The General Writing Advice Thread!

[DLC]

This is the thread where we’ll all put all the bits of wonderfully helpful life-changing advice we’ve all come across searching for the answer to the great question - What makes a story, and how do I write one? We’ll try to keep it to just writing - publishing etc has its own place, as does software. This one’s for everything from developing plots to writing prose and editing and so forth.

I’ll give the first example of what I like to think is some great advice:

This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals—sounds that say listen to this, it is important.

So write with a combination of short, medium, and long sentences. Create a sound that pleases the reader’s ear. Don’t just write words. Write music.

Gary Provost , as quoted in Writing Tools: 50 Essential strategies for Every Writer by Roy Peter Clark.


So let’s have it. After many years, somebody will collate our collective wisdom into a new, shiny thread that we can scroll through for ideas whenever we find ourselves staring at a blank page. And then hopefully get back to writing the best words ever!

“The first draft of anything is shit.” - Ernest Hemingway

 

[Link the Writer]

My advice, for myself and others:

Write for yourself, only. Do not post excerpts. Especially if you're the sort who is overly anxious and need constant validation (like me). That kills the drive as you then find yourself feeling like you can't write unless an invisible court tells you it checks out and you can proceed. That's not how it works. You write. It's not supposed to feel like boot camp. It's not supposed to feel like you're in a courtroom where everything you write either lives or dies. It's supposed to be just you and your characters. Doesn't matter how many words a day. Even if it's ten words. You can edit ten words. You can't edit a blank page.

Just write.

 

[Stuart Dren]

I'm probably a house cat, so I've got no authority but I'm going to mention stuff anyway:

1. If you desire to share your work in any capacity, you must have the mental fortitude to withstand criticism, even unfair/ridiculous criticism. Having the former without the latter is unreasonable.

2. You have a perfect story in your mind, then it's imperfect when you write it. That's because it doesn't exist yet when it's in your head. It's not a failing of your skills, rather, it's the slow realization that what you originally conceived was very low resolution indeed.

3. Get paid.

 

[Louanne Learning]

On the first draft, be outlandish and outrageous. Think outside the box, and follow your imagination where it leads. Don't be boxed in by the construction of the language, but let ideas lead the way. At the same time, make sure what you write is true to you.

 

[DLC]

“Effective criticism requires both absolute honesty—which is a sign that you respect the writer—and absolute tact. You want the writer to leave the workshop with a feeling of possibility rather than failure. Be excited about the potential story you can glimpse in what the writer has done so far. Challenge the writer to ask more of the story, and convey your belief that he or she is up to the task. If you offer insincere praise for fear of offending someone, you’re lowering the bar and encouraging mediocrity. Assume the other person wants to grow, not be patted on the back, and offer your comments accordingly.”

Kim Addonizio.

 

[Naja Noir]

Leave something to the imagination. It's fun for the reader to let the mind wander and connect certain threads together.

 

[ProductionBlues]

"Build your vocabulary to make yourself a better reader; choose simple words whenever possible to make yourself a better writer." - Garner's Modern English Usage

(this is out-of-context; Garner gives many examples of scenarios where sesquipedalianism is perfectly appropriate but it's a neat quote)

 

[ProductionBlues]

Write for yourself, only.

The late great David Bowie echos this advice

 

[DLC]

Daily Writing Quotes!

Daily Grammar Lessons!

 

[CatrionaGrace]

It's all practice.

Practice is never wasted.

 

[Woof]

2. You have a perfect story in your mind, then it's imperfect when you write it. That's because it doesn't exist yet when it's in your head. It's not a failing of your skills, rather, it's the slow realization that what you originally conceived was very low resolution indeed.

I like this especially.

Best advice I've had to date has been to stop writing just before you think you're finished for the day and leave yourself a few notes about where you were about to go to be able to pick it back up again easily. As someone who has eternally struggled to plan I find this really helpful.

 

[JLT]

Kurt Vonnegut used to advise people to write for one person. It would be a person the writer admired and wanted to please. In his case, it was his sister, who continued to be that person long after she died. For me, it's my late father, mostly. If I felt that he might be pleased with it, that was all that matters to me, really.

 

[CatrionaGrace]

For me, it's my late father, mostly. If I felt that he might be pleased with it, that was all that matters to me, really.

May you write something so wonderful that you can hear that gentleman whisper congratulations to you from beyond.

