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How do authors get good at writing, do they think anyone can do it?


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27 minutes ago, dannyportwersburghuk said:

Thank to all. Think need try what all say and read more. I only want write for myself at first. So I will try what you all say. Thank again.

You are more than welcome @dannyportwersburghuk. It is a pleasure to be of help.

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I do try watch news things but get upset watching things about Ukraine as my country has had Russian troops in it for like ever. So dont listen 2 it. Books have read at school and then write about are sometimes boring. I love reading but lot them ones make me fall sleep. I like only one I think it called loneliness of long distance runner. It not like long book but like it as I think alot when running or on my bike and even it an old book it cool as can relate 2 it. Before find here i buy lot books in 2nd hand bookshop so read lot english 1s. I like some english films but watch loads anime on netflix so maybe not as good 2 learn from. Here i love as lot 1s can relate 2. Think just wish could write better but only been doing for 2 years so as lot say think get better. If listen music lot that make me wanna write dont know why.

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As this is more of a philosophic question about writing, and not a "how to" or technical help question for GA staff/members, I am moving this topic to the Lounge instead of the Help forum. Just an FYI. 

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It good 1 can write lot in Romanian then work it out in english bit with help on google translate. Just when teach verbs and nouns school get confused. Thank for answer it bit scary getting answers from authors like authors know so much and just feel idiot sometime so thank

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On 8/30/2024 at 5:59 PM, dannyportwersburghuk said:

I do try watch news things but get upset watching things about Ukraine as my country has had Russian troops in it for like ever. So dont listen 2 it. Books have read at school and then write about are sometimes boring. I love reading but lot them ones make me fall sleep. I like only one I think it called loneliness of long distance runner. It not like long book but like it as I think alot when running or on my bike and even it an old book it cool as can relate 2 it. Before find here i buy lot books in 2nd hand bookshop so read lot english 1s. I like some english films but watch loads anime on netflix so maybe not as good 2 learn from. Here i love as lot 1s can relate 2. Think just wish could write better but only been doing for 2 years so as lot say think get better. If listen music lot that make me wanna write dont know why.

Honestly, it's not about reading. It's all about comprehending what you're reading. And as you're reading, you ALWAYS have to have three mindsets.

The mindset of a reader. The mindset of a writer. And the mindset of an editor.

Each flow of thinking requires years of honing and training.

  • It's like reading with the reader's mindest: reading to understand who the characters are and why the characters did this, did that, have so much personality, have zero personality, the plot is plotting, the plot is a dumpster fire, and what the story is all about, if the science isn't logical, if the facts aren't factual, if the nonsense written is a shortcut to dumbassery, if the author thinks you're too dumb as a reader to notice such a glaring flaw, if this excellent piece of prose was missed or wasn't too impactful in the context it's displayed, which reflects mostly the task of beta readers. 
  • The writer's mindset: how each of the characters was written in a way that reflects their personality. How the plot answers to the theme of the story. How is the phrase or sentence written in a way that encompasses the character's emotions? Or how the single short line reflects everything this character has gone through. These are mostly the questions you'd ask when you're in the writer's mindset, critiquing other people's work.
  • The editor's mindset: how the sentence is structured? If the facts stated in the book are correct, or even sensible? Grammar issues: more or less. Too many descriptions. No descriptions. Needs an ounce of description. The sentence doesn't make sense. Very flowery. Too much purple prose. Characters are walking heads.

Basically, what your reader's mind notices, your writer's mind should be able to answer. What the writer's mind sees, your editor's mind should be able to explain logically. And what the editor's mind points out should reflect what your reader's mind is seeing.

If Jane Austen is in front of you, asking you to critique her work, her novel, which you've just finished reading, and you say to yourself, it's perfect...I can't see any problem with it.

Then you need to look in the looking glass and ask yourself, really? There's no improvement. You didn't think Mr. Darcy's being a simp to Elizabeth? You didn't think her description of where they were traipsing around the hall was too laboriously done, as though it was sent through the rigamarole of descriptions that it was too frigging long? You didn't think to praise her novel as satire and not an elaborate love story, but the mockeries of classism relegated in its time?

