Hello

I lurked on these forums for awhile, and then I registered and lurked some more. For all my searching I’ve not found satisfying answers to some questions I have, so I decided to ask them and figured I would introduce myself as well.

I am brand new to writing. I want to write novels in the future, but am content writing short stories for now. I read short stories as often as possible and I try to write one – or start one, at least – every day. I like to think they’re getting better as I write more. I’m having difficulties with things which seem common amongst new writers, if not all writers, according to what I’ve read on the forums.

I recently started journaling, though I am terrible about actually doing it. I’ve noticed that the things worth writing about are things I would rather not revisit. I will work on this, though. Anyway, on to the questions …

I understand that 1st person POV/voice is supposed to be the most difficult voice in which to write, especially for the new writer, but it seems the overwhelming majority of short stories I’ve read were written in 1st person. I could see how the complexity of novels could make caring for the authenticity of the POV difficult. My instinct tells me to practice writing short stories in 1st person, and then practice 3rd person for novel purposes later.

1) Are the difficulties of 1st person POV associated more with novels than short stories?

2) Does anyone have personal experience or knowledge they could share on different approaches? (with my goals in mind)

Moving on, I feel like character development comes a little easier for me than plot/conflict development. It is easy to imagine very basic conflicts and characters, but when I consider these imaginations more deeply I ask myself, “Why is this story worth telling? Why is this conflict important? Why is this character interesting?” and in doing so I find that I can’t answer those questions, or if I can answer them I find the answer is unremarkable.

3) Does anyone have personal experience or knowledge they could share on different approaches with this problem? Are these skills that develop naturally as one writes more, or do they need to be handled more specifically?

I’ll be studying creative writing within a year or so, but in the meantime I will write, read, write, and read, and then write some more. I may enter competitions someday, but it’s not a priority. I make a point of learning the definitions of words that are unfamiliar to me when I see them. I plan to write short stories, practicing all the aspects of storytelling – across many stories, not all crammed into each story – and then when an idea for a novel manifests, I will embark on that journey.

I am going to write professionally, in any field, any type of writing that will put food in my belly. Meanwhile, I will be writing my personal things, honing my skills. I will collect them, refine them, and then try to get them published someday. My final question is based on the information supplied, what else can/should I be doing to become the best writer I can be?

Thanks for wading through all this. I look forward to all your responses.

 

Welcome to Writing Forums, Pens!

I hope you find what you're looking for here, whatever your interests in writing.

This forum aims to provide the best workshopping resources on the internet, and to that end we have a few rules which you should familiarise yourself with before you get stuck in. The main section of the site is the Writing Workshop, where members can post their writing in order to receive critique of their work.

However, before we allow members to post their work, they must have met some basic requirments. Firstly, you must have been a member for fourteen days, and have made twenty posts on the forum overall (please note, posts in Word Games do not count towards this). This is so that members, when they post their work, have familiarised themselves with the forums and contributed to them (as well as hopefully learned something for themselves). Secondly, members must provide two constructive reviews of other people's work for each piece of their own that they wish to post. This is because we believe that the focus of workshopping should be equally upon giving reviews as receiving them, as they allow a writer to practice and improve their editing skills, which they can then apply to their own writing.

Beyond the Writing Workshop, you will find that we have extensive forums for discussion of aspects of writing, as well as a community area for general discussion. We also run periodic short story and poetry contests, which are good for challenging yourself and expanding your skills.

If you have any questions or problems, then the moderators (myself Cogito, Lemex and Dante Dases) should be your first port of call. Any technical problems with the site itself should be directed to Daniel, the site administrator and owner. I would recommend you have a look over the rules so that you know what to expect, and what is expected. But aside from that, I hope you enjoy your time here.


Banzai

 

Thanks. I'll have a look at a few of those things now.

 

Hello Pens,

Welcome to the website. I’m a new member myself and working on my first novel so I don’t have any published experience or share, but hoping to learn as we go along here and elsewhere.

There are mini-courses you could takethat might help put you on the right track, and tweak the way you write.

Well, for now let's have a blast and learn as much as we can.

Bo-

 

Cool, thanks Bo. Good luck with your writing.