We need more technical writing threads

I don't know much about this subject so I'll be really interested in seeing people who do know what they're talking about, respond to this.

I feel like my diologe and dynamics between characters is prob the best (potentially only good part) of my writing actually. Grammar and spelling on the other hand is the exact reason why I allow patrons to edit my pages before they go live

My writing does have weaknesses, but I am somebody who went to school in fiction, studies it a lot for fun, and works with it for a living.

When I first got on comic forums, I got frustrated that there wasn't more technical discussion, but I think it makes sense.
1. Most comic forums skew to young writers and hobbyists, so there often are technical threads! They are just more geared to people figuring out the first steps, and that's fine!
2. Many people are just hobbyists, and aren't that interested in digging into the nitty gritty because it's just not fun for them.
3. Forums are just not a good place for in depth discussion. I've found many people respond to the title of a thread without even reading the first post, let alone other replies. And since so many ages, interest levels, and experience levels are represented, most people looking for in depth talk find it elsewhere.

I think it's pretty judgy to assume it's about it not being 'special' though. Narrative themes are fascinating and meaty. "Should I use a comma here" is something you google. It's also something most of us have had to learn in school, while we had to go to the internet for anything more than 'here's the heroes journey'. And I do see threads on how to make dialogue more organic and develop voice.

For things like inconsistent character voice, the problem is often that the author just isn't experienced enough to even know it's something they need to work on. I spent years painstakingly learn faces while unable to see that my people had figures like coke bottles. I needed to advance enough to see the problems before I was ready to ask for help on them, and that's normal!

Also... I still make a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes, though thankfully not in my comic, but that's not lack of practice or effort. My brain just isn't well wired for it

I'm sorry, I used to be an editor so this i something that gets to me. I would absolutely love more people talking about the technicalities of writing. It is important. It takes a lot of practice. All anyone has to do is look back at their own old work and go what the hell was I thinking compared to your current writing to see how you improve with time. It takes time and practice and dedication to figure things out.

There are a lot to things people think are making their writing better and are just crutches that make things distracting, after all. Pro tip guys: said is not dead, please use it and leave descriptive speech tags for important moments. And, of course, infamous for people coming from fanfiction especially, the insistence of describing people (the technical name for this escapes me right now) in place of just using their name or pronoun. "The brunette said" is actually not more effective than "Jane said". If you know the character you don't have to do this, it actually makes your reader stop and go, wait who's the brunette but so many people use it. And let's not even get started on the amount of people who think adding -ette on the end makes it a thing. Pinkette is not a thing, nor is ravenette omg.

There is a skill to writing in a certain way. For instance, I write in an entirely different style when writing something creepy and atmospheric to when I just write a standard piece. And everyone of my regular readers notices, it's an entirely different beast. And a lot of people just don't realise this. Of course, in comics, having art means you have some leeway about things like character voices. Because you can see the character talking, they don't need a distinct voice you can pick out just from a few words. Or so people think.

I say all this, of course, knowing a major issue with my work in typos. I know lots of people do this as a hobby so don't really feel the need to make it perfect Of course these are lot of people who don't have English as their first language. And, interestingly enough, I've been corrected on spelling and sayings that are perfectly common in my version of English but not another version of English. I genuinely had someone go through a chapter once pointing out every time I used an 'ou' where American English just uses a 'u' as lectured me on it.

The YouTube channel 'hellofutureme' has a lot of useful technical writing stuff. It helped me better my pacing, figure out what actually needs to be in my story and much more. He gives advice in a way a teacher would in that it can appeal to any genre for the most part and doesn't alienate you with over the top speech. He's written a book and is also an editor. I can't recommend him enough

He also does super cool character essays.

What about having a group of people of different "ages, interest levels, and experience levels" makes in-depth discussion impossible?? I would think such an environment would foster discussion, since everyone will come in with different questions, concerns, and perspectives.
Besides, where can you find a community where everyone's the same...?

Ahh... how do I get into this without sounding really arrogant.

I have a lot of trouble finding art books that are useful to me.

When I first started drawing, there were tons of books on how to use simple shapes to make faces, how perspective works, and basic art composition. Now those books don't tend to contain anything new. More advanced books get very "here's the perfect oil painting technique for rough sees using a palette knife", so if I'm working on something new in art, I often search for months to find one with the information I need.

Diverse experiences are good. Diverse skills levels... are best for people who are just starting out. We have plenty of 101 technical threads. "how do I write good dialogue" or "help me with grammar". It's not that I claim to be perfect at these, but I've been around the block enough that I don't tend to see anything new. I can only really give advice and encouragement.

The more specific and complex the issue, the more likely it will be
A) Totally irrelevant to most people here and clog up the forums
B) People will lack the background to answer and either not answer, or give information that ranges from useless to incorrect

So if I want to say 'hey, does the pacing in chapter three feel okay', forums can be very helpful, but if I want to say "I need advice for making this character's highly specific verbal choices not control their characterization" I don't tend to find forums very helpful, at least not ones that aren't geared to narrative theory nerds. Even if there is one or two people who have really amazing insight, a thread is not an easy place for a long, dense conversation. It feels like walking into a local family game night and demanding people teach you the finer points of Shogi. Is there a chance some Shogi nerds are there? Probably. But are you going to mostly annoy a lot of people and get a few people reading you the wikipedia page on Shogi? Probably. I'd rather find a Shogi club and go there.

