette.
     
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  16. Andrew Vord

    Andrew Vord New Member

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    My biggest weakness has to be the butterfly effect. As I'm going through my second draft I find things that need changing (shocker) and change them, which snowballs into further changes later on. Next thing I know I'm adding 4 new chapters and know, deep down, that I'll find things to change later.

    Also I have continuity issues. I like to write in parts, which means part 1 goes through its second, third and sometimes fourth draft before I start on part 2. This way i don't have to retcon things later.
     
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  17. saxonslav

    saxonslav Member

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    Yeah, I have to admit this is actually pretty effective, but not all of my work receives the same passion. I certainly do it for the bigger pieces of writing, but not short stories or poetry.
     
  18. Just a cookiemunster

    Just a cookiemunster Active Member

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    Dialogue and knowledge of how the world works.
    I am shy and introverted by nature and I have not said many words through out my life time so I really struggle to have conversations. I feel like I'm so good at narrating but as soon as the characters actually have to say something I'm like uhhh....... what should they stay? Even though I watch TV, read books and hear other people talk I feel like it doesn't help much. I end up coming up with a lot of one liners like terminator style "I'll be back"

    Secondly I was homeschooled by over protective religious parents you can even say isolated but it's not until I try to write that I realize how much I lack in general knowledge needed to write a realistic story. For example how laws/legal system, adoptions, schools, politics,animals,meats and such things work. Heck, I dont even know what grade=what age. I know what little I know about school from watching highschool movies. Don't get me started on history I know NOTHING about history or presidents. So I find I often have to do a whole LOT of research for simple things or else my story comes out with no sense of realism. o_O
     
  19. Andrew Vord

    Andrew Vord New Member

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    I have a similar problem. I feel my dialogue is almost too much go the point. It seems my conversations are always short and to the point, lacking in something that makes the reader feel as though two people are conversing rather than exchanging tactical data around a battle map. I'm doing my best to reread it over and over, pretending I'm there talking, but its still a struggle.
     
  20. saxonslav

    saxonslav Member

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    People naturally enough don't talk very well. Most people are not confident in getting their point across. There's probably much better advice than mine, but since dialogue is a reflection of how a person wants others to view them, all you need to do is communicate their thoughts.
    Since you're introverted, think about how you might speak. Maybe you prefer being to the point and honest because you can't talk much. From my experience in school, more extroverted people are more trivial so to speak. They're fine with speaking their mind more often and saying what something reminds them of.

    A good example of this might be Mr. Robot (the show). Dialogue is quite realistic, aside from the whole unreliable narrator aspect of things. Watch a good film in general, but don't replicate the dialogue, shape it around your own characters' motives and personalities, but to help you, you can look into personality archetypes.
     
  21. Mink

    Mink Contributor Contributor

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    I suck at writing. :p

    In all seriousness, I think my biggest weakness is either settling on a writing style or getting description down right. I vary in my writing style based off of what I'm writing and I also have issues with not enough description or too much description.
     
  22. Abbey_S

    Abbey_S New Member

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    My biggest struggle is inspiration. I feel that I write proficiently, I'll even go so far as to say I write well. But I lack the creativity to conceptualize an entire story. I do better if I have a prompt to work from but even then I only get so far before the tiny spark of creativity dies. I think I also lack motivation and confidence. When I do get an idea I am reluctant to start. This may be the confidence issue. I always question what I could possibly have to write that would be of any interest to anyone.
     

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