Something Else

frenchtoastadventures asked:

I have all these feels that I want to translate into a good story, but I feel that all the stories I've writte are crap. I've lost count on how many times I've erased 200plus page documents. I can't handle the feels anymore, I'm gonna explode! Any advice? :(

1.  The only way to write better is to first write loads and loads of crap.  One of the more popular writing quotes out there is (roughly) “Every author has at least 1000 pages of crap in them.  Once you get that out, you can write good stuff.”  I’m paraphrasing but you get the point.

2.  If you put a lot of honest effort into it, it’s probably not crap.  One of the worst things for a writer to do is constantly tell themselves omg this is crap.  And, ultimately, if you write for you, whether or not it’s total crap won’t matter.  One case in point from my experience would probably be my feminist re-vamp of Twilight.  It was probably completely ridiculous and there’s no way I’d probably ever get around publishing it.  But I had a blast writing it.  I got to explore feminism in my writing and create some awesome female characters that I’m proud of.  As long as you enjoyed writing it, that’s all that matters.

3.  Can’t convince yourself it’s not crap?  Show it to other people.  Even if it is crap and they tell you it’s crap, a good writing buddy will be able to tell you how to not make it crap.  Constructive criticism is writing fertilizer.

4.  Read everything you can.  Not just prose, but poetry.  lots and lots and lots of poetry.  In the creative writing program I went through in high school, you study poetry and write poetry before you study prose.  It reaches you the basics of how to construct language.

When you read, study how the authors convey their story.  Pay close attention to paragraphs, chapters, and punctuation.  Everything is arranged to create the whole work.  See how it fits together and internalize it.

that’s the approach I take to writing, anyway.