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what makes a good writer
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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago
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I’ve been watching normal people and Connell is at uni studying English to be a writer
it got me thinking ... are good writers good writers because they studied the craft of the language or because they are just great story tellers that wrote it down
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"The ability to get it written down. The stories are no good just in our head
Sometimes that just where they should stay...  "
They start leaking out the ears though. Makes a right mess. |
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Probably both. Someone can come up with cracking stories, but can they structure it in a way that is engaging and maintains interest? Surely there's a benefit to a writer to study theory, like Aristotle.
However if you haven't got some talent and you just learn the structure you'll be a hack.
And if you have ideas but have no idea how to tell them, that won't work either. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"The ability to get it written down. The stories are no good just in our head
Sometimes that just where they should stay...
They start leaking out the ears though. Makes a right mess. "
Dribbley  is that even a word!
Probably why I will never be a writer. My ears work differently....
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"I guess there’s no single right or wrong answer.. probably a bit of both!
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This and commitment like most arts. You got to be disciplined to keep writing. I know writers who couldn't hack it because they couldn't get into a structured way of creating.
Also the ones we perceive as good now have got there by several trial and error. It's just we didnt see any of their crap work. Just like those one good photo you take after 50. 
I also think inspiration is a key factor to keep the previous things going. What gets their fire in their belly going is key. As they say sometimes a pen is mightier than a sword. |
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I think studying how to write opens the way into a variety of methods the wannabe writer might not have thought of going until then. It also gives a lot of practice in actually writing (as mentioned above, getting the story out).
Not essential for all, but helpful to some.
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"I've done a creative writing course. It's very useful in my opinion"
Do they make you read bits of your writing or discuss your ideas, mine always sound rubbish expressed as words and I get shy. |
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"I've done a creative writing course. It's very useful in my opinion
Do they make you read bits of your writing or discuss your ideas, mine always sound rubbish expressed as words and I get shy. "
Yes they did. Nobody gave anything but constructive criticism. I think that if you didn't want to read your stuff out they wouldn't make you but everyone else is doing it. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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I really couldn’t say what makes a good writer.
I have lots of interesting ideas and things floating around my head but whenever I’ve tried to write them down they just sound shite.
I love reading but I only ever get enthralled in fantasy stories.
I really enjoy books that are mainly aimed at young adults and teenagers.
Perhaps because I’m quite childlike or as I like to think it’s because my imagination has still to be numbed by age.
Anyway... those authors have this ability to suck you into another world.
So that, that’s what I think makes a good author.
The ability to make you forget who and where you are so that you only have thoughts of the story. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"I've done a creative writing course. It's very useful in my opinion
Do they make you read bits of your writing or discuss your ideas, mine always sound rubbish expressed as words and I get shy.
Yes they did. Nobody gave anything but constructive criticism. I think that if you didn't want to read your stuff out they wouldn't make you but everyone else is doing it."
Ah Ok. I could probably do it with lots of sweating then. Take the least controversial story then |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"I really couldn’t say what makes a good writer.
I have lots of interesting ideas and things floating around my head but whenever I’ve tried to write them down they just sound shite.
I love reading but I only ever get enthralled in fantasy stories.
I really enjoy books that are mainly aimed at young adults and teenagers.
Perhaps because I’m quite childlike or as I like to think it’s because my imagination has still to be numbed by age.
Anyway... those authors have this ability to suck you into another world.
So that, that’s what I think makes a good author.
The ability to make you forget who and where you are so that you only have thoughts of the story."
Children are fierce critics, writing for them has to be the purest and most brilliant of all, so you obviously appreciate good writing. |
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By *dquestCouple
over a year ago
Peterborough |
You don't need to know how to read music to play the piano. However, it really helps. It is the same with writing. If you have decent grammar then you have a framework for your creativity.
We are looking for a swingers' writing circle. Do they exist? |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"You don't need to know how to read music to play the piano. However, it really helps. It is the same with writing. If you have decent grammar then you have a framework for your creativity.
We are looking for a swingers' writing circle. Do they exist?"
Kinda pens in the bowl thing |
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"You don't need to know how to read music to play the piano. However, it really helps. It is the same with writing. If you have decent grammar then you have a framework for your creativity.
We are looking for a swingers' writing circle. Do they exist?"
I don't know, but some people (myself included) write stories in the Stories and Fantasies section of the forum. |
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By *dquestCouple
over a year ago
Peterborough |
"You don't need to know how to read music to play the piano. However, it really helps. It is the same with writing. If you have decent grammar then you have a framework for your creativity.
We are looking for a swingers' writing circle. Do they exist?
I don't know, but some people (myself included) write stories in the Stories and Fantasies section of the forum."
We blog a bit but that's about all. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"You begin with the title, "up on the moors" for instance, but you always end with dogging in the car park."
You have to turn the interior light out in the car |
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"You don't need to know how to read music to play the piano. However, it really helps. It is the same with writing. If you have decent grammar then you have a framework for your creativity.
We are looking for a swingers' writing circle. Do they exist?
I don't know, but some people (myself included) write stories in the Stories and Fantasies section of the forum.
We blog a bit but that's about all."
Fiction is my jam  |
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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago
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"You don't need to know how to read music to play the piano. However, it really helps. It is the same with writing. If you have decent grammar then you have a framework for your creativity.
We are looking for a swingers' writing circle. Do they exist?"
i dont think you need an english degree to have decent grammar though
i think for me its probably about the imagination and the story telling , and the editor can use their degree to help you straighten it up a bit
but then maybe thats because i generally read frivolous fiction where its all about the grab you in story, perhaps in a different genre it takes a different skill set |
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The ability to really make you see what they are describing with your minds eye, and for them to create any number of characters with individual personalities and internal monologues. Stephen King is a master of it in most of his works. |
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"You don't need to know how to read music to play the piano. However, it really helps. It is the same with writing. If you have decent grammar then you have a framework for your creativity.
