Who Are The Writers?

[WriterJohnB]

Thanks for your input. I'll rethink it.

JohnB

 

[WriterJohnB]

Ohmygod, I take it back. I visited your website and, although I'm too much of a gentleman to call anything "terrible," as you did, you have no basis for criticism. As for my writing, many editors have accepted my work and, as I posted many examples of my writing on that site, I take your criticism as mean-spirited since you didn't bother to look at it. Buzz off.

JohnB

 

[gre]

I have completed one novel and am slowly working on the sequel.
When I had finished it I thought I was a fantastic writer and had a great story. Now, although I still think the story of Roadworks is good I also must admit that my writing could have been more polished. Having said that I am proud that I succeeded in dragging the idea out of my head, onto the paper and finally into print.

 

[Stewart]

Ohmygod, I take it back. I visited your website and, although I'm too much of a gentleman to call anything "terrible," as you did, you have no basis for criticism.

I have to agree with you there. syrmik, your site doesn't even have a DOCTYPE and is riddled with errors. 29 of them, to be exact. I don't like the way the objects get smaller when you narrow the browser window.

John's website only has one error as dictated by the standards of his chosen DOCTYPE. It's not the greatest but it seems to get the job done. The only things I would consider changing, for now, are the text colours in relation to the background colours and that huge chunk of empty space at the bottom. (And the turkey, but that will no doubt be going soon. )

 

[WriterJohnB]

Turkey

You don't like my turkey? That's okay. I was just floored that someone would slam another's website on a WRITERS' forum. I didn't think this site had anything at all to do with web design. There's a big difference between constructive criticism between writers and personal assaults. But I've been on a lot of forums where slamming gets out of hand.

 

[ions]

And this is the problem when someone thinks making Web sites is easy and anyone can do it. Much like writing a novel, just because you know the language doesn't mean you can write a book. Although, clearly there's no evidence of either sites 'developer/designer' being able to communicate in XHTML or CSS. I don't mean this with any animosity really, just an opinion from someone who was once a professional Web developer.

 

[ValkyrieRaven88]

I've been writing since I was eleven--not well, obviously. I'm working on a vampire novel, but I dabble in short stories and poetry. I do essays when my teachers make me.

At the risk of sounding snobby, I think my work is good. But I don't know if it's good enough to be published. I know I have a lot of things to work on, which I think is the most important thing a writer can realize, and I am looking forward to getting better.

I guess I'm good with characterization, because a lot of people have told me my characters are very vivid and they get attatched to them. (I just need to figure out if they were saying that because they were my friends or because they meant it!) My weakness is definitely action. My action is sloppy and I'm just not very experienced with it. Which may not sound terrible, but it is terrible for the kind of book I'm writing.

I actually have a link to some of my work in my signature. I haven't updated the site in ages and I like to think I'm a lot better now than I was last time I updated it.

 

[-Carlos-]

If Stewart would permit me to ask a question- now that the writers are gathered here. What are essential books for the novice writer? How to books and such on writing.

Thanks.

 

[Stewart]

What are essential books for the novice writer? How to books and such on writing.

I don't think there's any essential books other than the fiction you read from day to day. No book is going to make you a better writer since it's not about doing this or that, but it comes down to your ability to write. It's just something that comes with practice, I suppose, and on top of the practice you need to read - and read widely - in order to study how a range of other writers have managed before you and to take some influence from each or to learn what not to do.

 

[GreenKnight]

I don't think there's any essential books other than the fiction you read from day to day. No book is going to make you a better writer since it's not about doing this or that, but it comes down to your ability to write.

I would offer a different view. For me, writing is definitely a craft, a learned skill. Certainly, practice is the main ingredient, but personally I find many "How To" books extremely useful. John Braine's 'Writing a Novel' actually gave me the idea to start writing. (That and Stephen King's 'The Dark Half'!)

It very much is about doing this or doing that, and I don't think you can learn to write novels just by reading novels. That's a bit like saying you can learn to play the piano just by listening to piano music. (Some musicians, of course, can do this. But most have to start with the C Major scale...)

Dang, I always use the piano metaphor...

 

[-Carlos-]

Thanks everyone!

 

[ValkyrieRaven88]

AquaBlue, I would also recommend Worlds of Wonder by David Gerrold if you're interested in fantasy. It was excellent and it helped me a lot. I subscribe to Writer's Digest magazine, and they have a book club where all they sell is books that assist writers. I've bought about six or seven of them.

 

[sirmyk]

I have to agree with you there. syrmik, your site doesn't even have a DOCTYPE and is riddled with errors. browser window. 29 of them, to be exact.

