What Would You Tell Your Younger Writer Self?

Landon_Elder 2024-10-24 02:21:37 UTC #1

Hi everyone! I am curious to hear what you would say as advice to your younger self when you started writing.

I am still a very new writer and I am seriously looking at improving to become a better writer and becoming better with everything. From grammar, character development, book cover design, show don't tell, pacing, etc.
I want to be able to create a story one day that has minimal flaws and actually makes for an interesting read not just something people decide to take a look at and then click away as an ad. I would love to learn from you all
and also see what you guys recognize about yourself as an older writer now.

I will post my novel here just as reference. This is my first novel. I wish I knew how to make good free cover art. Also, for that matter, any affordable ways to afford good cover art?

Feel free to post your novel link down below. Just please don't send link without saying anything and please don't try to do sub4sub here.

MelancholicOtaku 2024-10-24 03:02:54 UTC #2

To keep writing,you can’t get better at something if you don’t practice at it. Also to keep track of random brainstorming sessions ,never know when a so called useless ideas might come in handy. Also basic outlines are really useful .

remiquise 2024-10-24 03:06:07 UTC #3

I would want to tell her not to take criticism so to heart, but I doubt that would get through to her. I used to have a backbone of jelly, but I guess being in a home where the only parent around calls you useless and the "biggest mistake of [her] life" and lets your brother beat you does that to girl.
So I don't think I would tell her anything. Sure, I would have continued to destroy anything that had one thing bad said about it, but I know for a fact that never made me entirely give up. I did, after all, spend all of high school writing a story with my best friend which was my biggest escape from my life.

But that's all depressing and super tailored to me, which I'm sure doesn't help you on your journey which is probably why you posted this. So I'll try to give some advice to help you out;

Don't take criticism to heart. Easier said than done, I know. And don't think all criticism is 100% correct. I go to writing groups and share my work with coworkers and what-not now and passages I write can get a wide array of suggestions. Writing group may love my wordy-ness and descriptions and use of archaic words and such while coworkers might call it too much and pretentious. Be open to input, but also remember your writing is your vision and you needn't take all suggestions.
Learn the rules, know how to use them, but don't think that means they cannot be broken. "Show don't tell" is a great thing and all, but sometimes you do need the gut punch of just spelling it out. Sentences and paragraph structure is a need-to-know, but you can use spacing and broken sentences or words to really drive home a point. Grammar is important, of course, but you can let that kind of stuff pass with conversation, for example. If almost makes it sounds more human if sometimes people aren't speaking with 100% accuracy. Writing, when it comes to fiction, is very much an art form. You can still play around with it. All this is not telling you to discard those rules, simply learn when you can mess with them to enhance your work. The vast majority of your writing will still lean on them.
Expanding your vocabular is important. Consuming other creative work and working different words into your every day speech makes it so much easier to write them. You don't have to think "Hm. what's an interesting and descriptive word for old/twisted/filled with knots" if "Gnarled" is already worked into your lexicon. Warning that doing this will sometimes confuse people-- not because they don't know these "less common" words, but because it's defiantly weird and pretentious sounding to drop them in casual conversation. On the note of diction, if you look up words in a thesaurus only use the ones you know. Thesaurus use should be more to remind you other words exist, not to find brand new ones. Words are weird and funky and if used in a "technically not wrong but kind of off" way you'll just sound pretentious... or like you looked it up in a thesaurus.
*Write what YOU want. Don't fuss about if it's not what's typically popular. The easiest way to start hating your project is to cater to others and not yourself.
*If you can, join a local writer's group. You can learn a lot from others.
oh. And the typical "practice practice practice".

Landon_Elder 2024-10-24 03:13:36 UTC #4

Thank you so much for your response!

Landon_Elder 2024-10-24 03:15:31 UTC #5

Thank you remiquise for really taking the time to write me all of this seriously I truly appreciate it. I will take all of your advice and tips in mind. I know what worked for you won't perfectly work for me like it wouldn't for anyone as we are all unique. However, I do appreciate all the advice and I can for sure use some of it to improve my own writing. I will make sure to write what I love, do my best to develop a thick skin, and do all of the other things you mentioned. Thanks again for taking the time to develop such a thought out well response. I hope you have a great rest of your day or night and good luck with your stories! ^^

vfaqvrf 2024-10-24 03:44:06 UTC #6

(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)

AmysGames 2024-10-24 04:03:46 UTC #7

Thinking about it, I'm not sure I'd want to give my younger self any writing advice. Not in that I didn't have anything to improve, I definitely did, but I'm not sure I would have wanted to hear it.

I would rather my younger self remain motivated and write what she wants to write. Maybe that would be my advice? Write what you want to write?

Aeneas1 2024-10-24 04:06:39 UTC #8

I won’t lie to you. It won’t be easy to make it as a writer, and god forbid you should pimp yourself out to Hollywood. People won’t appreciate your work immediately - many of them will struggle to make sense of your ideas. Success doesn’t come free of charge. You have to do whatever it takes to acquire popularity.

