I’ve seen many comments here and there over the years critiquing (+ve and -ve) about different focuses of writing. What do you focus on? Character over theme, dialogue over world building, intrigue over action? If we excel at dialogue does this mean we should focus on script writing? If we want to branch out into other areas how do we ‘blend’ these skills into one sumptuous pudding? Thoughts?
One possible strategy is to force the parts that you find less interesting to feed the ones that you find more interesting. For example, I’m most interested in character, so most of my world building is about social customs and prejudices and hierarchy and stuff that feeds character interaction. Well, and poverty and employment. Stuff like that. I may return for more babbling when I have a keyboard.
I definitely focus more on dialogue to carry a story. I think it just takes a lot of practice at blending all the elements into one cohesive peice. I don't want to script write.
I always think of the story as a whole. I think that can help. I don't think, Well, I'm good at dialog so let me focus more on setting. I use dialog when the story calls for it. I get into setting when it calls for it. I think being an avid reader helps think of stories as a whole rather than trying to break it down into pieces. The pieces mean nothing. It's the whole story that counts.
Hello, What I focus on really depends on the affect I want the story to have on my readers. I think a good story should have equal amounts of everything and nothing should be neglected in favour for something else. Because when people start saying character should be the main focus, what you can end up with is a weak plot, or unexplored themes. The only thing I would say is how I find so many people underestimate theme and what it can add to plot and characters and how you are perceived as a writer. I've heard so many people say: "I don't think about it - ever." or "I might think about it once everything else is done." I think it is a good idea to see what themes naturally arise in a story, but so few people take advantage of that and explore them it seems.
Here's the thing: If you always focus on what you do well, you never grow. I believe it's important to rely on my strengths as a writer, but it's even more necessary that I challenge myself. Ie. I am bad at descriptions so I pay specific attention to the way I portray setting. It doesn't mean that I do it well, alas, but over time I may. It's easy to write what I am good at, but I am not in the habit of only eating candy. I want some bloody meat, too.
I'm one of those writers who never think about theme. I could care less about theme. I also focus on character, but that doesn't cause me to have weak plots. I honestly believe it can be a mistake to think about theme. I focus on the story and not the meaning behind it. And I am a writer who is regularly selling my work.
That's interesting, because you just posted that you "always think of the story as a whole" and that you don't break your writing process "into pieces." Also, since you're selling your work, where can I find it? I'd like to check it out.
That's interesting, because you just posted that you "always think of the story as a whole" and that you don't break your writing process "into pieces." Exactly what I was about you say. I always find that ignoring themes does make the plot weaker, you may not think that, but each to their own. Theme is part of story telling and I just don't think it should be ignored, to me it's like ignoring character, plot, setting etc.
I do the best I can with all the parts, as to not sacrifice anything to compromise. Though in some part, I have pulled back on some of the more gruesome bits. However, I think much like Horror, that the readers imagination will be far more effective in filling in the missing bits than I could ever depict. (Also as much gore and whatnot is depicted already, I hardly think that it needs to go full on Modern Horror (AKA Torture Porn) to justify the darkest and frankly disgusting moments.)
Story and/or reading experience. I wanna know and see myself some physical reactions from my alpha readers before I can be sure I'm in the right track
Most things I wrote are experiments. That being said, I like to experiment on any one of those things and then capitalize on it when writing a new story or poem. Blending these and melding I do fairly rarely, since i would like to improve each individual piece, being an amatuer as I am. I don't believe at all that if you excel at one aspect, then you should only focus on that. At that point, the writer is simply killing their own chance to improve their ability as a writer in a whole sense. That would be a silly waste of time. Personally, I like to choose an aspect of writing ( character development, specific genre, mechanics) and then develop a story around the element I want to improve or work with. Many times, this evolves and grows into something completely different, but usually I try to confine it down so I dont get lost in what I would say my strengths are. If I relied purely on strengths, I feel I wouldn't improve as a writer.
Why should there be a compromise? A good book has all of the elements you listed, and if you're weak in one (or many) of those, you should challenge yourself and strive to get better.
Part of what makes a writer great is they have a sense for when some element of the writing needs attention. I believe that you become a great writer by paying attention to every detail and stop playing the game of pretending like you are a specialist in some area. A lot of times we play these games where we ask questions like, "Which is important, plot or mechanics?" I always instantly think, DAMN! I'VE GOT TO MAKE A CHOICE? I don't want to make a choice. If my story sucks, I need to fix it. If my mechanics suck, I need to fix it. So, let me rephrase this: What do you need to be a great writer? First, you need to start writing every day. You need to be bad at lots and lots of things. When you actively seek and discover something you are not doing well, you need to focus on that and fix it. Moving right along.... If you get to a place where you feel like you are doing everything well, look harder. Take the attitude that you want to discover what you do less than up to the standard of the other things, and focus on that. I shift my focus from one thing to the other, based primarily upon what I feel is lacking in the work. This never ends. Think of it like this. Imagine that you are rating your ability at blocking scenes and make the world come to life contextually. You read something you wrote a few years back and you think you nailed it. But, what you are doing today feels kind of rushed, and the actors are more talking heads than acting on a quality stage. You find that you're really not visualizing the space, and that's because you're not much interested in it and have become generic about it. Thus, the problem of the day for me, in fact. This is what writers do. We seek higher ground across the entire spectrum. Once we get pretty good at everything, we work toward becoming better than pretty good at everything. It will never end, and you will likely die unfulfilled. Thus the cost.
I think the notion of compromise in this context feeds into our need to constantly meet deadlines and be "productive". If writing is your hobby, your passion, there shouldn't be any compromise. you hammer it until you're where YOU want to be. I think of compromise as a shortcut, and to be a master of something, especially a craft, there can't be any shortcuts. I have more of an art background than a writing one so maybe everything isn't 1:1. If my art for example is lacking in perspective because I focused all my time on color theory, my finished pieces are going to reflect this "compromise". Art, any creation is a harmony of things working to create something 'other' than its parts.
I don't think about writing in terms of what I'm good/bad at. I just focus on telling the story I want to tell. I am a long-term voracious reader, so I know what 'stories' sound like. It's been said that a writer should write the story they would want to read, so that's what I do. To be honest, I'm not sure I could name what my writing strengths and weaknesses are. I know I am a long story writer rather than a short one, which might not be today's fashion, and might be seen by some as a weakness. But long stories are the kind of story I like to read, so that's what I write. I like stories that evolve slowly, characters with depth and contradictions, problems that can't really be 'solved' but can only be dealt with, and settings that are rich and well-researched. I love history, so I wrote a 'historical' novel—one set during a particular historical period, although it's not about a real event or real people. I consider myself a storyteller. As an author, I want to disappear. I don't want readers to be admiring my turn of phrase or technique. I want readers to get immersed in my story.
All of them are necessary. Got to learn jow they all integr They all have to work together, no compromise needed. Recommend working them around the journey: http://kalbashir.com/Oscars-2019-Winner-And-Nominees.html
