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Well, for the past few days I've been totally boring many of my friends by talking to them about my latest attempts to improve my writing skills, particularly my fiction writing. Meanwhile my journal has languished here, empty and forgotten, because "I have nothing to write about, my life is too boring." *chuckles* Well, I'm going to kill two birds with one stone and write about my writing attempts.
I like writing... especially fantasy and science fiction. I find the process very... well, relaxing isn't the right word because getting it right is often nerve-wracking. Perhaps "freeing" is the best way to express the feeling. I feel like I'm standing at the doorway to a realm of infinite possibility, which my own mind and heart and dreams can shape, and which my pen can then record for posterity and to share with others.
I like writing nonfiction too, it gives me an excuse to research many diverse topics that interest me so that I can write authoritatively about them. I've always been into reading and learning about strange topics, as a lot of my previous posts have mentioned, and writing about them gives me a way to actually use the information even if it would be impractical for me to incorporate into my own life and practices.
I think I'm fairly good at writing nonfiction, it's fairly easy for me to talk about topics that I've researched and convey the relevant details. Fiction is where I really need to work to improve my skills, I think. I've made a lot of mistakes in my writing. I've confused a problem a character has with the character's personality at times. I've written stories in which the protagonist is rescued by another person, they fall in love and basically walk off into the sunset together; not even realizing that in doing so, I've basically gone and written the story of the damsel in distress rather than that of the gallant knight in shining armor. I've written stories where heroes just automatically know what to do in any given situation, and other stories that aren't really stories at all, just rather weak anecdotes to convey a moral or tell a joke. And then there is my biggest problem: finding the balance between not describing anything well enough for readers to picture it, and drowning the reader in adjectives and adverbs.
I think I've gotten a good start on improving my skills, though: I've started to recognize my weaknesses. If I can learn to correct them properly, and teach myself the skills of grammar and style, plot and description and characterization, I think I'll be well on my way to writing a more interesting and worthwhile tale.
Wish me luck.
-Jarin
I like writing... especially fantasy and science fiction. I find the process very... well, relaxing isn't the right word because getting it right is often nerve-wracking. Perhaps "freeing" is the best way to express the feeling. I feel like I'm standing at the doorway to a realm of infinite possibility, which my own mind and heart and dreams can shape, and which my pen can then record for posterity and to share with others.
I like writing nonfiction too, it gives me an excuse to research many diverse topics that interest me so that I can write authoritatively about them. I've always been into reading and learning about strange topics, as a lot of my previous posts have mentioned, and writing about them gives me a way to actually use the information even if it would be impractical for me to incorporate into my own life and practices.
I think I'm fairly good at writing nonfiction, it's fairly easy for me to talk about topics that I've researched and convey the relevant details. Fiction is where I really need to work to improve my skills, I think. I've made a lot of mistakes in my writing. I've confused a problem a character has with the character's personality at times. I've written stories in which the protagonist is rescued by another person, they fall in love and basically walk off into the sunset together; not even realizing that in doing so, I've basically gone and written the story of the damsel in distress rather than that of the gallant knight in shining armor. I've written stories where heroes just automatically know what to do in any given situation, and other stories that aren't really stories at all, just rather weak anecdotes to convey a moral or tell a joke. And then there is my biggest problem: finding the balance between not describing anything well enough for readers to picture it, and drowning the reader in adjectives and adverbs.
I think I've gotten a good start on improving my skills, though: I've started to recognize my weaknesses. If I can learn to correct them properly, and teach myself the skills of grammar and style, plot and description and characterization, I think I'll be well on my way to writing a more interesting and worthwhile tale.
Wish me luck.
-Jarin