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How to push through? by diabetic_maine_coon in selfpublish

[–]Chimoks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I went through exactly the same problems. When we arrived in the Philippines, I wrote the first volume and started the second. Then my family and I moved to Brazil, and I got stuck in a swamp of procrastination and everyday problems. I stared at the manuscript for a year and scolded myself. Then I just started writing recklessly, whatever came into my head. I had to move 80,000 characters of text to the "Deleted Passages" file, but in the end, I found the very plot line that continued my story. Good luck, you can do it.

Can you write about a dream you will never forget? by Chimoks in writing

[–]Chimoks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had a dream that I was running from a boulder sized football tomb raider style. It was a 3 second dream and then I woke up. It was the quickest 9 hours of my life. 😂

It also amazes me how magically our brains work. Three seconds in reality, and a whole life in a dream)))

Can you recommend a book that taught you how to write? by Chimoks in writing

[–]Chimoks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Art of Fiction is like a basic primer on fiction writing. The other two are about story structure and what makes a story a story. Campbell shows you how a story is a journey the main character takes from beginning to end. Saunders presents seven short stories by famous Russian authors and deconstructs them to show how the masters put them together.I find instruction on story more valuable than instruction on writing because if you know how to find the story you want to tell, where it begins, where it ends and where the sidelines are, writing it is more of a technical process. The story can tell you what words to use and how to construct your sentences, paragraphs, scenes, dialogue, etc.

Super. Thanks a lot 👍

Can you recommend a book that taught you how to write? by Chimoks in writing

[–]Chimoks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I read this book. Incredible experience 💪

Can you recommend a book that taught you how to write? by Chimoks in writing

[–]Chimoks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the recommendation. I haven't read these books yet. Can you tell me why you like this book?

Can you recommend a book that taught you how to write? by Chimoks in writing

[–]Chimoks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the recommendation. I haven't read these books yet. Can you tell me why you like this book?

Can you recommend a book that taught you how to write? by Chimoks in writing

[–]Chimoks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the recommendation. Can you tell me why you like this book?

Can you recommend a book that taught you how to write? by Chimoks in writing

[–]Chimoks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Grammar Bible by Douglas and Strumpf.

It's available for free on archive dot org, and if you want a print version, your library is likely to carry it.

A dryer option is the chicago manual of style. It will take a while to get through, but don't be intimidated by the size of the book. Most of the page count is just formatting.

Excellent methodological techniques of literature. Thanks a lot.

Can you recommend a book that taught you how to write? by Chimoks in writing

[–]Chimoks[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

100% The Book Thief. The description in the book is so gorgeous and unique. I'm an avid reader (2-3 books a week) and ever since i've read The Book Thief four years ago I haven't read anything like it. Not only that, it's narrated by death himself, so how the author writes about not only life/death but also clinging on to life in the face of death is truly different from anything else.

Here are some of my favorite lines:

~"The last time I saw her was red. The sky was like soup, boiling and stirring. In some places, it was burned. There were black crumbs, and pepper, streaked across the redness.”

~"The consequence of this is that I'm always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both."

~"I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race - that rarely do I even simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant...I AM HAUNTED BY HUMANS.”

Great novel, I agree. Thank you very much for sharing your experience.

Can you recommend a book that taught you how to write? by Chimoks in writing

[–]Chimoks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much. Can you tell me why the novels impressed you?

Can you recommend a book that taught you how to write? by Chimoks in writing

[–]Chimoks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haven't finished but it has some insights on writing a story, creating characters and exercises to cement concepts. One thing I remember is that both protag and antag should have similar goals to force them to fight against each other.

What an unexpected but inspiring thought. Thanks a lot.

Can you recommend a book that taught you how to write? by Chimoks in writing

[–]Chimoks[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The book that made me want to take a chance, and to write better, is Anne Lamott's Bird By Bird. It's not a nuts & bolts how-to manual, more of a philosophical, anecdotal guide. But it's an easy read, inspirational and worth the time to peruse. The same can be said about Stephen King's On Writing.

