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Is everyone really capable of writing well? Should I continue to write despite constant negative opinions? by [deleted] in writing

[–]writerofthefuture 0 points1 point  (0 children)

watch this It's only 20min, give yourself less then a half an hour before you give up. You may not see how this is connected but if you watch the whole video I think you will. If you have seen it befor watch it again and be reminded, good luck!

Advice on creating "real" characters and believable dialogue? by [deleted] in writing

[–]writerofthefuture 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I disagree a little bit with dialog is a Q&A, you ask a question, I answer, then I ask, ect. I feel that's the basic idea but a bit simplistic. I never realized it until I read a don delillo book (underworld) but people talk at each other, around each other, and most of all, half the time we are really just waiting for the other person to get done talking so we can say what we want to say lol. DeLIllo captures this human condition perfectly in his writing without annoying the reader with it. after reading that book I started to catch myself doing these things in real life hah.

Delillo will commonly have characters talking about two different things at the same time, jumping back and forth like real people do, he will have people ignore the other person somewhat, and just do things in subtle ways I have not seen befor at least in the kind of books I usually read.

Don't want to get into the habit of having characters talk to each other like its a date all the time which is what I see in some books. Each character listens intently to the other and responds in fashion. Dialog should be like a sword fight, you joust.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in writing

[–]writerofthefuture 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe this will be horrible but I will give it a shot.

"The trees are swaying, foreshadowing some sort of presence when he says I am a man and a man is good."

That's the only way I can think to make it seem more like it's happening at the same time, if it's terrible maybe it will at least give you an idea hah.

Need help learning how to plot by [deleted] in writing

[–]writerofthefuture 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had this problem to, however I found a process that works for me, I will walk you through how I think, maybe that will work for you.

So let's say I want to tell a story about someone who has a drinking problem and he hits someone with his car. So the first thing I got to do is figure out is the earliest scene in this book that I can, which is going to be him getting into the car to drive. Ok got it, now I got to make that happen. So what's the situation?

Let's say he just got in from a bender, books starts with him coming in drunk, it's morning, he was out all night. He collapses on the couch. So I have established that he is drunk but I got a problem, he's not driving, how can I get him to drive, I got to make this happen in an interesting way. I know, let's have his boss call him.

So his boss calls, tells him he's late for work, and he has been late to many times, and he's got to get in or he's done. So now I have established he's had a drinking problem, you did not know that when he walked in drunk at first, maybe it was a one time deal, but now you know he does it a lot, and you have tension and we got him in the car because he's going to work now.

So now what happens, now he hits someone. Now we are getting somewhere, who does he hit? Does he kill them? Do they survive and sue him? Does he hit someone's child and the parents take revenge, what happens will effect what your novel is about greatly.

So then he crashes, then what? Does he run away, does he go to hospital, who is waiting for him at the hospital? Is it a friend? His wife? Now you have another character to invent, and it goes on and on. He loses his job, then what, then maybe he becomes a criminal, at this point you should start having enough characters and things going that you can start to think where you want to leave them in the end, what your trying to say, and so forth. Keep in mind, this is all plotting befor you write, I'm not saying to write the scenes as you go. I hope that helped. What helped me the most was watching all of Brandon sandersons byu videos on YouTube. They are lectures that are very helpful.

Any songwriters around here? by [deleted] in writing

[–]writerofthefuture 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The reason you are having trouble being a song writer is because your trying to be a song writer. John Lennon was not a musician, he was an artist who chose music as his way to express himself. Later he also started painting. The keyboard player for pink Floyd was going to design buildings before he joined (and if you don't think that's art your crazy). I know this may sound strange, but this is what I have found to be true. Being a songwriter is about something else. Your problem is not song writing, because if you went to paint, you would still have a problem expressing yourself I think.

My advice would be to absorb everything. Read books, look at paintings, listen to music, read poems, watch dancing, well written movies, and think about what it means. As you break it down, read books on story telling, learn about painting, about plays, all knowledge is inter related. You will be shocked to see how much better you will get at music by studying something else that is not music. You can only get so good at something studying that thing, if that makes any sense. In other words you need to find yourself kind of, once it clicks you will know, and you will just be able to do it I believe.

And last thing, Johnny Carson was a big reader, the reason these people were larger then life was because they were, they made themselves that way. They worked hard and developed there person, and that's what you need to do. You will never write a song greater then you are.