Writing clearly and persuasively seems like an important enough skill that, with LW’s recent shift to self-improvement topics, I’m surprised there haven’t been posts on how to learn it.
Eventually I’d like to be able to craft fiction that people would read out of choice as opposed to some obligation brought about by being friends. I don’t inflict my writing on others yet, and I’ll probably start by making fanfiction when I do.
Having the ability to persuade people and communicate clearly would be a nice bonus, though.
Produce many words of fiction. Many. Many, many, many, many. Find out what makes words come out of you and arrange for that to happen a lot.
If you have a tendency to become defensive when criticized, dig it out of yourself with a melonballer and set it on fire. You can grow it back later when you are better, if you want (especially if it has self-esteem implications of some kind), but it is not your friend in the early stages.
Finish things sometimes. Finish a drabble or a 500-word vignette, if that’s what you’re up to. But do not start and start and start and never finish.
Fall in love with something about something you write. Love a character, or a setting, or a sentence, or a plot twist. You don’t have to love everything about anything or anything about everything, but love something about something.
If you have a tendency to become defensive when criticized, dig it out of yourself with a melonballer and set it on fire.
Nice phrase. Nice sentiment, too. This is the main sticking point for recruits to most of the non-commercial projects I’ve been involved with, and if not overcome it’s incredibly destructive both on the creative and the critical side of things.
Well-intentioned attempts to attract talent by shielding it from criticism are even worse.
Yep yep! The first thing I’m trying to get into the habit of doing is simply writing, without worrying about the quality. My inner critic is SO picky! (>_<) The general idea I have is that to be a writer, I have to actually write. If I can’t for whatever reason, then writing isn’t going to work. So, writing first.
I’m fine with criticism. I believe that either 1) it’s true, and I need to accept it, or 2) it’s false and I can laugh at it. Getting mad seems silly in any case.
Write a lot. Read a lot. Brandon Sanderson had to write five novels before he sold one. Read every day. Read Strunk and White. Learn the rules. (Yes, writing has them.) Get a giant wall calendar showing every day of the year. Set a writing goal and every day you meet it, draw a line. After a few days you have a line segment. Don’t break the line! Convince yourself that reading and writing is “work” and don’t let friends and family tell you otherwise. Find a room with a door. When you’re writing, close it. Don’t edit when you write. Move forward, forward, forward. Get to the end. If you need help with motivation, readthesebooks.
It’s not the direct usefulness of it that I’m looking for so much as the ability to get money to promote the things that I want to see happen. I may not be able to program, and I might not be incredibly rational, but at least I can help the people that are.
I’m not very familiar with the details of writing fiction professionally, but it seems like the wrong thing to do if you’re looking to make money—I’m remembering hearing that a large proportion of authors aren’t very successful, financially. (The fact that I don’t remember where I heard this and so can’t gauge its credibility very well means that it should be discounted significantly.)
Can anyone who is more knowledgeable about the professional writing business comment on this?
Writing clearly and persuasively seems like an important enough skill that, with LW’s recent shift to self-improvement topics, I’m surprised there haven’t been posts on how to learn it.
Eventually I’d like to be able to craft fiction that people would read out of choice as opposed to some obligation brought about by being friends. I don’t inflict my writing on others yet, and I’ll probably start by making fanfiction when I do.
Having the ability to persuade people and communicate clearly would be a nice bonus, though.
Edit—please disregard this post
Produce many words of fiction. Many. Many, many, many, many. Find out what makes words come out of you and arrange for that to happen a lot.
If you have a tendency to become defensive when criticized, dig it out of yourself with a melonballer and set it on fire. You can grow it back later when you are better, if you want (especially if it has self-esteem implications of some kind), but it is not your friend in the early stages.
Finish things sometimes. Finish a drabble or a 500-word vignette, if that’s what you’re up to. But do not start and start and start and never finish.
Fall in love with something about something you write. Love a character, or a setting, or a sentence, or a plot twist. You don’t have to love everything about anything or anything about everything, but love something about something.
Nice phrase. Nice sentiment, too. This is the main sticking point for recruits to most of the non-commercial projects I’ve been involved with, and if not overcome it’s incredibly destructive both on the creative and the critical side of things.
Well-intentioned attempts to attract talent by shielding it from criticism are even worse.
.
Bookmarked, thank you!
Edit—please disregard this post
Agree, agree, a thousand times agree.
Yep yep! The first thing I’m trying to get into the habit of doing is simply writing, without worrying about the quality. My inner critic is SO picky! (>_<) The general idea I have is that to be a writer, I have to actually write. If I can’t for whatever reason, then writing isn’t going to work. So, writing first.
I’m fine with criticism. I believe that either 1) it’s true, and I need to accept it, or 2) it’s false and I can laugh at it. Getting mad seems silly in any case.
Thanks for the tips!
Edit—please disregard this post
Write a lot. Read a lot. Brandon Sanderson had to write five novels before he sold one. Read every day. Read Strunk and White. Learn the rules. (Yes, writing has them.) Get a giant wall calendar showing every day of the year. Set a writing goal and every day you meet it, draw a line. After a few days you have a line segment. Don’t break the line! Convince yourself that reading and writing is “work” and don’t let friends and family tell you otherwise. Find a room with a door. When you’re writing, close it. Don’t edit when you write. Move forward, forward, forward. Get to the end. If you need help with motivation, read these books.
I would say that nonfiction skill is obviously more useful, though I guess HPMoR provides some amount of evidence to the contrary.
It’s not the direct usefulness of it that I’m looking for so much as the ability to get money to promote the things that I want to see happen. I may not be able to program, and I might not be incredibly rational, but at least I can help the people that are.
Edit—please disregard this post
I’m not very familiar with the details of writing fiction professionally, but it seems like the wrong thing to do if you’re looking to make money—I’m remembering hearing that a large proportion of authors aren’t very successful, financially. (The fact that I don’t remember where I heard this and so can’t gauge its credibility very well means that it should be discounted significantly.)
Can anyone who is more knowledgeable about the professional writing business comment on this?