[quote]digitalairair wrote:
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
I used to write professionally, so I suppose I’m qualified to offer some advice.
First off, it sounds like you are interested in creative writing as opposed to journalism. Regardless, you need to get used to writing everyday. That’s the first thing to do, and the most important.
What are you looking to write? A novel? Poetry? Short stories? Op-ed for the local paper?
Who is your intended audience? I used to write for a local magazine and although I had complete autonomy in terms of what I wrote (I had a weekly column and was also responsible for writing the front-page story when the editor thought the topic fit my style, which was probably every other week or so), I was constantly butting heads with the managing editor over who my articles and columns were geared toward. What I mean by that is that I never wrote in a manner that was all-inclusive.
I had an esoteric writing style and quite frankly, I didn’t give a fuck if what I wrote went over a lot of people’s heads because I didn’t write for the lowest common denominator. That’s the problem with print publication; the editor is always going to want you to write in a manner that allows the dumbest motherfucker in the crowd to get it. Rather than me dumbing down what I wrote, the dumb shits of the world should get up to speed was my attitude. Naturally, that and some censorship issues led to me seeking employment elsewhere and I eventually went back to school to earn my teaching credential.
But if you want to do strictly creative writing, such as novels/novellas and that sort of thing, I would recommend you write often and let others read your work. If you have an ego like mine, you’ll always be convinced that whatever you’re writing is the Absolute Fucking Shit.
Don’t be afraid to borrow from other writers’ styles, either. If you are a good natural writer it won’t come off as plagiarism or copying or anything like that. Good writers let others influence their own voice, but good writers have their own voice to begin with (that’s what makes naturally-good writers good writers). Let your personality show through your writing and when you let others read your work, don’t let their opinion on your STYLE sway you.
You are seeking their advice on how the plot or the characters or the pace at which the story unfolds, not their opinion on the way this is presented. If people don’t like that you use big words or lots of weird analogies or you write very economically or whatever, that’s their issue, not yours. You cannot please everyone with your style and those who like whatever natural style it is you write with are your general audience.
My mother will never like Hunter S. Thompson’s prose style or his “voice”, for instance.
Also, use words and sentence structure and that sort of thing that complement what is happening in the story. Short, simple sentences have a tendency to create the impression of speed or action or whatever when you are writing about something suspenseful. You won’t be able to hold someone’s suspense with long, drawn-out sentences. Likewise, in a scene calling for description, don’t be afraid to pull out some of the bigger words in your vocabulary and don’t be afraid to go into detail with longer sentences and that sort of shit.
One other thing: dialogue. Dialogue is really hard to write in a convincing, natural manner for many people. I can’t really think of anyone off the top of my head is great at dialogue, but it’s not that easy. Practice it as much as possible. Try writing down interesting conversations you’ve had or interesting exchanges you’ve had with people. Brett Easton Ellis’ dialogue scenes in “American Psycho” are pretty memorable. That whole fucking book is, really. But I digress.
Another thing that would really help if you are writing fiction is creating a little background story for each character. Perhaps a page or two for each character in a notebook.
But really, the most important thing in my opinion is to write every single day. Part of the reason I tend to write really long posts on here is that I like to write (I can also type very, very fast so these things don’t take me nearly as long as they would take almost anyone else on the site). You have to like writing to be a good writer, which sounds obvious enough. The other part that I personally feel is very important is to get used to writing in a conversational tone. That will help with the dialogue aspect and it makes it easier for people to read. I like to think that most of my long posts on here are easy to read through because I write with a very conversational tone.
If you get a chance, take a look at a couple of books by Hunter S. Thompson called “The Proud Highway” and “Fear and Loathing in America”. They are collections of letters he wrote to people, which is a pretty conversational style of writing when you think about it. Then re-read some of his better works and you’ll notice that the styles aren’t all that different at all when moving from his letters to his fictional work to his more standard, earlier journalism to his Gonzo journalism. [/quote]
Great post! Now I’m curious. can we read some of your more esoteric articles? [/quote]
No. This and one other article (which I posted on here a while ago in one of the old “Best Pranks” threads) are the only two I have saved to a zip drive. Everything I’ve written that is worth reading was for print media, so I have the physical copies of every magazine saved in a box somewhere. I’m visiting my parents through the new year, so I don’t have access to those copies now. I suppose when I get back home I could just re-write them but I can’t do so now.
I’m not sure if I want to do that now, either. Like I mentioned earlier, these things never sound as good to me after reading them well after I’ve written them and since everything I wrote was under a strict deadline (which I was constantly butting right up against) I didn’t have the luxury of letting them sit for a few weeks and then return to them for further improvement. I have a huge ego, but it’s also very fragile.
I think I might have put some weird Valentine’s Day article I wrote on here at one point, now that I think about it. We were sitting around in a meeting and they needed a cover story to coincide with Valentine’s Day, which I wanted no part of, so when they asked me for an idea I tossed out the first thing that came to mind that I felt would be rejected with extreme prejudice. Much to my horror, it was accepted and the editor immediately assigned it to me since it was my idea and no one else wanted anything else to do with it either. I won’t tell you what it was about since that would ruin the article, but it was a very short story. My first attempt at pure fiction writing. There was about a 1200 word limit, so it might seem rushed or whatever since you can’t really write a substantial story in such few words when it’s your first attempt at fiction.
Search around on here and see if you can find it. Try putting “DBCooper Valentine’s Day” into the search engine. If you find it, feel free to post it in here. I haven’t read that one in years so I don’t remember exactly how it went but I’m sure I’ll think it’s complete diarrhetic drivel now, so I won’t search for it and contribute to my own embarrassment. I suppose if you find it I just DID contribute to my own embarrassment, but whatever. Have at it. Fuck, feel free to claim it as your own and try to pass it off as an original piece out there in Burma or Charlie Land or wherever you’re at these days.
P.S. I’ll be in South Korea for a year or so starting in August, possibly as early as June. We should get together and make some “art” when I get there. If you’re in the neighborhood, that is. How far from South Korea are you? Specifically, the Chungnam Province. Are there any Planet Fitness’ out there? I have a great idea for a video that we could make. I’ll need a cameraman, a spotter, a leather gimp outfit, a leather mask and a one-day pass.