And if you can think like that while reading other people's works, I'm sure you have the propensity to write one yourself.

Edited by LJCC
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You also cannot 'ever' get yourself down, be afraid of failure, or feel ashamed for the words you put to paper. Nothing will come out perfect, most of us are lucky if it comes out halfway comprehensible. :P So, stop negative thinking, put your mind and fingers to work, and keep trying to hone your writing.

Writing is like everything else, the more you do it - if you're open to learning and not just 'doing,' you will get better. A lot of the advice others have offered has been well given though. :D Just don't allow the negativity to creep in and you give up before you get started. It can seem overwhelming. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/29/2024 at 2:35 AM, Mancunian said:

Anyone can write stories and some people are indeed better writers than others. A lot of people get better at writing although not everyone does, but that does not mean they should stop writing, if you enjoy writing you should do what you enjoy.

Reading will help your English language skills and that is a good place to start. 

There are some authors here who do not have English as a first language but it does not stop them from writing so it should not stop you. 

I'm late to this topic, but I agree with basically everything @Mancunian and everyone else said. The only thing I would change is the "some authors do not have English as a first language" to "many authors do not have English as a first language." Once you begin and start practicing, you will be able to write as well in English as you would in your native language. I've seen it happen again and again. Don't feel discouraged about not finding words that translate perfectly, just ask any of us for the words that have the closest meaning to what you wanted to express. Some words just do not translate into one singular one in English. 

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English is not an easy language to learn and master, even for native speakers.  As some of the others have suggested, if I were you I would start writing simple stories in Romanian and then use a translator to convert them into English.  I'm not sure how good these translator programs are, so then you could take the translated stories to your English instructor/tutor and ask them to go over the translated version with you and point out the errors the translator made.  When you have the corrected translated version, reread it several times so you can see how your original version in Romanian has been converted into English.  Note not  only the errors the translator might have made, but also the corrected sentence structure to see how your story in Romanian should should have been written in English. 

Do this several times with various ideas you have that can be turned into short stories, and by writing it in Romanian first and then seeing how you could have written it in English may help.  It won't be easy, but if you are serious about writing, then it is an learning procedure that may help you reach your goal.  I wish you the best of luck and commend your effort.  

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On 8/29/2024 at 8:37 PM, Jason Rimbaud said:

we all believe anyone can write with varying degrees of skill

Leaving aside the language difficulty I would like to address this point. I don't believe anyone can write if by writing we mean authoring a novel. To say anyone can do it, is in a certain sense true, but it is also like saying anyone can sing or anyone can play a musical instrument, paint or draw a picture. Of course, anyone who is literate can write, but not anyone can write a good book.

Certainly practice helps make a better writer, singer, musician, painter. Knowing a few tricks, methods, construction of plot, etc. gives your writing an edge. But, there are virtuoso musicians, talented singers, and exceptional painters, and it is not within everyone's capability to reach great heights, because there is an element of God given talent which can simply not be learned.

It is perhaps easier to think everyone can write because you don't sound terrible or out of tune, the music doesn't hurt the ears, the painting is not stick people, but neither is the end result a literary masterpiece. You do have to recognise that excellence is something to strive for, effort has merit, and writing has its own rewards even if you never reach that pinnacle there is still satisfaction in achievement. The goal is not the destination it's the journey and the people you meet along the way!

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  • 2 weeks later...
3 hours ago, Cane23 said:

Grammar comes naturally for English born speakers (even they have to improve it). We, my friend, have to learn it in a hard, 'old school' way, and there is no shortcut, believe me! Everything - Tenses, irregular verbs, articles (duh!!!), passive voice... There is something I have to learn again every time I use it - Conditional sentences 😱 and sequence of tenses


if only grammar did come naturally :( 

UK state schools abandoned teaching grammar decades ago because educators know best 🙀 although public schools, known logically as “private” schools in the US (we like confusing the rest of the world :lol:), continue to teach it because they evidently still believe it’s important…

fact is I only learned English grammar because I opted to learn Latin, where understanding grammar (including word order) is a prerequisite (and much time had to be ‘wasted’ getting students up to speed because of the frankly ridiculous policy of educators :angry:)

even now (like you) I’m still learning - but I suspect your grasp of even basic English grammar principles is streets ahead of the natives :) 

 

 

 

Edited by Zombie
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I'll quote a comment from Quora, to piggyback that being a native-born English speaker isn't a prerequisite to good writing.

