| User | Codsterb20 | | Topic | A good Question | | Message | Hey Everyone, it’s me Cody Brewster. Since this is a place to post questions, I have a good question. What does it take to be a great writer? To read alot? To Write everyday? I guess that’s all connected together and all contributes but what else? I would greatly appreciate some input and I would definitely like to make some friends on here because I don’t have any friends on here yet. Have a great day everyone. Please read my intro if you haven’t, it tells quite a bit about me. |
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| User | AteMyBackpack | 2007-06-06 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | Writers need imagination. Day dream a lot, and sleep a lot because dreams are handy. Oh and look at good authrors and notice the techniques they use and stuff. Also, read over what you’ve written and notice what could be better. Experiment with different techniques, narratives, genres to see what works best.
Oh, yeah and remember think OUTSIDE THE BOX. (easier said than done, though) |
| User | UnderINK | 2007-04-11 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | It depends entirely on what you’re really asking. What makes a good writer is their writing having some affect on the lives of people. As Czeslaw Milosz would say in his piece ’Dedication’:
<i>What is poetry which does not save
Nations or people?
A connivance with official lies;
A song of drunkards whose throats
Will be cut in a moment;
Readings for sophmore girls.
That I wanted good poetry without knowing it;
That I discovered, late, its salutary aim.
In this, and only this, I find salvation.</i>
If you have the ability to move a person, you are good at writing. But understand that it doesn’t mean you are universally good. The world will never agree on everything one hundred percent, hence Azuire’s idea of subjectivity. Everyone’s taste of writing is different, but it’s your job as a writer to connect with the group that enjoys your style, to find and harness their connection and move them with it.
To improve writing it is almost a bare necessity to read often. I can’t tell you how many books I’ve read. I get most of my inspiration from non-poetic books like The Republic, though books like Green Angel have provided some poetic insight to me to improve my style itself. You must read because your subconscious picks up on styles and incorporates them into yours, just like when you learn new words and use them in later works. Taking that in and using it can improve your style, even if you don’t realize it. Another great way to improve is to be alone. Take a notebook to the park or the woods and just sit for a while and write down things you observe, then invent poetic ways to describe it. That’s how I trained myself to visualize while I write. |
| User | Azuire | 2007-03-31 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | What DOES it take to be a good writer. Unfortunately that’s a very subjective question (blast those postmodernists), and I have a tendency to give objective answers.
I’ll probably examine this from the realm of fantasy/sci fi, since I note you enjoy that genre. First of all a richly imagined world, painted by the words of the writer, you will find heroes, villains, ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Of course, one is required to put it in such a way that it does not become boring or cliché. Take Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and Herbert’s Dune. Both are excellent books, yet one permits magic, the other does not.
To IMPROVE your writing you would thus be required to read more, write regularly, edit your work (though I don’t like to do that, too lazy) and read other people’s try and hitchhike on their ideas, use them, think about them, then use your own if you can’t think of anything.
Chew on that =P
See you round.
Cheers |
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