We are looking for a swingers' writing circle. Do they exist?
i dont think you need an english degree to have decent grammar though
i think for me its probably about the imagination and the story telling , and the editor can use their degree to help you straighten it up a bit
but then maybe thats because i generally read frivolous fiction where its all about the grab you in story, perhaps in a different genre it takes a different skill set "
Grabbing someone is very difficult |
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By *emini ManMan
over a year ago
There and to the left a bit |
I think there's a degree of natural and instinctive talent in being a good story writer - now some of that can be honed and taught but having a creative imagination and the ability to create pictures with words comes primarily from within - creative writing courses just help you tap into that natural ability.
A frequent question on here is what word you should use to describe genitals and I often think you don't actually need a single noun to describe them in writing, although of course there are many - the real skill is in being able to describe them and paint a word picture of them without actually naming them.
That's obviously an example very specific to this site but it could be equally applied to any number of things where a simple noun isn't needed - feelings, emotions, senses, views etc
I'm not an overly creative person in terms of arts and crafts etc but I do find joy in good writing |
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"I've done a creative writing course. It's very useful in my opinion
Do they make you read bits of your writing or discuss your ideas, mine always sound rubbish expressed as words and I get shy.
Yes they did. Nobody gave anything but constructive criticism. I think that if you didn't want to read your stuff out they wouldn't make you but everyone else is doing it.
Ah Ok. I could probably do it with lots of sweating then. Take the least controversial story then "
Lol. It's not like that though. There is always a mix of people at things like that and the teacher is usually very good at sorting out the people who imagine they're Charles Dickens reincarnated and want to take the class over. There's always someone who takes themselves way too seriously and produces a very wordy piece of introspection, someone who thinks that if you if you read aloud with a lot of expression it makes the writing good and someone who sits quietly and when it's their turn to read their work is probably the best writer in the class.
It's an experience, it makes you realise just how difficult it is and just (in my case) how far you have to go . |
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I don't write fiction but I like to tell a story.
Both published authors I know tell me having a good and ruthless editor is key to taking a decent rough story and polishing it into a readable novel.
Other than that it's dedication and inspiration. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"The ability to get it written down. The stories are no good just in our head
Sometimes that just where they should stay...
They start leaking out the ears though. Makes a right mess. "
YOU ARE A WRITER!
Creative, imaginative, with a flair for words, the ability to take people to other places, to create new worlds, twist perceptions and engage minds.
You have an innate capacity too see what others dont, weave magic with words and take others on a journey to unexpected places.
YOU ARE A WRITER, with talent, unique, and the skills to be successful. You sometimes even write from the heart.
Being a writer is precarious, not always financially successful, being published sometimes a lottery.
Yet they are not the real measure of a writer. Sometimes financial success seems to come easy to others, but I guess if you ask other writers they will all say that is not even remotely true.
If one other believes in you, then you have an audience...
If only one other believes in you then you should believe too...
The mechanics of writing for a living arent just sitting in an attic gazing at the moon branches tapping against a window, pen in mouth and waiting for inspiration. You already have that in spades.
It's not splendid isolation, more a team, editors, publishers, marketing, sales, and if it's about writing for a living all the infrastructure that surrounds many other businesses.
That business is you.
YOU ARE A WRITER. YOU ALWAYS HAVE BEEN. YOU WRITE IN A WAY THAT SENDERS SHIVERS DOWN MY SPINE.
BELIEVE IN YOU.....
I do....
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"I’ve been watching normal people and Connell is at uni studying English to be a writer
it got me thinking ... are good writers good writers because they studied the craft of the language or because they are just great story tellers that wrote it down
"
There are a couple of decent books by established authors that describe how they have managed to be successful and what it takes to be an author. “On writing” by Stephen King springs to mind. He might not be everyone’s bag but he’s done well for himself without a doubt.
Talent is obviously a part of it but the main thing he suggests is study of craft - lots of reading - and practice. He suggests a daily word limit that you stick to and make sure you achieve every single day to maintain the discipline and get into the routine of being creative on a regular basis. It will feel like work I guess but then it should if you’re doing it for commercial success.
King suggests you can’t make a terrible writer into a good writer with any amount of practice, nor can you turn a good into a great but that most writers are average and through discipline and practice can drag themselves up to a good level.
The rest of it around getting a publisher, editor, people to research and fact check etc sounds like a minefield and one that despite people’s best efforts can hold them back - great books like Carrion Comfort almost went unpublished - but not much you can do about that initially other than put your work out there and hope things go well.
Best of luck, if lockdown carries on much longer then we’re going to need some decent authors to look to! X |
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The qualities needed to be a writer are as varied as the interests and tastes of readers. There are only a couple of absolutes, and they are related to your work ethic. Even if you’re talented, it still takes time and discipline to write.
I’ve seen and read a lot of interviews with great writers, and when asked if they have any tips they almost always say the same thing: read a wide and diverse ranger of material, and practice your craft every day.
Practice will give you the ability to say precisely what you mean... of course knowing precisely what you mean is the real trick. Calvino called it the art of Exactitude in his book Six Memos For The Next Millennium, which is, along with King’s On Writing mentioned above, the only book about writing I can recommend.
For anyone thinking about writing, stop thinking and do it. Writing is amazing! It’s the most fun you can have by yourself. It lets you crystallise your dreams and fantasies, you can create worlds and slay demons and save souls, both literally and metaphorically  |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Making sure you understand how your story appears from the readers point of view, are you creative enough to paint a detailed picture so the reader understands what’s happens and can visualise the scenario |
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