Born to write. Advice, help, tips to new writer.

[Guest Vadim Trofymenko]

Hi fellows, my name is Vadim. I'm starting my writing life and would appreciate any tips or advice from experienced writers out there in this big, bad world. Let's me make it clear for you, sweet English is not my mother language and I might make some mistakes so please do not judge me. I'm learning, I'm trying my best. I've written few screenplays already but I'd like to move to the novel writing. What tense should I use, what format? Where can I post my work to get some thoughts on it from other writers?

 

Deep in my little dark soul I feel like writing is what I should do, and not being able to express myself on the paper scares the sh** out of me!

Edited March 2, 2013 by Vadim Trofymenko

[James Steven Beverly]

Start by writing a short story then expand on it. A short story is more manageable for a beginner. All fiction is at heart a narrative, so either you tell the story objectively as the narrator or subjectively from the standpoint of one of the characters. Create a reality by painting a picture in the reader's mind with details in the narrative. Turn of phrase is essential in a fictional book and that is what will define your style as an author. Finally, to restate the old adage, write what you know. The reason is reality grows from personal experience so writing about things that you've done, experienced and seen, can't help but be filled with truth relatable to a reader because they've also experienced similar things. Read novels and break down their structure, figure out what makes them work and how you would do that with your work. The rest is just practice.ALSO, most importantly, remember, writing is re-writing. Expect to re-write your work several times before it's ready. Even then, you won't think it's ready but at some point you just have to put it out there and move on to the next project. Only you can decide when that time is. Good luck and don't worry whether it's good or bad, just start writing and don't quit for the next 50 or 60 years. Just my 2 cents worth of advice.Take it for what it's worth.

[Guest Vadim Trofymenko]

James thank you a lot! This is very useful information for me.

[James Steven Beverly]

De nada, Amigo.

[Guest Vadim Trofymenko]

James could you post a simple short story structure that works best for you please? I found some on the web but they are all different, I'm not sure which one to choose.

Edited March 6, 2013 by Vadim Trofymenko

[James Steven Beverly]

Well, for me, I just start writing. I pay very little attention to formulaic structure. I find such structure confining. however structure almost always creeps in without conscious intent. I attribute this to my insatiable lust for films which I watch almost constantly. I watch them to learn. Look, if I HAVE to give you advice on HOW to write, I would just say this, you should read all about structure, then forget it. If you get bogged down on"the right way to write", you'll worry about that rather than what you're trying to say to your audience. Once you start, the structure will take shape, at least that's MY experience. I'm a firm believer in individuality and to me, that means not limiting yourself to convention. I'm mainly a screen writer so I tend to work in narrative where the audience is an observer living vicariously through the main characters. This doesn't work for everyone. Some people require structure, it which case I would use common structure formulas to create my tale.

 

The point is, what works for me may, or may NOT work for you. Art is individual expression made tactile. You pick up a book and read it, What is on the page lives in the reader's mind because YOU are taking them on a journey that should be unique to you. Developing style that is unique to you is something that can ONLY be done by you. I can't tell you how you should write a story, only you can do that. The hard part of becoming an artist is finding your voice. This is a journey you take alone. Mentors can suggest, inspire, encourage, push, but they can't give it to you. If they did, it wouldn't be yours and ultimately all that really counts is that it's YOUR work, YOUR vision, YOUR story. The best advice I can give you is figure it out. If you can't do that, you can't ever have art that can truly call truly your own. At best, it will be a pale imitation of someone else's work. If you can live with that, and many people calling themselves artists do, fine. If not, keep searching, hopefully through out your entire career. You should challenge yourself on every project. IF you do so, at some point you WILL create art and continue to do so until the day you die. Enjoy the journey and let me know how it goes.-Steve

[Landon Parks]

While I have only written a few screenplays (mainly shorts), I can offer a few pieces of advice:

 

1. Go into it knowing that your going to be making changes. DO NOT try to perfect any writing form as you start it. This is what revisions and copy-editing are for. when your story first starts flowing, DO NOT interrupt it by paying attention to every little grammatical detail.

 

2. Play music in the background that matches what your writing. This works for some and not for others, but I find it inspiring to write with low volume music in the background.

 

That's all I can really add to this discussion. But most important - make sure you are writing something you LOVE. Nothing stinks more than a story written by someone who clearly did not like the story in the first place.

[Brian Drysdale]

Some story tips from Pixar that might help.

 

http://www.redsharknews.com/production/item/509-pixar-s-rules-for-great-storytelling

Edited March 23, 2013 by Brian Drysdale

[Roman Latkovic]

Good luck and don't worry whether it's good or bad, just start writing and don't quit for the next 50 or 60 years.

 

That's the best piece of advice you could get. I might add - write what you know and care about. And yes, it should scare you :)

 

Good luck.

[James Steven Beverly]

Every once in a while, I accidentally get something right, Thanks for the kind words.