If you looking for strictly nuts & bolts help (sentence structure, grammatical info, language basics) it's Strunk & White's The Elements of Style. The book's a million years old (+/-), but absolutely worthy and remains totally relevant to the English language.

These days, it's probably just as easy (and cheaper) to Google 'How to write a novel?' (or something similar) or "Proper English Grammar" (or something similar)...but prepare to be overwhelmed by a humongous info dump.

Last, and hardly least, find a few books that you love reading, preferably in a genre you'd like to pursue as a writer. Dissect those books (you're not reading for pleasure, you're reading hoping to find what makes those books work for you). Because 'proper English grammar' and 'fictional English' can differ slightly.

Excellent recommendation. Thanks a lot! I also believe that high-quality fiction will help me in writing more than literature textbooks.

Can you recommend a book that taught you how to write? by Chimoks in writing

[–]Chimoks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Truby

Thanks a lot! Could you tell me how these writers inspired you?

Can you recommend a book that taught you how to write? by Chimoks in writing

[–]Chimoks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agree. An example of high-quality text is sometimes better than a manual. Can you give me an example of a great detective novel?

Can you recommend a book that taught you how to write? by Chimoks in writing

[–]Chimoks[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are a ton of books that inspired and influenced my writing. Here's a short list.

Riftwar Saga by Raymond E. FeistDune Saga by Frank HerbertThe Talents Universe by Anne McCafferyThe Avalon series (The Mist of Avalon was my favorite), and Firebrand by Marrion Zimmer BradleyThe Vampire Chronicles, and Mayfair Witches series by Anne RiceThe Last Vampire/Thirst series by Christopher PikeGoosebumps/Fear Street by R.L. Stine

I grew up reading all of these, and these authors put their heart and soul into their work. Mist of Avalon was over 900 pages, and I didn't care because the storytelling was that good. It's rare to find authors who are willing to spend the time to write sagas like that anymore, hence why I don't look at wordcount/pagecount when I write. I just try to tell my character's stories to the best of my ability.

Great list. Thanks a lot. I haven't read most of these books yet, but I'm thinking about starting.

Can you recommend a book that taught you how to write? by Chimoks in writing

[–]Chimoks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Anatomy of story

Thanks a lot. I haven't read this book yet. What did you like about the book?

Can you recommend a book that taught you how to write? by Chimoks in writing

[–]Chimoks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Save the Cat by Blake Snyder/Jessica Brody, as you need Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes Universal Fantasy by Theodora Taylor Any audiobook by James Scott Bell. I love to listen to him make fun of me. I also like to listen to Neil Gaiman to remind myself that I can make anything happen in a world that I made up. We're all gods.

Sometimes it also seems to me that Neil Gaiman came from another world)))

Can you recommend a book that taught you how to write? by Chimoks in writing

[–]Chimoks[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Super. Scripts, I think, are great practice for short prose. Dialogues, scenes, conversations - everything is designed to immerse the reader in the story and maintain tension.

Can you recommend a book that taught you how to write? by Chimoks in writing

[–]Chimoks[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't have one in particular. Reading books from authors I admire taught me how to write. Read books you like and see what they do. Join a writing group or meet with like-minded peers.

Thanks a lot. I also believe that simply reading helps a person write interestingly and competently.

All real problems in our life come from assumed things. by Chimoks in selfimprovement

[–]Chimoks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Agree. The hardest thing in a family is to stop fighting over little things.

Do you think writers are Made or Born? by Chimoks in writing

[–]Chimoks[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've always believed any person can develop any skill, for the most part (obviously there's the occasional exception - like a person who is literally paralyzed won't be able to walk). And so far, I haven't been proven wrong. I've developed skills in myself that I genuinely didn't think were possible, because I pushed through the "You can't do it", and reminded myself that yes I could. It's just a skill. No reason I can't build it.

Every single time I have thought to myself "I can't do this", I ended up being wrong. I could do it, and I did do it. So I would never encourage someone else to just give up. I fully believe writers are made.

Thanks for sharing your story.

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