It's understanding its form that makes you good at writing in English.

Quote

Joseph Conrad (Polish pronunciation: [ˈjuz̪ɛf ˌkɔn.rad]; born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Polish-British writer regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write in the English language.

Another is Vladimir Nabokov. English was not even his second language, (it was his third, after French and Russian), but he is perhaps the most important prose stylist of the 20th century. Consider the opening paragraph of Lolita:

  • "Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta."

His mastery of English alliteration and cadence in that section (and really, in everything that he wrote) was ridiculous. Another particularly good example is his short story, "Gods", the opening section of which is:

  • "Here is what I see in your eyes right now: rainy night, narrow street, streetlamps gliding away into the distance. The water runs down the drainpipes from steeply sloping roofs. Under the snake’s-mouth of each pipe stands a green-hooped bucket. Rows of buckets line the black walls on either side of the street. I watch as they fill with cold mercury. The pluvial mercury swells and overflows. The bareheaded lamps float in the distance, their rays standing on end in the rainy murk. The water in the buckets is overflowing."

Look at me, I'm not a native English speaker.

I come from Genovia in Europe. We speak Genovian and Simlish. It's a very difficult language, harder than Latin, Ancient Egyptian and Babylonian. Even harder than Atlantian.

In our language Me-sul-sul means, "Fuck you, your parents, your brothers, your sisters, even your dog, you stupid piece of shite!" Imagine three words having so much meaning.

Like our word, Oh-feehbeh-lay which means, "I'm hungry, so you better start cooking something in the kitchen, otherwise, they're gonna be hell to pay."

Even our simple woofum which directly translates as dog, which means "You whiny-ass dog, stop barking or no dinner for you."

Our language is so complex that it's very hard for me to write in English.

ANYWAY...

You have to watch shows and movies that make the English language cohesive. Like an Armenian friend of mine said, he used to watch the 90's comedy show, Friends and emulated the way they talk. The weird thing was, he literally has an English-American accent while living in the UK. It's bonkers.

For example, the show Succession has probably had the most modern interpretation of the English language made today that has depth and meaning. You can imagine the words in that show being said in everyday life, a modern take, but it has so much humor, zest, and wit that makes the writing excellent:

  • "Forgive me, but are we talking to each other on the poop deck of a majestic schooner? Is the salty brine stinging my weather-beaten face? ... Then why the fuck are you wearing a pair of deck shoes, man?"
  • "Ohhhh, but they are not in fact receipts. Greg! You’re a criminal mastermind…what polyglot genius could ever hope to crack your impenetrable code?"
  • "Don't threaten me, Gerri. I don't have time to jerk off."
  • "Is he nice? You’re asking about the moral character of a man named rat-fucker Sam?"
  • "I would like some suck suck for my dicky-dick"
  • "A small person could fit through there, right?!? Like an attack child?!?"
  • "Do you think it’s possible to sue a person, a grandparent for example.. in an affectionate way? that might convey, like, "I love you and, I’m glad you’re a part of my life but I am taking legal action against you?"
  • "Excuse me I actually have to go watch a fucking satellite launch in Japan, that I’m actually in charge of, that I reorganized for you but you’re to fucking carbon neutral to enjoy."

Just reading off these one-liners shows how funny it is and how witty it is, and imagine if you, as a writer, could make up and write words like these in your own novel?

And the line written that won the actor an Emmy, apart from this show having won several Emmys:

  • "I wonder if the sad I'd be without you would be less than the sad I get from being with you."

Absoute banger of a line, imo.

 

 

 

 

 

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