Thanks for the helpful link, Stewart. I like it! Where or where did my little doctypes go? Well, now they're back, and because of the link you provided, I was able to fix the strange problems on my homepage. The entire site is pretty much one complicated Macromedia Flash file (homepage.swf), so the HTML on my INDEX page should remain fairly simple, as it is now. It must have gotten @#$&ed up last time I exported from Macromedia/Adobe. Woot! Running the tool again should now yield 0 errors.

Ohmygod, I take it back. I visited your website and, although I'm too much of a gentleman to call anything "terrible," as you did, you have no basis for criticism. As for my writing, many editors have accepted my work and, as I posted many examples of my writing on that site, I take your criticism as mean-spirited since you didn't bother to look at it. Buzz off. JohnB

Jesus F. Christ. Emphasis on the "F". Last I looked at your site, I was sorry to say it indeed looked terrible, unless the link you had provided was wrong or you were in the process of updating. Images were missing, text was everywhere and formatted sporadically, fonts in yellows and greens, etc. You've made some vast improvements since then (if that even was your site I looked at), so props on that; it's much easier to find information now, and has a much cleaner feel. Maybe I should have used a nicer word than terrible? I wouldn't take my "terrible" remark regarding your site as criticism at all, mearly a quick observation when you prodded us to look. But, since you asked me politely to "Buzz off", I won't be visiting your site again.

 

[sirmyk]

If Stewart would permit me to ask a question- now that the writers are gathered here. What are essential books for the novice writer? How to books and such on writing.

I have a few to mention: David Morrell, the author famous for the novel First Blood (Rambo), has a book out called Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing: A Novelist Looks at His Craft , which is a great, fast read, focusing on the business of writing; and, of course, On Writing, by Stephen King.

I subscribe to Writer's Digest magazine

The Writer, is another great magazine.

 

[-Carlos-]

The how-to writing books I own are If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland, On Writing by Stephen King and How to Write a Damn Good Novel by James N. Frey. I have not read them as yet.

Are you familiar with these books?

 

[George Oliver]

I think it is a perilous leap from writing articles and short stories to writing a full blown novel (ie 70 - 100,000 words) which hangs together so well you can't see the joins. I speak from experience and I think the word 'completes' is key: I'm sure there are thousands and thousands of people who have ideas for novels and who even start them, maybe the first 30 pages or so, but then find they can't go on for whatever reason. It took me a number of years to get out of that rut. Some people take ten years to write a novel. Some take 4 weeks (eg Alexander McCall Smith who can bang out 1000 words an hour). I think it's fifty per cent inspiration and fifty per cent perspiration. A friend of mine who writes factual books for which he has to complete hours and hours of painstaking research told me 'writing is re-writing' and that you have to be brutal enough with your own work to be able to discard what you'd previously thought was a paragraph of unparalleled genius because it doesn't actually fit the rest of your book. That mirrors another friend of mine whose film will be in your cinemas next Christmas (2007). I have been published (not under this name but selling well) and will be again soon and I can honestly say that every writer needs to have someone near who can give them an immediate and honest appraisal of the chapter they've just spent ten hours on: is it good? Is it bad? Is it dreadful? Or so brilliant you start jumping up and down, spilling tea all over the carpet? I haven't had that many tea-stains, but I've had a few. It could be your editor, your publisher, your agent, your wife/husband or even your children. Find that person and you're getting closer to spilling that tea...

 

[-Carlos-]

AquaBlue, I would also recommend Worlds of Wonder by David Gerrold if you're interested in fantasy. It was excellent and it helped me a lot. I subscribe to Writer's Digest magazine, and they have a book club where all they sell is books that assist writers. I've bought about six or seven of them.

Wow! I just found a box full of old Writer's Digest magazines in my closet. I used to subscribe to the magazine in the very early '90's. What a discovery!

 

[sdmckee]

I think it's fifty per cent inspiration and fifty per cent perspiration.

I'll second that. For my first attempt at writing, I decided to jump right into a novel. I had a good rhythm going and finished the first draft within a few months (though it wasn't exactly golden--quite a few edits/re-writes followed). But so far my second novel has been more perspiration than inspiration. It started well enough, but it's now been two years and I've still got another 100 pages or so before the finish line.

every writer needs to have someone near who can give them an immediate and honest appraisal of the chapter they've just spent ten hours on

Yup. Being so new to writing, I relied heavily on the opinions of others (including professionals). I'm of the mentality that I'd rather hear more about what's wrong with my writing than what's great. It's hard to improve without a good, constructive criticism.

 

[Inkheart]

I'm sitting on a large writer's block at the moment.

 

[George Oliver]

Writer's Block

If you're sitting on a whopper, good idea to go back to basics and type up a one or two page synopsis of your whole story. If it still excites you, you'll finish the book. If not, you need to work on the synopsis, which is sometimes harder than the book itself.