![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
So you want to write.
Jan. 20th, 2011 01:13 amHoly crap you guys, this is my 300th lj post. What am I still doing here
Anyway I saw that number approaching something that could possibly be considered a milestone, so I thought I'd do something I haven't in a while and actually, you know, POST CONTENT. Like, thoughtful content. (I considered doing another poll, but I think I've subjected you all to enough of my laziness already.)
To start, a couple of months ago I was catching up on one of the webcomics I frequent - Questionable Content - and got ridiculously "8D" faced when a thread involving fanfic started up. Whatever summarizing I could do would pale in comparison to the actual storyline, so permit me to link you to it in its entirety.
1 2 3 4 5* 6**
*There are two comics I omitted from listing here because they do not tie in directly to the fanfic part of the storyline; however they are cute and you would lose nothing if you chose to read them.
**At the bottom of this page in the creator's notes he links you to the fanfic Marigold writes for Tai. I have to give him major kudos for penning such an accurate depiction of poor fanfic.
Now, after that storyline finished I got to thinking... How would you "teach" someone to write? I mean, comic 4 and 5 up there just kill me. THEY KILL ME, I DIE LAUGHING. And while I'm dying and laughing I'm nodding to myself at the same time, because that is total truth. When you are looking someone in the eye (and not shielded from being confronted with a human face when you get the opportunity to critique their work) it gets a lot harder to lay it all out there. And to try and advise them on how to improve...?
Anyway, it got me thinking - what would I tell someone to do if they wanted to become a good writer?
Obviously I'm not a professional. I'm not claiming to be an expert. I'm not even claiming to be that great. But I've been playing the fanfic game for nearly ten years now (HOLY FUCK) and when you're doing it for as long as I have you can't help but form an opinion about these things, and, if you're lucky, amass a few tips. At risk of ego-tripping... you know, fuck that, this is my journal, I'll post what I damn want.
So you want to write. ( Here is what I have to say to you. )
To me, these are the basic essentials to getting started. All those details that plus it out and put things on the path to being superb - learning "show, don't tell," developing a style, subversion of tropes - will slowly take hold the more you do these basic things. Well, that's how I feel, at least. Oh, and for fuck's sake, KEEP READING. Like, actual books, too. Not just fanfic. (I myself often have trouble remembering this.)
While reflecting on all this I started thinking about doing an influence map for myself. Except in written form. Since, you know… the whole writing thing I do over here.
Happy 300th post! (TEF ch10a looks like it’s going to be over forty pages. Fuck, I was hoping to keep this a short one.)
ETA: Follow-up post (mostly consisting of TV Tropes links, but the So You Want To/ Index is a good resource on the whole and needs more attention) can be found here.
Anyway I saw that number approaching something that could possibly be considered a milestone, so I thought I'd do something I haven't in a while and actually, you know, POST CONTENT. Like, thoughtful content. (I considered doing another poll, but I think I've subjected you all to enough of my laziness already.)
To start, a couple of months ago I was catching up on one of the webcomics I frequent - Questionable Content - and got ridiculously "8D" faced when a thread involving fanfic started up. Whatever summarizing I could do would pale in comparison to the actual storyline, so permit me to link you to it in its entirety.
1 2 3 4 5* 6**
*There are two comics I omitted from listing here because they do not tie in directly to the fanfic part of the storyline; however they are cute and you would lose nothing if you chose to read them.
**At the bottom of this page in the creator's notes he links you to the fanfic Marigold writes for Tai. I have to give him major kudos for penning such an accurate depiction of poor fanfic.
Now, after that storyline finished I got to thinking... How would you "teach" someone to write? I mean, comic 4 and 5 up there just kill me. THEY KILL ME, I DIE LAUGHING. And while I'm dying and laughing I'm nodding to myself at the same time, because that is total truth. When you are looking someone in the eye (and not shielded from being confronted with a human face when you get the opportunity to critique their work) it gets a lot harder to lay it all out there. And to try and advise them on how to improve...?
Anyway, it got me thinking - what would I tell someone to do if they wanted to become a good writer?
Obviously I'm not a professional. I'm not claiming to be an expert. I'm not even claiming to be that great. But I've been playing the fanfic game for nearly ten years now (HOLY FUCK) and when you're doing it for as long as I have you can't help but form an opinion about these things, and, if you're lucky, amass a few tips. At risk of ego-tripping... you know, fuck that, this is my journal, I'll post what I damn want.
So you want to write. ( Here is what I have to say to you. )
To me, these are the basic essentials to getting started. All those details that plus it out and put things on the path to being superb - learning "show, don't tell," developing a style, subversion of tropes - will slowly take hold the more you do these basic things. Well, that's how I feel, at least. Oh, and for fuck's sake, KEEP READING. Like, actual books, too. Not just fanfic. (I myself often have trouble remembering this.)
While reflecting on all this I started thinking about doing an influence map for myself. Except in written form. Since, you know… the whole writing thing I do over here.
Happy 300th post! (TEF ch10a looks like it’s going to be over forty pages. Fuck, I was hoping to keep this a short one.)
ETA: Follow-up post (mostly consisting of TV Tropes links, but the So You Want To/ Index is a good resource on the whole and needs more attention) can be found here.
