Your writing style

Discussion in 'General Writing' started by sashas, May 23, 2007.

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  1. koal4e

    koal4e New Member

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    Hi all,

    Im a writer by trade, self employed to write the web content for websites and news for online news portals. Now I have turned to writing my own novel based on a fantasy style swords and all story in my head. The problem I am facing is the writing style of my novel.

    I have so far only written 2,000 words, these are pretty much the precursor/brief history to the story just to outline the start of the novel. My concern is that while I feel my writing style is okay, I am worried about how much level of descrption needs to be incorporated, maybe I am overthinking but I feel that I may not be giving enough....then I worry I am putting too much.

    Am I worrying too much, should I simply write my story and revisit once reading through my first draft for corrections?

    Thanks for listening!
     
  2. Youniquee

    Youniquee (◡‿◡✿) Contributor

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    Yes. If you keep worrying, then nothing is going to get done! Write how you want to now, not minding if the description is to small or too much. Then in the editing process, you'll notice if you need more or less description and correct it. It's not going to be perfect in the first draft anyway so~ Just write.
    That's my advice on it.

    I hope that helped.
     
  3. jazzabel

    jazzabel Agent Provocateur Contributor

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    All novels are works in progress. I suggest you simply keep writing. t he end of each chapter, look it over and see how it feels - is there not enough or too much description, does dialogue sound realistic, pacing, in short - is this something you'd like to read.
    There'll be a long time between starting and finishing the novel, in that time, you can fix it all in stages.
     
  4. koal4e

    koal4e New Member

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    Thanks for your comments, Ill keep writing...it just felt that part of the opening seemed a little short in description, but as you say I can revisit later on :)
     
  5. killbill

    killbill Member

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    Outline by definition should be brief, something to help you plan the plot or sub-plot. So, it doesn't make sense to write heavy descriptions in the outline. If you are saying you are writing outside of the novel about the setting of your fantasy world for your own personal understanding of the world then go ahead and write all the descriptions you can think of. But when it comes to writing the actual novel only write what is neccessary for the readers to understand your story's world, and don't info dump them in one chapter, give them in bits and pieces whenever it is relevant as the story progress.
     
  6. marcuslam

    marcuslam New Member

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    I think it's fine to just write the amount that feels right for you. Then, some people will say that's great, while others will complain that it's too much or too little. That's just the way it's going to be. Of course, you can get a more united view by spending twenty pages describing a chair :D.
     
  7. koal4e

    koal4e New Member

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    Good advice, I think I will keep the outline as it is...the rest will unravel in the book (which may end up being multiple books as only one part of the story will make the first novel at this rate!)
     
  8. PeterC

    PeterC Active Member

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    Don't worry about not having enough description at first. It's possible you'll end up deleting or massively reworking scenes anyway. Don't agonize over every detail now only to throw it all away later.
     
  9. killbill

    killbill Member

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    Make sure that each book in a series has its own story arc. You can't have all the conflict built up in one book and the resolutions in the next book. I am not saying you are doing it, but FYI just in case. The character development may continue throughout the series, though. So, keeping all these in mind I think it is best for you to concentrate fully only on the first book.
     
  10. indy5live

    indy5live Active Member

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    How basic is too basic? No such thing. Get the story on paper in whatever form works best for you. If that means writing a one liner for each chapter and thinking in your mind, what next, then do it that way. If it means writing just the dialog between characters that you know will take place then start there. If you are more of a news writer/journalist, stay objective and treat each chapter as an event that you're reporting on (what took place, with who, when, where, why, etc). I just started outlining my second novel today, here is what I started with:

    Chapter 1: Cop called by FBI to investigate a similar crime to the one he just finished, brief cop and introduce conflict.
    Chapter 2: Key witness is at the hospital visiting with a counselor about the traumatic event.
    Chapter 3: Cop pays a visit to the affiliated. Learn about the affiliate past and their relationship to current event.
    Chapter 4: Another death needs to take place, related to the key witness.
    etc.
     
  11. jg22

    jg22 Member

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    If you are setting a (new) scene, creating atmosphere or mood, using symbolism or writing significant action, then use as much descriptive detail as you like. If you are connecting one scene with another, transitioning from one place to another (characters travelling about, for example), or describing the gist of events through the passage of time, then I would be terse with the amount of detail used.
     
  12. WovenTales

    WovenTales New Member

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    I have had a more or less slice-of-life-ish story bouncing around in my head for a while, but wasn't quite sure of the best way to write it, as the major events would be separated by periods where nothing much happened (at least without writing daily life or artificially filling the time). Recently, though, I connected a journalistic style with the idea, and realized that that might allow it to work; alternating sections of more traditional narration for the main plot points with the main character's journal covering the filler, either in different chapters or half-and-half, depending on how long the narrative sections turn out to be. What I'm not sure about is if that would be any good. The entire thing would likely be in first person, which may reduce the jarring of jumping from one style to the other (and probably different tenses as well), but I can definitely see it still being abrupt enough to rather easily break immersion. And while I know a great deal of whether or not it works is dependent on how well I write the transitions (and that the best way to see if it works is to write it myself), I still wanted to hear what other people thought of the idea in general. The story would be a fanfic so I don't have to worry about commercial distribution and finding a publisher who likes it, but I'd still prefer that I'm not turning readers away from a story they would (hopefully) otherwise like by writing it in an impalpable style.
     
