Hi all, How are you? It is nice to be here. My name is Nicole! I am very passionate about writing, as you probably are too. I have not pursued writing as seriously as I would like, but I definitely want to make writing a big part of my days in some way! I really want to make a future out of writing, whether that be my own work, or contributing to others' work. I love writing poetry, fiction, and non-ficiton. Right now, my goal is to go back and learn the basics again. This sounds silly, but I really want to study the English language, and understand the fundamentals thoroughly. Has anyone gone back and re-learned the fundamentals? What do you do to build your confidence with writing? I appreciate all the responses! Any and all are welcome
Hey Nicole, welcome to our little corner of the internet!! In some ways or other I think many of us have had to go back and re-learn a lot of what we thought we knew (or didn't bother to learn properly in the first place). I bought myself a nice thick spiral-bound book called The Gregg Reference Manual, really for business writing, but it covers the same things we need to know for creative writing as well. Since signing up here I found out it's a 2nd-rate version of the real Writer's Bible, called the Chicago Manual of Style. I also got the gold standard, Strunk &White's Elements of Style. And from there a whole passel of books on writing. Looking forward to seeing you on the board!
Welcome! I hope we can be friends! My advice is to come up with an interesting story, sit down, outline it, and start hacking away at it. At first, it'll be painful and you'll cringe when you go back and review what you've written. Eventually, you'll start to get the hang of it and find your stride, maybe hit a rhythm. It's like learning to play the guitar in a lot of ways. I'd be happy to chat more if behind the scenes if you have any specific questions - just hit me up!
Hi!! You're so right... Just to sit down and do the dang thing. Would definitely love to connect more!
I'd love to hear some of your ideas. I'm not the smartest guy in the room, but I can give some honest feedback.
Good evening to all- Nicole- If you are serious about relearning the "basics" of the language, the best way to do that is to teach it to someone else. When I became an English teacher, I had to really learn all of that "stuff" I had suffered through in high school and college but never really learned. I found. for instance, that if a person can teach subordinate clauses and their function to ninth graders. then that person will have a pretty sound understanding of that topic. And it goes double for punctuation. I promise you, there's no better way to learn a subject than having to teach it to someone else. And as far as your own writing goes, I would recommend you put words on paper and feel pretty good about what you've done. And then in the morning when you re-read and correct, you'll feel pretty bad about what you've done. And then you'll be a writer when you feel pretty good about your work after you've read it over and changed and corrected half a dozen times. good night to all- Ed
Hello Nicole. Read the dictionary. That sounds like a snarky response, but it's not. I went from A-Z in, well, can't remember how long it took, jotting down words that struck my fancy, or words that had meanings that resonated with me. That seems unorthodox, maybe insane, but I did it and It was definitely a worthwhile exercise. I'd go with "Elements of Style" from Strunk and White, too. Along with "Stephen King: On Writing" And for the record, I am the smartest person in the room. Stick around and learn some stuff.