The discussions you wish people were having are happening, just not at a level that interests you. Which is why discussions where a beginner and a master can both have valid input, like genre and morality, get far more interaction. And if you want threads that aren't just the basics, a general forum isn't the place to look.

I agree, there needs to be more threads discussing solely the technicalities of writing. I've reviewed a few novels on here and almost all of them had issues with descriptions, pacing, diction, sentence structure, and grammar. Now for some, english wasn't their first language, but that's more of a reason to have a forum topic about getting better in those areas. And I see calling oneself a hobbyist as just an excuse to not further understanding. If you do care enough to post your publicly or ask for criticism in the forums, then you can care enough to learn more about what you do. I personally don't creating my comic or writing short stories a hobby, but more as a skill I should refine. But I, like many others, have other responsibilities that come first. So while I might see having this all as a hobby an excuse to not get better, it is, at least, an understandable and reasonable excuse. But if you are doing this in your free time, might as well spend some of that time learning how to write more entertaining and cohesive stories.

As a writer, I am so glad it's finally been put into words what is so difficult about the craft. Everyone and their mother thinks they can write, but they never understand the colour, atmosphere and what a brutal beast flow can be for the tone of a story - and also how it can ruin it.
I have to admit though, that it is definitely a sense of feeling for language that makes a good writer good, and it's not something that necessarily can be learnt. Grammar and such is something anyone can learn if they stick with it and are dedicated, but the poetry within description is just something you need to sort of feel in your fingertips as you write.

Personally, I am very lucky to have something called word-colour synaesthesia: every paragraph, character and chapter I write, have a sense of colour, like paint on canvas? I can tell when some colours don't go well, and when the 'shape' of the flow is jarring compared to the rest of the work. Especially when I come up with writing, and then in editing I sort of refine along the edges to make the feelings stand out better and more crisp.

THIS. IS. WHAT. I'VE BEEN. TALKING. ABOUT.

I made a post about feeling like I didn't have enough words (specifically pertaining to dialogue in comics, but same difference). It's like when your in school and they tell you your paper has to be 500+ words, so you just add more words to describe something. Honestly, sometimes I think it's better to just keep it simple.

I had a teacher who once said that "writing is like kissing, in that everyone thinks they're amazing, until they're told otherwise." It looks deceptively easy, but honestly, we are all in a constant state of learning how to do it better and will keep screwing it up until the day we die.

I think a lot of people are just so excited to start a comic that they don't plan ahead--so their writing feels like a rough draft. It's sort of a rookie mistake. That and I see a lot of people say they don't like to read books or novels--but they're writing comics. In order to write well, you have to read. So overall I think it's not just a lack of discussion about the technicalities of writing that's happening, but also just a lack of reading. People need to read more. Way more. You can't create in a vacuum where you're never inspired by a better author's prose.

Me find it funny that "rational fiction" am considered genre on Internet. When me look at examples it either "protagonist whose goal me personally agree with" or "writings of workmanlike quality."

It seem that many many people am so accustom to bad writing, when they encounter actual writing skill it like whole new world.

I'm often surprised by the lack of reading/research some writers don't do. I'm always reading/watching something new about writing. I want to continue to learn.

Some do want to learn, and they don't know where to start. Others, I'm not sure if they don't understand (or don't want to), or they genuinely think their writing is good. It's unfortunate that a lot of writers aren't open to feedback, either because they feel like it's an attack against them, someone actually gave them feedback that wasn't actually constructive, or they aren't really looking for feedback, they just want their ego stroked. I will gladly take feedback from anyone. I may not always agree with it, but I'll definitely take it into consideration.

And to a degree, some things are subjective, but the basics are important. There's so much out there to learn! I've found a lot from basic research.

I do agree with @rajillustration about writers needing to read. I think it's a valuable tool to give you insight into different styles and genres! I also agree that we'll keep messing it up until we die

• Do some research
• Always be willing to learn (because you'll always have something to learn)
• Read, read, read

One thing I've found on this site is that most authors here have a hard time with pacing. They usually begin extremely slow and detailed then skip over the important stuff in an attempt to keep their story flowing. This is especially true when someone begins to describe their main character. They start off with a few sentences on their looks then move on to their personality. The looks description can be a bit hard to avoid at first but the personality part bugs me to the extreme. If someone is broody and grumpy that's cool and all but why are you telling me that instead of having them be isolated because of their behavior or have at least another character point it out.
Another thing that also tends to mess with me when reading is when people give their characters more than one nickname right off the bat and continuously switch between them. I spend so much time trying to figure out who the heck is talking that I stop caring about what they are saying/doing.

The TITLE is a bit misleading. On reading it, I wondered why 'technical writing' needs to be discussed on a site that hosts mostly fictional writing and web-comics.

The definition for Technical Writing is - Technical writing is a type of writing where the author is writing about a particular subject that requires direction, instruction, or explanation. This style of writing has a very different purpose and different characteristics than other writing styles such as creative writing, academic writing or business writing.

A better TITLE would be - We need more threads on Writing Technique and Execution.