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So I was wondering about writing...


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#1 Sophientis

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Posted 15 December 2014 - 06:54 PM

   I've never really wrote much, but it does intrigue me...My aunt is a (slightly) famous author and I have a small hope that I could follow in her footsteps a little. How "good" at writing do you have to be to even think about writing fanfiction? Do you just upload it to say, wattpad when you're a beginner, and how do you know if your ideas are good enough?

 

I've had a couple of ideas, but most of them don't stick in my brain long enough to write them down. My favorite idea was of a girl that is sent to a boarding school. When she gets to her dorm, her roomate is a little...odd.A couple months into the semester, she figures out "she's" a boy. He makes her promise to keep his secret, because it's for a "good cause". They eventually fall in love, and I thought I'd put a couple of funny close-calls to at least try to make it more interesting.

 

Maybe it's a little cliche though...


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#2 Sophientis

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Posted 15 December 2014 - 06:55 PM

   I've never really wrote much, but it does intrigue me...My aunt is a (slightly) famous author and I have a small hope that I could follow in her footsteps a little. How "good" at writing do you have to be to even try making short stories? Do you just upload it to say, wattpad when you're a beginner, and how do you know if your ideas are good enough?

 

I've had a couple of ideas, but most of them don't stick in my brain long enough to write them down. My favorite idea was of a girl that is sent to a boarding school. When she gets to her dorm, her roomate is a little...odd.A couple months into the semester, she figures out "she's" a boy. He makes her promise to keep his secret, because it's for a "good cause". They eventually fall in love, and I thought I'd put a couple of funny close-calls to at least try to make it more interesting.

 

Maybe it's a little cliche though...


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#3 Bowsette

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Posted 15 December 2014 - 07:20 PM

You can be an illiterate, retarded gorilla and still upload fanfiction. I've seen some absolutely awful things. Some just terribly written in a grammar/spelling sense, some just extremely weird crossovers that just... just no.

 

But really, if you want to write, write. If you want to improve, keep doing it. Get opinions from people, writers and non-writers alike. Find your own style.


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#4 Sophientis

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Posted 15 December 2014 - 07:42 PM

Thank you!!


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#5 BloodPrince 2.0

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Posted 15 December 2014 - 07:50 PM

Agreed. Go ahead and write, I've personally put some preeetty bad shit up on fanfiction.net, and then there's the sister site, fictionpress. Whatever you'll upload, I'll check it out if you'll let me. Tbh a lot of my favourite authors are fanfiction writers.
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#6 No-Danico

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Posted 15 December 2014 - 09:04 PM

I'm pretty sure you're still in high school, so your choices in class are probably more limited than college. English is required, but it's probably not focused on creative writing and the like.

 

If you're shooting for fan stuff, then you're post alone proves you're literate enough to write on that level. Aim higher. Even if it's only writing for fun, don't be satisfied with mediocrity. Write a little every day. Learn a little more about something related to your goal every day. Stalk TV Tropes.

http://tvtropes.org/...DisguisedInDrag Lookie there. Read about the different ways your central drive has been done before. There's nothing wrong with a well written trope, but when it's shit, it's just a poor cliche. 

 

Take classes that help with grammar. I learned more about English after taking Latin as a junior than I did in eleven years of fucking English class. I didn't know what a verb was when I was a freshman, then made a 33 in reading and a 30 in English when I took the ACT.

 

If you aren't now, become a bibliophile. Read things that aren't part of your genre. Read as much as you can. Keep fucking reading! Get inspired by other things. Notice people. Become an anthropologist. Study them. No one is unique. Every story has been told before. Learn from people.

 

Let your friends read your stuff. Let people you don't like read your stuff. Let everyone read it. Post your shit and let people read it. Listen to what they say. All of them.

 


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#7 Big_Willie_Styles

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Posted 15 December 2014 - 09:42 PM

Depends on what you want to write.

 

I am particularly strong at character creation and world building, with a penchant for snappy dialogue.

 

I primarily write fantasy and sci-fi stuff, but I love me some absurdist humor.

 

Know what genre you want to write and the intended age of your audience.  That'll make a lot of other problems go away that would show up later if you didn't start off knowing that.


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#8 Mister Sympa

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Posted 18 December 2014 - 10:58 AM

Just keep at it. You only get better by writing.

 

There are CONTINENTS of difference between my writing at 13, 16, and 19.

 

I haven't written anything of worth in ages, but I know it wouldn't be as good as some stuff I would do after the hypothetical stuff I'd do in the present.

 

Does that make sense?


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#9 Atom

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Posted 18 December 2014 - 09:16 PM

I think if you want to write you must do it. You will see how good it is, take the moments you are inspiring and write, doesn´t matter how much. Try to look for inspiration in other subjects.

 

A good thing to do is always take note when you have an ideia.



#10 RespawningEnemy

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Posted 18 December 2014 - 11:04 PM

if you want to write, write.

 

Go ahead and write,

 

Write a little every day.

 

You only get better by writing.

 

I think if you want to write you must do it.