  13. Thornesque

    Thornesque Senior Member

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    I think, as long as you made it plain every time that you changed to a journal entry, it would be fine. People add in letters, newspaper clippings and the like to novels all the time, and while they probably aren't as common or as long, it's still the same general concept. I think it could work and I wouldn't find it confusing at all. But that's just me. I say go for it, though.
     
  14. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    can't say it'll work or not without seeing it done...
     
  15. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Mixing writing styles will generally result in a very murky, disorganized-plooking piece of writing. A master writer might succeed with it if there is a good reason behind it. However, if you have to ask, I would say it is probably doomed to failure.
     
  16. WovenTales

    WovenTales New Member

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    All right, thanks for the input. As I continue to brainstorm, I'm actually not sure that the split would work out for this story, but it sounds like it is possible if it is done well—the trick being making it flow smoothly and clearly. And as it was mainly a way to make the writing easier on myself shoehorned into the story, there's probably not enough reason to use it here. I will keep it in mind as a potential method for the future, but probably not much more than that. Again, thanks!
     
  17. Newfable

    Newfable New Member

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    I tend to like the way I write letters and logistically more than when I write creatively. I wrote a letter to a friend of mine, and found out half way that it had a subplot! I liked the way it turned out, and she loved it.

    I also recently finished a screenplay I’m very happy with, and it was easy to write. After a few drafts, I like the way it came out.

    I’m not so lucky with my fictional style of writing. I’m far too harsh on myself, and I can’t stop judging what I just wrote, commenting in my mind that it really doesn’t work out and that no one would read this kind of garbage.

    I have a very low word count to reach every day because I just can’t kick that voice. So whenever it rears up, I’ll stop what I’m doing for a while and do something else. I might play a video game, read a book, watch a movie, practice the piano, realize I’m horrible at that too, decide to jog despite not having proper jogging attire, jog, have an asthma attack, be rushed to emergency, and come back home a few hours later with a new inhaler. After all that, I’m usually ready to tackle whatever it was that I left off in the first place.
     
  18. Thumpalumpacus

    Thumpalumpacus Alive in the Superunknown

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    Frustration? When I edit.

    I tend to cram too many words into a sentence. My signature is advice to myself as much as anything else: be simple, and experience the story yourself before you relate it to someone else. Unfortunately, I seem to most often observe it in the breach. Rewrites!
     
  19. Fife

    Fife New Member

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    I'm reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and in one of the earlier chapters, the MC (written in first-person) mentions how he (being a hermaphrodite) was tested in several ways, including a sampling of the MC's prose-writing to see if the MC's writing was circular like women's writing or linear like men's writing.

    I was curious about that, so I decided to do a quick search and read a bit about it. I mean, it's a concept that I'm sure I've thought about indirectly in the past, but I never heard it spelled out in specific terms before. My understanding is that linear writing goes from 'A' to 'Z', chronologically. Circular writing jumps to past; it may go to the present; it may go back into the past to build context, and then back to the present again--which is something Jeffrey Eugenides does (probably intentionally) in the book.

    Are there some guidelines or advice on when it is appropriate to use circular writing and how often you should use it?
     
  20. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    in a word, "NO!"... it's entirely the writer's choice, though one or the other may be suggested by the story you have to tell...
     
  21. Thomas Kitchen

    Thomas Kitchen Proofreader in the Making Contributor

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    Hi there everyone,

    I'm currently writing (and very nearly finished) this year's NaNoWriMo novel, and through writing it, I feel like talking to the reader is quite a frequent thing towards the end of the book. Now obviously in my second draft I would flesh the entire thing out and make sure I talk to the reader throughout the whole thing, but that's not what I'm asking.

    In one of lectures a few weeks ago, we were talking about a certain author (don't ask me who, but he was a writer a few centuries back) who liked to talk to his readers, and leave pages blank when he wanted to describe a beautiful person, or a black page when a character died. When I heard this it intruiged me very much, so much in fact that I've begun to use it in my own novel, although not the different colour pages thing, just the principle of talking to the reader.

    So, finally, this is my question: is it completely unacceptable to use this type of writing style in books any more? I understand that new trends can be made, but generally I want to know if any modern writers use this style, even partially, so any names of authors would be great. And, of course, personal opinions are always welcome. Hope I made myself clear! :)
     
  22. peachalulu

    peachalulu Member Reviewer Contributor

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    What point of view have you chosen and who is addressing the reader? the mc or a narrator.
     
  23. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

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    "Talking to the reader", by which I take you to mean what is often referred to as "breaking the fourth wall", is usually considered a poor approach, because it creates distance between the reader and the story. Reading great literature that is centuries old can be very rewarding, but it's important to recognize that literature, like everything else, evolves over time.
     
  24. Burlbird

    Burlbird Contributor Contributor

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    "Taking to the reader" is what you may call metafiction - the self-awareness of the text. It is present in literature from Homer to Stephen King. It's legal to use. Distance between the reader and the story is sometimes a great thing to have.

    "Modern" writers rarely used it. Postmodern writers and post-postmodern writers (which you and I should be) use it frequently.
     
  25. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

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    How? When?

    Just curious, because I am currently reading Villaverde's "Cecilia Valdez" (English translation). He does it a lot and I find it disrupts the flow of the story (at least for me).
     

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