[ SECRET POST #5029 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5029 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 28 secrets from Secret Submission Post #719.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Re: Looking for writing/editing advice

[(Anonymous)]

(Cozy werewolf anon) I am a writer who is also a dev editor and mentioned we charge.

If you want to get better at writing, first, you have to write. Writing takes practice. Secondly, you need to read and analyze what you read. I'm not entirely talking on a technical level, but at least on a substance level. What do you enjoy about the books you read? What are techniques such as tense, POV, structure, character types, these authors employ?

Reading is part of a writer's job. Especially to keep your 'voice' modern if you want to traditionally publish. (No. You can't write like Tolkien anymore. Sigh.)

Thirdly, you can read writing advice books and try to apply what you learn. Or watch master writing classes. Margaret Atwood has a class. Sanderson has a class. Stephen King has written a writing book. Tumblr is full of writing advice, follow HeyWriters and from that one, you'll find a bunch of writing blogs they reblog.(Hey, I post writing advice to tumblr, ginnyzero, tagged under writing advice and writing tumblr.) Follow professional writers/editors on twitter. Not the self-published ones, but the trad published writers and editors. They'll slip good advice from time to time. Writingcommunity on twitter is a cranky mess. Facebook is worse.

My favorite writing advice book that kept me from doing so many bad things is called "Writer's Little Book of Wisdom" by John Long. I'm 99% sure it is out of print. It's small and the advice is in bullet point digestible bits. You might find it on thriftstore.com or other used book sites.

I've also read William Zinsser's "On Writing Well." A classic.
My Narrative Storytelling textbook at Academy of Art was "What if? Writing exercises for Fiction Writers" by Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter. My teacher's advice was "No Vampires!" (So I wrote a story about a werewolf, b/c I am petty.)
For LONG series work, I recommend "Writing the Fiction Series" by Karen S. Weisner
"No Plot? No Problem!" By Chris Baty is a book to help writing NaNo.

As a writer, I took one thing and I worked on it until I was happy with it. Small bites. Dialogue. Description. Conflict. Character building. World building. Break it down into easy pieces and focus on it until you're happy with it and then take on the next bit. But you write, write and write more, until you develop a gut instinct and eye for what's going on.

Then, you edit! Because a first draft is cake ingredients and is supposed to be bad. It's just getting the story out in word vomit. Editing is what makes the story tasty. It makes sure everything is mixed and baked right and decorated!

You can also find a writer group or "make friends" with another writer you admire in fandom and hope it can turn into a mutually beneficial writing relationship. (It can happen!)

If you aren't going to uni for writing (I didn't) it takes longer and a lot of pro-activity on your part to improve. It took me over 10 years to write an original novel I was proud of. For a very long time I was all "I will only write fanfic FOREVER!" Then I worked hard on some internal mental/emotional issues and here I am, writing both and self-publishing.

Ok, lots of advice there. Hope it helps.