Landon_Elder 2024-10-24 04:07:26 UTC #9

Can we be besties? because you are so freaking relatable! XD

Landon_Elder 2024-10-24 04:09:19 UTC #10

Oh yeah I for sure know it isn't going to be easy. I knew that and decided long and hard before trying to take this seriously. If it was easy everybody would be successful. I am prepared for it. Even if I don't succeed that's not the worst thing. The worst thing to me is not even trying and thinking about the what ifs. I am not going to do anything irrational (like giving up a day job. I am very much ambitious about my corporate work or working towards it since I am in college), but at least I can say I am giving it my all before whatever lies in the future happens. Good luck on your own stories as well! I have seen your name around and it shows me you are working hard as well.

kyupol 2024-10-24 07:40:55 UTC #11

"Go chill out bro. Stop taking everything so seriously."

There. That's what I'll tell my younger self.

arcaneer99 2024-10-24 07:46:08 UTC #12

Hello @Landon_Elder. My younger self would never believe I'd finish a full length novel in this life. I would tell him these things to give him the courage of a writer:

Don't let criticism turn you away.
Don't throw away any ideas.
Explore your genres.
Let your story shine naturally.

If he follows these tips, he'll create stories like this

Tubacabra 2024-10-24 07:53:06 UTC #13

I would probably tell my younger self to get serious and finish what you start, because maybe then I wouldn't have dozens of half baked stories with less than two paragraphs rotting away in my Google docs. 🤣🤣🤣

I would also tell myself not to write on paper, because you'll never get around to digitizing them like your tenth grade creative writing teacher suggested.

But in all seriousness, I would say that the most important opinion you'll ever receive is your own. Critic and reader feedback is all well and good, but if you don't like what you're writing, it's okay to change the direction. Don't worry about what other people will say, because the betrayal of one's own soul is the most heinous betrayal of all. Good luck, and happy writing!

Aesthetically yours,
Tubacabra

Tubacabra 2024-10-24 08:00:47 UTC #14

@remiquise This is so heartbreaking to hear! It mortifies me that a parent would ever say that to their child. I'm so sorry you had to go through this, but you've probably heard all these empty sentiments before. I just want you to know that you are an important part of this community, and I hope that, wherever you are in the world, you're able to feel the warmth and love of a true family one day. Thank you for just being you.

remiquise 2024-10-24 13:38:57 UTC #15

@Tubacabra
Hah, thank you thank you. It is what it is, and I'm a grown woman now and have moved on enough. I got a life of my own, a (rented) place, a job, a small handful of friends, my two lovely cats, and the friend I used to write story's with family basically adopted me so I got them lol. I only really see my family for holidays. So really there's no need to fuss over it.

Leyelle 2024-10-24 13:57:20 UTC #16

Take the time to get to know your characters. Don't just dive into a story head long. Yeah, you can write out any scene ideas you have so you don't forget them or lose your inspiration but it's worth while to sit down and make character design sheets, daydream your characters behaving in the most basic scenarios (like morning routines, going to the zoo, etc) so you can get a firm grasp on their personalities and find consistencies. It'll help your writing a lot.

Also take the time to write the things you want to write. Don't waste all your time trying to write what you think will sell.

Those are my tips for my younger self

Emalie 2024-10-24 14:53:15 UTC #17

I would tell my younger self not to have too high expectations for your writing, but also not to be discouraged from trying.

Read and read, learn from writers who inspire you.

Don't be repetitive and expand your vocabulary.

Keep improving your English.

Learn and apply what others advise you, but don't take it personally.

Enjoy the process of writing; it may not be your best work, but you will learn a lot from it.

Cheekybee07 2024-10-26 03:39:51 UTC #18

I would tell my younger writer self not to be afraid of a blank page. Just tell the story you always wanted to read for yourself and go from there

Ordinaryaverageguy 2024-10-26 22:38:04 UTC #19

That your story is not like inventing a better mouse trap... the world will not "beat a path to your door."

2DLenzy 2024-10-28 16:25:59 UTC #20

DELETE IT!!!!

Kidding. It would depend on what age I meet myself at...

12: Sly Cooper fanfic? Are you a furry? Eh, that's alright, but don't ever go online. Wait until you're 16 to be traumatized by that fandom...
16: Hey! You're Mary Shelley's age when she wrote Frankenstein. Write that cringe sci-fi novel! You will never publish it, but that's okay. You'll learn alot from the experience!
21: Oh, historical fiction? Good luck, you'll be on it for five or six years. But you will learn so much about India in WW1 and the Quit India movement. Also, you'll have a thing for penguins. Yeah, it's weird.
26: WTF is this?!
28: Still not published anything? That's okay. You'll emerge out of your cocoon with a comic about a chicken who's a friar...Yes, I'm being serious...