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.