How I became a better writer. - Comments

A very good blog entry. # 3 is a very big sticking point for a lot of writers, they do not appreciate when inconsistencies and impossibilities of their plots/characters are pointed out. This really feeds into #6, though.

#6, yes. So much yes. Personally, I am of the opinion that many writers 'publish' here not to become better writers or because they will die if they don't have a creative outlet (sometimes a story just needs to be told, no?) but because they want attention and adulation. And that's totally fine but IMO they really need to put in an author's note somewhere that they are only interested in ass pats and sweet words. In which case, I'd rather know ahead of time that so I don't waste my time (see #3). Anyone who doesn't want honest opinions really needs to state they only want asspats. The authors who beg for feedback, who hold updates hostage until they hear from x number of people (blackmail, yes?), who ask the readers what they think should happen in the story, I cannot tell you how aggravating those behaviours are. If writing itself doesn't make you (anon. you, not you, Voracek, you) happy, if you need feedback to make you happy, well, you're writing for the wrong reasons in my opinion. Also, asking for input at the end of chapters almost always indicates a bad story. The author has no idea where they're going with a story. If they don't know what they're doing, how should their readers know? And writing to order is no way to be a better writer. Iiiiiiiif you want input on a story, for god's sake, do your asking and collating of ideas BEFORE you start writing. Lots of good writers ask for ideas or get their ideas from friends and acquaintances, they write stories or snippets just from simple suggestions, nothing wrong with that. However, they form their ideas of a story, they make a plotline and figure it out ahead of time. And sometimes you lose your way in the middle of a story. Or you think of something that changes everything. Maybe you read a comment and it sparks an idea of how to make the story better. Please, for the love of little blue puppies, stop writing and figure out how this changes anything and everything before you just spit it out. Think it out. Re-jigger the plot if you need to. Don't just careen from plot point to dramatic occurrence.

#2. Research is very important. Heck, I even do research as a reader. No, seriously, a good story makes me think. It makes me question. It makes me try to understand. And then I do research. I look up people's history. I look into ideas brought up. I research events. I read news accounts relating to events. I watch videos. I listen to unfamiliar music mentioned. And I'm only the reader. I'd like to think that writers put as much effort into their stories. It really does show when an author hasn't bothered to do basic research.

I'd only add that a good beta-reader will make almost everyone a better writer. If you can't see your errors because you gave birth to them, ask someone else to look over your babies. Really. It's hard to see your mistakes because you don't have objective perspective over something you've written until you put it down and walk away for weeks or months.

@ DamnYouJackSparrow!
@ AutisticAlice
@ broken-hallelujah.

Thanks everyone. I'm glad you all enjoyed it!

I'm kind of in love with this blog right now.

Thanks for this. ^^ It has really helped me understand things about how I write. I started writing when I was in the fifth grade. I've come a really long way to get this far so it's not something I'm going to give up easily, even if I am a little self-absorbed when it comes to writing.

This is actually awesome. :D