“.... that every successful creative person creates with an audience of one in mind. That’s the secret of artistic unity. Anybody can achieve it, if he or she will make something with only one person in mind.” (Vonnegut, “Palm Sunday”, chapter 5)

While I understand the point Vonnegut is making, I have reservations about writing for an external audience of one. Few things would be more off-putting to my creativity than embracing the literary version of WWJS. Since I write to entertain, educate, and satisfy myself, I suppose my primary audience for fiction is me. When I write nonfiction, I write specifically for audiences who are interested in science, art, or medieval embroidery, but I don't keep a single person in mind then, either. Furthermore, the elk article I write for Bugle is not going to be the same article I write for Wyoming Wildlife. There is audience crossover, but the presentation and slant for one magazine is different than for the other.

(And, with apologies, she moves off the tangent...)

 

[JLT]

May you write something so wonderful that you can hear that gentleman whisper congratulations to you from beyond.

Thanks!

I write specifically for audiences who are interested in science, art, or medieval embroidery,

That's a pretty broad range of audiences. The only people I know like you are in the SCA, where they can bend your ear for hours on science, art, and medieval embroidery.

 

[defaux]

Write every day. Doesn't matter what it is, just get words on the page.

I strive to this end, though it is not always achieved.

 

[defaux]

the elk article I write for Bugle is not going to be the same article I write for Wyoming Wildlife.

It could be argued (but please, I'm not trying to start an actual argument) that you are writing for, in abstract, an audience of one--the magazine. you know, as a collective entity, what they like.

I think the advice holds, though doesn't necessitate the audience being the same for each piece. If I were to write a story for my children, it would need to be different for each of them. They each have different likes and thresholds for various content.

 

[Luxuria]

Before outlining, write a scene list. This list is where you will just write down every scene you want in the story. Anything and everything. It's the wishlist and from this, make the outline.

 

[Tallyfire]

I recently read this approach to writing that separates it into 3 steps and it's stuck with me:

1. Make it exist.
2. Make it make sense.
3. Make it good.

In the past, I've often stopped in the middle of step 1 to jump to step 3, then later I go back and realise I skipped step 2 and still need to finish step 1, and then I lose all motivation for the project, so this is quite helpful for me.

 

[Tallyfire]

Write every day. Doesn't matter what it is, just get words on the page.

I used to do this, and I understand the pros, but it's not feasible for me any more. The annoyance at a missed day (because writing every day is a challenge in itself) would stop me writing the following days, and often I wouldn't know what to write when it came to it anyway. I've had to streamline everything about my writing habit or it just doesn't happen.

I found this article when I was looking for a different way to go about a regular writing practice and it's been very helpful. The reasoning boils down to this:

Here’s what happens when you resolve to write every day: you soon slip up.

If you’re not a full-time writer, this is essentially unavoidable. An early meeting at work, a back-up on the subway, an afternoon meeting that runs long — any number of common events will render writing impractical on some days.

This slip-up, however, has big consequences.

It provides evidence to your brain that your plan to write every day will not succeed. As I’ve argued before, the human brain is driven, in large part, by its need to assess plans: providing motivation to act on good plans, and reducing motivation (which we experience as procrastination) to act on flawed plans.

The problem for the would-be writer is that the brain does not necessarily distinguish between your vague and abstract goal, to write a novel, and the accompanying specific plan, to write every day, which you’re using to accomplish this goal.

When the specific plan fails, the resulting lack of motivation infects the general goal as well, and your writing project flounders.

Since then, I've switched to setting specific writing goals (e.g. finish V's scene) for a certain number of writing sessions a week based on my schedule. It's helped a lot because it means that (1) I know exactly what to write, and (2) a missed writing session is usually down to bad planning or a surprise event, the former of which means I can go over and improve my planning, and the latter of which is out of my control anyway.

 

[Night Herald]

I somehow only just noticed this thread. I don't know that I have any sage advice to offer, but I can outline my process and philosophy, and it may be the case that it's the exact thing someone needs to hear.

I am a little bit tipsy, so the advice could come through a bit wonky. Just read between the lines.

I'm of the ludicrous opinion that you shouldn't involve the intellect at all when writing. Sure, bring it in when it's time for revisions, but other than that you'd do well to be mindless the entire time. Lead with flow, go with feeling. Don't think, just channel the story. Use it as an act of meditation.

All the best writing comes from expanded states of consciousness. Unfettered, ego-less creativity. Write the thing, constrain it later. But when you're in it and producing new ideas, to hell with your rational mind. You don't need it there. It's a learned skill, to be sure, meditating while writing. When I was a beginner, the first maybe ten years of my writing career, I led with the mind. The result was so much horseshit.

Don't overthink every single line. Don't even think about it at all. Write from feeling, and passion. Lead with the heart. Only bring in the mind when it's time to sand off the edges. Learn to love your work, and put that love into it. If you write with love, others will read with love. It's that simple.