Any WRITERS Here on EC?

Hey. I've written a few things before, but nothing too serious. A friend of mine is actually writing a fantasy novel at the moment and is pretty far along. But when I do write, I write on my laptop in a word document. I'm much faster at typing than I am at handwriting things. I spend a while developing characters. For my ideas I usually jot them down on paper and then type it up. Since I'm not a big writer, the only advice I can give you is to be true to yourself. Write what makes you happy. There will always be critics and those who do like it, so write about what interests you. Writing about something that you don't have much interest in will be a bore to write about. What kind of writing do you do?

 

I'm currently working on an biographical novel for someone that's going to be published and then hopefully turned into a movie. It's insane really.

I'm also working on a fantasy novel that's been my baby for several years now. That's what I really want to get published, but I have to finish this other one first.

I'm a slow writer if I don't know my story and characters inside and out. The best advice I've ever heard is "Write at least 1 page on a day that you don't feel like writing & at least 10 on days that you do."

Write, write, write. Write everyday whether you feel like it or not. And when you're not writing then you should be reading. I've learned so many things about what to do (and what not to do) from other authors.

 

Hi,

I haven't had anything published (well not anything that isn't an academic article, which is super boring haha), but I do like to write! I keep a journal that I use to anything that comes to mind or inspires me throughout the day. Sometimes I'll randomly wake up at like 2 in the morning and write something down that I think is really neat, or write a poem that comes to mind. I also use my journal to keep track of thoughts or new ideas I have. Like right now I'm writing down my favourite moment of every day and recording them for a year to see what constitutes my idea of a positive day so that I can have a better idea of what I want from life. I find doing that helps give me inspiration to come up with different ideas for characters or plot points for my story writing too. I'm currently trying to compile a bunch of short stories that all have connecting characters or story lines that deal with similar themes. Aside from my journal all of the writing I do is on my laptop in a word document. I think most of my characters tend to be based on myself or people I know. Good luck with your writing! Let me know how it goes!

 

Yes! I've always been really interested in writing. I've always felt a strong desire to tell stories, and writing is really just the most accessible media form. I don't really have the resources to go out and direct a movie or design a video game. In fact I posted the first chapter of a story I started in Entertainment and Media a while back but no one commented on it =( The story is very involved with LGBT issues.

http://emptyclosets.com/forum/entertainment-media/50567-story-i-just-started-tonight.html

The link to the thread is above if anyone wants to look at it. I know this comes off as desperate, but I would love some feedback if anyone will take the time to read it (I know it didn't paste well from word and just kind of looks like a wall of text...) Anyway, if I actually got some feedback I would probably be motivated to start it back up again...

Wow, I am so desperate for people to read my trash...

 

i love to write, a couple of my poems and things are on my blog, and i'm going to put more on it soon.

 

Been writing...more like planning a fantasy novel for like over seven years on and off now. Just collecting ideas for the moment, I first document them on paper (eg. quotes, ideas, plot points, character names, places, systems, sketches etc.) then I digitize them either scan in or type them out on the computer that way i have back up copies.

I would say ideas pop up all over the place for me, most of the time its the least I expect it. So i tend to carry a pen or pencil and paper wherever i go, or at least something to write/type something down (eg iPod touch).

 

I think I REALLY suck at writing, but I won a couple of Governor's awards in school for my writing...one of my stories even won the highest award in my grade, and one of my teachers always raved about my poetry.

I still have about 3 unfinished "stories" that I'm working on...I mostly just jot down ideas, but I doubt that I'll ever actually write any of them or finish the ones that I have started writing...because I think they suck. :lol:

 

I'm a writer. Most of the time, I write on the computer because it's easier to edit my work, although, occasionally, I will write on paper. Usually, my characters are inspired by people I've met or read about. The characters that I feel closest to are based on parts of myself and they explore issues and aspects of life that interest me. They seem to evolve on their own.

My advice is to write for someone else. If you can find a writing partner, it's a very rewarding to exchange stories or chapters of a longer work. Feedback, especially when it's positive, is a good motivator, and, criticism, even though it can be hard to take, will help you to improve. Providing feedback helps you to look at your own writing in new ways. In general, other writers are very supportive since they understand what you are going through, so I encourage you to find a writer with similar taste in literature and share your work in progress.

 

I want to write a fantasy novel and I have a great idea but this is my first novel so I'm not really sure how to start and everytime I try I lose focus. :bang::bang: Hopefully I'll get started soon.

 

I write, and recently I've been working on re-writing an old story of mine. It used to be on the internet but I decided to remove it because of things like plagiarism, and because I'm thinking that if I can make it good enough I might try and get it published.

I use both laptops and the old fashioned pen and paper (for times when I'm not with my computer). I have a lot of documents with background information for the story such as various bits of character blocking and ideas for plot development. I also kept the chapters of the old version of the story for reference.

I'm currently doing a fiction writing module as part of my degree, which is proving very helpful with developing the creative process. One thing that I found that I liked is the way you can 'suggest' something about a character rather than say it directly. For example, you can describe the personality of a character using the way they move rather than spurting a list of traits.

As for any advice...hmm. I'd probably say keep a good balance between the positive and negative. It's easy for writers to get idealistic and make everything work out perfectly, or get into a really dark mood without providing any lighter moments, but neither of these is very realistic. People also tend to over-speak about the awesomeness of a character (e.g. if there's one character that's particularly hot) by repeating over and over again "X is very sexy"; "X is really attractive"; "Everyone is jealous of X's gorgeous appearance"...After the first time, we've got the point. We don't need to hear it again. Besides, there are other ways to induce sexiness into a character without constantly repeating it.

