How Do I Get Better At The Craft Of Writing?

[Ken]

Hey,

It's been a while since I posted on here. I've been writing stories for more than ten years now. While I've definitely gotten better at writing them over the years, it still feels like I could do better. So, how do I get better at the craft of writing?

 

[Mr. Hawaii]

you should check out reddit's writing subs. you can get tips and feedback there.
you could start here:

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

 

[Chase]

@Ken,

Pick up a copy of Stephen King's On Writing, if you haven't.

I started writing stories as soon as I could draw letters. Wrote a small novel in fourth grade. At 18 I decided to make a concerted effort to write short stories every day to improve my writing and develop my own style.

I hadn't really written much fiction in years when I read through On Writing at about age 32 or 33. I'd mostly just been writing on forums and Girls Chase, adding in non-fiction writing styles. I wrote one novel at age 29 but other than that had done little fiction for quite a while.

After I read through On Writing I came away with a wealth of great ideas and new things to try. Quickly belted out two new novels. Later I went back to working on my scifi saga I cooked up around age 19 and the writing I did for that outclassed anything I've done before. On Writing played a big role in helping me to improve a lot there.

There are also some really excellent writing/character development videos on YouTube that are worth watching. There was a channel I got a lot from a few years back (which I can't now remember, unfortunately). It introduced me to character squares, where you take the four most important characters in the story and place them on a square -- each character mainly interacts with the other two adjacent to him, with his values/goals aligning with some and opposing with others -- as well as to character arcs, which I'd never paid attention to. Got me to writing entire backstories for characters and creating character arcs I wanted to focus on.

Also useful to think about distinctive character traits: flaws, shortcomings, skewed perspectives they have on the world, and so on. Makes your characters a lot more fleshed out, and not just carbon copies of the same one character reskinned to look different or have a slightly different backstory or purpose. The different characters' different ways of viewing the world tend to lead them into a lot of natural conflicts as you write, and the interesting thing about most writing is the conflict (within the character, with other characters, with the environment, etc.).

Chase

 

[James D]

@Ken,

Pick up a copy of Stephen King's On Writing, if you haven't.

I started writing stories as soon as I could draw letters. Wrote a small novel in fourth grade. At 18 I decided to make a concerted effort to write short stories every day to improve my writing and develop my own style.

I hadn't really written much fiction in years when I read through On Writing at about age 32 or 33. I'd mostly just been writing on forums and Girls Chase, adding in non-fiction writing styles. I wrote one novel at age 29 but other than that had done little fiction for quite a while.

After I read through On Writing I came away with a wealth of great ideas and new things to try. Quickly belted out two new novels. Later I went back to working on my scifi saga I cooked up around age 19 and the writing I did for that outclassed anything I've done before. On Writing played a big role in helping me to improve a lot there.

There are also some really excellent writing/character development videos on YouTube that are worth watching. There was a channel I got a lot from a few years back (which I can't now remember, unfortunately). It introduced me to character squares, where you take the four most important characters in the story and place them on a square -- each character mainly interacts with the other two adjacent to him, with his values/goals aligning with some and opposing with others -- as well as to character arcs, which I'd never paid attention to. Got me to writing entire backstories for characters and creating character arcs I wanted to focus on.

Also useful to think about distinctive character traits: flaws, shortcomings, skewed perspectives they have on the world, and so on. Makes your characters a lot more fleshed out, and not just carbon copies of the same one character reskinned to look different or have a slightly different backstory or purpose. The different characters' different ways of viewing the world tend to lead them into a lot of natural conflicts as you write, and the interesting thing about most writing is the conflict (within the character, with other characters, with the environment, etc.).

Chase

@Chase Curious about your thoughts on traditional publishing vs self publishing when it comes to fiction?

 

[Mike Silvertree]

In addition to the other advice you got above, write.

I was terrible at writing in 1996 when I first went online. Within a week, I found the Indianapolis Star News sports forum, which had a forum dedicated to IndyCar Racing, something that had been a passion of mine since I was a young man, back when the age of the roadster was giving way to the age of the mid-engine F1 style car. (Early 1960s) That was just when the IndyCar Civil War boiled over, and I was highly partisan on the side of the team owners. In the following 5 years I made 10,000 posts there and another 10,000 at another forum dedicated to the same topic.

Writing 10-12 posts a day, and getting into knock down, drag out fights really improved my writing, much more than the years I served in school. I learned to to say it in the fewest, most effective words, so I could get my point across. I improved because I wanted to sell my viewpoint.

Find something you are passionate about and start writing about it on a venue where you will get pushback.

 

[Ken]

Thank you everyone. Your advice has been truly helpful.