Fiction Any help with writing? ... I am clueless :)

[Luniticisi]

If I post something here (writing wise) would I get any advice? ... I only ask as we have so many great writers .. is there any advice they can give?

I have started to write a story, I put the opening into the Fan creation forum, it had 44 hits but no suggestions of where I was going wrong (or right, or any comments at all ) .. what I would like is for anyone who would like to read what I have written so far (barely 3 pages) to give me some feedback .. if you are interested in helping me out PM me and I will send you what I have written..

The reason I ask is that I have never attempted to write anything before except a couple of drabbles on this forum ... I like writing .. but I have no idea if I am going the right way ... any criticism (good or bad) would be welcome ..

Like I said, if you are interested in reading what I have written so far, let me know.. and then let me know what you think...

I think this is coming across as a plead so I will stop now

 

[Thargoid]

Hi

Feel free to PM me and I'll read it. Any advice I give though would be my opinion. You'd likely get different advice from other writers (some cross over hopefully!) as everyone has different ways of doing things and different opinions on what works and what doesn't.

With any advice you get you have to sit down and think it through: "Do I like the stories written by the guy giving me advice? Do they gel with the way I want to write?" "Does this advice work for ME?" If many different people give the same advice/opinion on your stuff then its worth paying attention to. If everyone has differing opinions then you have to consider what that means.

Cheers

John

 

[Susimetsa]

With any advice you get you have to sit down and think it through: "Do I like the stories written by the guy giving me advice? Do they gel with the way I want to write?" "Does this advice work for ME?" If many different people give the same advice/opinion on your stuff then its worth paying attention to. If everyone has differing opinions then you have to consider what that means.

This exactly.

Feel free to PM me the piece as well - or provide a link to the forum thread where it is at. I'll take a look at it and provide you with my stellar opinions.

PS. This is the wrong forum for the thread, but since you indicated that your writing had been lost in the Fan Creations section, I'll let this stay here for a while before I move it. (and if another mod moves it, there will still be a ghost link to the new location, so other writers should find your thread.)

 

[Luniticisi]

Hi Susimetsa, feel free to delete this thread as I have "Fixed" my old post in fan creations, The link to that post is HERE
.. I will PM the link to you and Thargoid as well..

Thanks

 

[drew]

Some generic advice from Allen and I in an old thread here and plenty of other tips. I'll see if I can read your piece at lunchtime and be more specific.

Golden Rule: Write, write and keeping writing regardless.

Cheers,

Drew.

 

[Sir.Tj]

If people want advice and others like to help, I can either edit the title on this thread or create another thread specifically for help and offers of advice on writing.

 

[Dung Beetle]

Golden Rule: Write, write and keeping writing regardless.

Exactly! As with anything creative you just have to persevere, practice (every day if possible) and be patient.

Another thing I'd suggest along these lines is to read voraciously too. Read anything and everything no matter its quality. You can sometimes learn a lot more from bad fiction, as you'll know what to avoid and how not to write.

 

[Allen Stroud]

I have posted on the thread in Fan Creations.

 

[T. James]

Hi

Feel free to PM me and I'll read it. Any advice I give though would be my opinion. You'd likely get different advice from other writers (some cross over hopefully!) as everyone has different ways of doing things and different opinions on what works and what doesn't.

With any advice you get you have to sit down and think it through: "Do I like the stories written by the guy giving me advice? Do they gel with the way I want to write?" "Does this advice work for ME?" If many different people give the same advice/opinion on your stuff then its worth paying attention to. If everyone has differing opinions then you have to consider what that means.

Cheers

John

I'd echo John's advice - some bloggers insist there are RULES - do it another way and you're doing it 'wrong'. I think it's more accurate to say that every decision you make has consequences: put too little into characterisation and your readers won't care about the cardboard cutouts on the page; put too in too much and the pace of your writing will slow to a crawl. The optimal choice will depend on your own style, the genre you're writing, the sort of readers you think are most likely to pick up your work, and... the list goes on.

Try experimenting. Writing shorts is a great way to get into it: try different genres, characters, let you imagination go crazy. As they're short pieces, you haven't lost much time if they don't work and you'll have learnt something in the process. An idea might even grab you that turns out to be the germ of a novel.

Good luck and, most importantly, have fun.