Glitter
Administrator
Just trying to work shit out.
Posts: 201
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Goals
Mar 3, 2018 8:25:29 GMT
Post by Glitter on Mar 3, 2018 8:25:29 GMT
What's something you're trying to improve on as a writer? How is that going for you so far?
I say this a lot but I've never been very good at dialogue, especially of the comedic variety. I started paying more attention to writers who I think excel in that area though and I like to think that at the very least my dialogue doesn't sound quite so robotic. I still have a very long way to go though.
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Flamingo
Playwriter
Cows are beautiful animals.
Posts: 379
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Goals
Mar 3, 2018 8:41:33 GMT
Post by Flamingo on Mar 3, 2018 8:41:33 GMT
I'm trying to be more simple with my writing. I usually use unecessarily long words instead of going for the easy option, use awkward metaphors that don't fit the situation, or mess up trying to organize my sentences.
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Pudding
Moderator
Hang on in there!
Posts: 218
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Goals
Mar 3, 2018 19:46:43 GMT
Post by Pudding on Mar 3, 2018 19:46:43 GMT
Oh dear, I want to improve every single aspect of my writing. But if I were to pick one, then it would be to be able to pace my writing better.
For this I do attempt to imagine my stories coming to life in my mind, seeing if some scenarios come off as too slow, fast, awkward, etc.
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Bidoof
Playwriter
Make Sinnoh Great Again!
Posts: 39
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Goals
Mar 3, 2018 20:15:36 GMT
Post by Bidoof on Mar 3, 2018 20:15:36 GMT
I agree that dialogue is really difficult, it's sort of hard to fit yourself into a personality and create realistic dialogue for a personality you may not relate to.
One thing that I'd love to improve on, although it's somewhat basic, is my ability to fit more detail into what I write. I feel as though sometimes I may skip over or have lackluster details to stories that reduce clarity or make the story seem less fluid.
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Glitter
Administrator
Just trying to work shit out.
Posts: 201
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Post by Glitter on Mar 4, 2018 2:39:40 GMT
I agree that dialogue is really difficult, it's sort of hard to fit yourself into a personality and create realistic dialogue for a personality you may not relate to. One thing that I'd love to improve on, although it's somewhat basic, is my ability to fit more detail into what I write. I feel as though sometimes I may skip over or have lackluster details to stories that reduce clarity or make the story seem less fluid. Try following a process. Start at the most macroscopic details in a setting and then work your way down to the finer ones. Then consider how a character would move through that scene. If you're worried about how you write details, paint yourself as vivid a picture as you can before you try and communicate the scene to your audience.
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Goals
Mar 4, 2018 3:21:46 GMT
Post by bay on Mar 4, 2018 3:21:46 GMT
Stronger prose, or at least having less awkward sentences. I know some people say reading aloud is best for that, but I would do that several times and I still can't catch awkward sentences all that well.
Writing emotions/body language is also something I want to improve on. Sometimes I would be stuck how to do body language that isn't like sighing, raising eyebrows, gasps, etc. Luckily I have The Emotion Thesaurus helps out a lot on that.
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Oddy
Playwriter
I'll drip if you swirl.
Posts: 20
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Goals
Mar 4, 2018 13:17:16 GMT
Post by Oddy on Mar 4, 2018 13:17:16 GMT
I'd like to stray away from repetition. actually, editing might help, but I can't usually edit without altering the original text and then I'm just back to square one.
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Goals
Mar 5, 2018 6:04:45 GMT
Post by aeternum on Mar 5, 2018 6:04:45 GMT
editing and actually making characters stay true to themselves. oftentimes ill find myself writing a character one way at the start and then after a few pages they'll have the same voice as every other character.
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Nero
Playwriter
It's cool to know nothing
Posts: 41
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Goals
Mar 6, 2018 8:06:54 GMT
via mobile
Post by Nero on Mar 6, 2018 8:06:54 GMT
Not really a technique or anything, but I'd really wish I was better at starting stories and chapters. Once I've gotten moving and have a direction I can get into the flow, but when the page is blank, so is my head. There have been way too many story ideas I've planned out and went to write but abandoned because I couldn't get going, and it also makes me procrastinate a whole lot because I get bored of staring at a bare screen.
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Goals
Mar 9, 2018 0:29:24 GMT
Post by Dragon on Mar 9, 2018 0:29:24 GMT
I think I can make my writing flow a bit better? Like sometimes I worry my pacing isn't that great, so, I think I can work on that a bit.
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Synth
Playwriter
Posts: 56
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Goals
Mar 9, 2018 1:56:47 GMT
Post by Synth on Mar 9, 2018 1:56:47 GMT
I feel like I have the opposite problem to gimmepie - dialogue has always felt like it came more naturally to me than descriptive writing.
If you're looking to improve on writing dialogue my advice is to try reading plays - since the writing is ONLY dialogue it can help you see how it can not only flow naturally but also inform the action on stage, or even on the page.
For myself I feel like my writing isn't as good as it used to be due to a lack of practice, so I feel like I just need to do a lot more writing to get back to where I was. Once I'm there it'll be a lot easier to be more constructively critical of my work.
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Fifi
Moderator
Fourth Horseman of the Moderators
Posts: 51
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Post by Fifi on Mar 10, 2018 1:01:53 GMT
One of the problems I've had pointed out to me in the past is that all my characters "sound" alike. Their method of speaking,dialect, and manner of speaking run too close together. I want to work on fixing this without having to go full Hagrid every other character.
Another issue I've identified myself is over reliance on dialog. Description is tough, I've leaned too far into not enough. I also don't want to go full first time fanfic author, where I describe too many superfluous details. I'm going to touch up my chapter two of Highstorm for this very reason, as it is basically just one long discussion, which is going to delay it even farther. (Nothing like going back to old works and just going "what was I even thining?).
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