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What piece of writing advice changed the way you write the most?
What writing advice helped you the most with your writing?
For me the piece of writing advice that changed the way I write the most was to fully put yourself into the main character’s headspace while writing.
To take a moment before I write a scene to think what the MC is thinking, and to feel what they are feeling. When I do that, the story flows so much more easily and naturally.
The MC starts to write the story themself, instead of me having to grit my teeth and try super hard to type words on the page.
But when I embody the main character while I write, the description is what they see, the dialogue is what they want to say, and plot progresses from the MC’s desires, fears, strengths, and weaknesses.
This is probably what changed my writing and the way I write the most.
So what piece of writing advice changed the way you write the most?
@kathleenramm I’d have to say style. Style changes everything. (As you can tell, I’m full of words right now.)
@leon-fleming
Yeah, style so often overlooked by a lot of writers.
Was there anything particular you did to help improve your writing style? Or was it just a lot of practice and persistence?
@kathleenramm Yes, style; unfortunately, it is overlooked. A failure that does not aid that tool of vocabulary. I could go on a rant on that. XD
I was quite particular, yes. For starters, I’d read the authors whose style I most liked. After the reading, I’d go to the papers and Pages and would write just about anything out in that writing style. This would work because the way those authors put together the words that they used was still in my brain. After a while, it changed and began cohering and changing into my own style, which I’ve pretty much have down. I’ve been working on it for quite a while, and in many cases, the style was the focus of my writing rather than the story (which shows in many of my older manuscripts, not including the first ones). And practice and persistence did come into play, but in a very casual manner.
@leon-fleming
That is a fantastic way to improve writing style that I must try!
I haven’t heard this advice of mimicking great authors’ writing styles as a way to improve your own, but it makes perfect sense.
What were some of the authors you modeled after?
I have a couple. XD
1. Getting into your characters’ head, like what you said, Kathleen. I struggle to do it, but when I can, my writing is much better.
2. Write what you see. I just learned this from my creative writing course and it’s really powerful. Basically, you should try to immerse yourself in your scene and write what you see. Don’t put your own thoughts in, just write what you and your character sees.
@kathleenramm Yes, it is really; it’s really helped me a lot. It also really improves vocabulary; that is, if you read from a bunch of classics or older authors.
XD Yeah, I just sort’ve thought it up; I’m sure there are other people who do it, too, though.
I modeled after Tolkien, Charles Dickens, Christopher Tolkien, a bit of Agatha Christie, and a few others.
Probably not using too many “…”s. I used those a LOT when I was writing a book based off my favorite television series (I basically wrote down almost everything they said, but they paused a lot, and I had a hard time ignoring those pauses in my writing).
Also, if you just write down your story, really following the train of your thought and not being too picky (basically mind mapping), you can come up with a really natural story. If you are too picky, the story can sound stiff. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule.
My parents use “…” all the time when they text or email me. XD Not really related, but I thought it was a funny coincidence.
The mind mapping tactic is something that I have learned just recently. I used to write SUPER detailed outlines of my novels, but then I would get so invested into the main character’s POV that they would ditch the outline and do what they wanted to do. At first it was a little annoying, but then I realized that it made the story feel so much more natural fluid, like you said. The characters came to life since I was letting them tell the story instead of me trying to force them into an outline. So now before I start writing, I just have the basic plot points I want to follow, (inciting event, mid-point, dark moment, climax, and resolution), planned out. All the rest of the planning I do is solely focused on fleshing out the characters. So yeah, that has totally change the way I write as well.
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