#11 Big_Willie_Styles

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 12:05 AM

Cliches vs. practical advice debate, huh, RespawningEnemy?


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#12 No-Danico

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 12:47 AM

Well, when it comes right down to it, the biggest reason a person never improves is because they simply don't write. I have friends who talk about what their story is about, droning on about the cool characters, the big twists, and the amazing world they've built. But when I say something like, "Can I see what you've written," they never have anything done. It's all theory to that sort of person.

 

It also helps improve style. The more your write, the better you write. Or it should. It's like lifting weights incorrectly. If you don't have the fundamentals down, you won't improve. If you write seventy pages without using a comma before an addressed character's name, you just spent seventy pages doing it incorrectly. If you're doing it properly, it becomes natural to you and you're less likely to make that sort of mistake later on. This makes editing quicker, which lets you spend more time writing. Or people using the wrong conjunction.

 

Your doing it wrong. Its not that hard. Let something like commas become second nature people.

 

You're doing it wrong. It's not that hard. Let something like commas become second nature, people.

 

Conjunctions and vocative commas are pretty common mistakes. And learn how to use commas in every situation. They're overused like crazy. An Oxford comma is a must. Of course, people fuck up. No one is perfect. But you have to learn from you're mistakes.


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#13 BloodPrince 2.0

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 01:05 AM

I'm not sure whether the last contraction was or wasn't an intentional mistake. Either way you made some great points. I'm also picking up lessons from what everyone's saying here.
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#14 No-Danico

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 01:14 AM

I did it all purpose like. This one to.


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#15 Elfie

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 07:50 AM

Dani did you really write a novel? And it's sold at Barnes and noble? That extremely kick ass I want a signed copy. Never know if it will get huge and then I'll have a signed copy:)


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#16 SushiKitten

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 09:04 AM

All the advice may be the same, but I'm an example of when you don't write. 

 

I used to roleplay a lot in my early teens and I developed awesome creative writing skills. I roleplayed and wrote stories up until I started university and decided I didn't have the time anymore so I pulled out of anything I was active in.

 

But that itch to write never left. I ignored it because I was busy, but I always wanted to get back into roleplaying. Now whenever I try to write I freeze, I stare at the blank page, I don't even know what I'm afraid of. I don't want anyone to see what I wrote. I got so many compliments on my writing when I was young that I'm afraid I won't stand up to the expectations of my old roleplaying friends? I don't know. 

 

Tbh I joined a large community with hundreds of different roleplays on the go and I plan to join one over Christmas in the hopes of getting back into it. Like everyone said, creative writing is like a muscle, it's got to be developed with practice. If you don't practice, then don't expect a good result at the end.



#17 Elfie

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Posted 19 December 2014 - 09:12 AM

I have little interest in writing, but reading is a blast. Thing about it this way. Punctuation puts a voice to your words. Plus other people reading your writing is the only way to get back in the game. Write like all other forms of art are subjective and people will have an opinion. But just because one doesn't like it of even most, doesn't mean it's bad. As long as you enjoy what you wrote that's what's important. You are literally saying I want to write what other people like, instead of what you like. The thing that makes great novels and books, is the writers ability to bring you into their world. Like lord of the rings, he created a completely different exists, with a brand new world. I'm sure he wasn't thinking.. What do readers want to read. No he said, I'm gonna make my own world, and you are welcome to join. There are many different kinds of people in this huge world. At least one will like your writing hahahaha


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#18 Calvary

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Posted 20 December 2014 - 07:11 AM

I will put forth something to you that a lot of people on the internet don't like to hear.

 

Don't write fan-fiction to improve your literary style. Half the fun of writing is building your world from the ground up, and taking from what others have already established takes little skill and stifles your creativity. If you want to write and you want to genuinely improve, write something of your own designs. If you don't have the inclination to write a full blown novel then write novelettes or flash fiction, journalism, whatever.

 

That being said, you do need to be writing something regularly, whatever that may be. You also need to be reading, ideally something that challenges you, something that compliments your existing vocabulary and introduces new literary concepts and styles to you.

 

I've self-published a Gothic horror story a few years ago (I pulled it a little while ago though) and that was my first genuine foray into writing something of my own design. I only sold about two or three hundred copies and looking back, the style is so over the place I'm surprised I got any. It was however, a start. Before I entered my career in surveying early this year I had written SEO website content, historical essays, journalist articles for magazines, hell even smut (under an alias). I made more leaps in my writing style in the two years I started composing my own material than in the three or four years prior that I had been predominantly writing fan fiction.

 

So I would sum up and say go for it! Writing is a beautiful thing and everyone has a story in them, but I'd suggest you shy away from FF.


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#19 BloodPrince 2.0

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Posted 23 December 2014 - 12:25 AM

To each his or her own. FF taught me some really great lessons on character building and it made me that much better at coming up with my own ideas. You never know what an AU can do for you. But then it can hinder you as well. I'd say if you want to try fanfiction, do it. If it doesn't help you, try something else.
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#20 Helen

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Posted 16 April 2015 - 01:52 PM

I consider, that you are not right. Let's discuss it.