 

I love to write, though I don't do nearly as much as I should. To get myself motivated again I am taking part in NaNoWriMo, a challange to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. O_O I'm not sure if I can do it, but I will give it a good go! I encourage you all to do so as well.

 

I know I've already replied here but I was writing just now so...

I love freewriting about my characters because it helps me so much in getting to know them. I was doing it just now with one character that I was struggling to block, and it does help you learn those little things about them that you didn't think of before. I've still got a long way to go with her but I think that if I write little snippets from her point of view it'll give me a better understanding of her personality and how to work her character to get her to interact with the others.

 

I write both fiction and non-fiction. I actually have been paid for my writing, and gotten it into magazines and newspapers, but I sort of stopped submitting for publication. I decided I just liked the process, and didn't like the whole "trying to place something and get paid for it" part.

The one piece of advice I give people about writing is this - let the muse guide you. Not that I believe in "muses" really, but it's the best explanation for what happens. There are times I've been so consumed with what I'm writing that I've stayed up way late, and even cancelled some non-essential appointments, just so I could stay home and pound that damn thing out. That means the muse paid me a visit. I've been overcome by the need to write, and I satisfy that need by writing until I can't write anymore.

And other times, the muse takes an extended vacation. None of my ideas sound that intriguing. The few unfinished pieces on my hard drive don't appeal to me, either. I might open one up, write two sentences, edit three more, then say "Enh, no thanks". And rather than force myself to write, I just let everything sit. I find something else to occupy my time, and wait for the muse to come back.

I've found a lot of writers fall into a trap, where they're less interested in "writing", and more interested in "having written", if that makes any sense. They don't seem to enjoy the process of creation, or editing (not that that's necessarily a lot of fun for anybody), but seem solely interested in letting the world know "I've written something." Don't get me wrong - I love that part, too. It's nice to have people read my work, and praise it, and even critique it (to some degree). But I've noticed a lot of people rush the process just so they can post and tack an "R&R" to the end. I got acquainted with one writer who was writing an "epic"...and it soon became very clear that she didn't care about the work at all. The story didn't make any sense, it contradicted itself all over the place, she let subplots drop and developed new ones on whims, she repeated her self a lot...but hey, she could tell the world she wrote an epic, right?

I guess there's really nothing WRONG with writing just so you can post something online and tell the world, per se. But you can't expect a lot of people to read it and review it if it's a chore to do so. So just expect a lot of minimal comments on those.

For non-fiction, I have only one suggestion - keep your eyes and mind open. When you get those stray thoughts, latch onto them. Feel free to jot down a couple words (in your phone, laptop, or on paper) so you can feel free to develop them later. The one piece I wrote that got the best feedback was about some random person who would write random things down on newspapers at Burger King, and then leave them there. Which hardly sounds like "killer material" on first or even second glance, but I mulled it over for awhile, found a way to write it that made it compelling, and finally finished the piece.

For fiction, I actually suggest writing some fanfaction. I realize that in some circles, fanfiction is the most "lowbrow" form of fiction. But I've found it to be very beneficial, for two reasons. For one, you already have most of your characters. You don't have to wonder about who's going to be in the story, because you already have characters to draw from. And you don't have to wonder too hard about "how would this character react to this?", because you're presumably somewhat familiar with these characters, and have some idea how they act. Secondly, story ideas seem to come easier with fanfiction. With standard fiction, you're starting with a blank page. That's nice if you like creating from scratch, but it makes it hard to know where even to begin. With fanfiction, you can sort of treat the characters like chessmen. You just need to pick a situation, place them on the "board", and then let what you know about the characters move the story along. "If these characters had this conflict, how would they respond to it?" It's something I do while falling asleep many nights, and it both gives me good story ideas, AND helps me fall asleep. As I got better at moving already-developed characters around a story, I started creating some of my own. And I already have practice with "arc" and all other aspects of writing, which let me focus more on making believable and interesting characters.

My last bit of advice, fiction or non-fiction. Sort of tying a bunch of the previous advice together. Don't rush. Let the piece ferment in your brain for awhile. Develop it somewhat before you even start putting it down to paper or pixels. Nothing wrong with outlining (on paper or pixels) if you'd like to, but I find it's best to sort let the story find its own pace and feel in my head before I even start writing anything out. And keep following that muse. Once while writing a fanfiction piece, I thought "Well, I should probably put this minor character in here somewhere". So I started a section with him in it...and as I wrote it, I suddenly became really interested in who he was and how he got to this point in my story. After ignoring it for awhile, I gave up. I put that story on hold, opened a new document, and started a second story - all about the minor character. That still remains one of my favorite things I've ever written. And it would've been really easy to tell the muse to go away while I finished the "correct" story. I'm very happy I didn't.

In regards to NaNoWriMo...part of me loves the idea, part of me hates it. I love the idea of encouraging people to write, exchange tips, all of that. The part I don't like - the whole "No" bit. Why a novel? I mean, I'd much rather read an excellent 20,000-word short story (or "novelette") than a boring 50,000 novel. But there seems to be a really heavy emphasis on the "novel" aspect of it, which I'm really not in favor of.

Lex