How to improve as an author?

[Fox-Trot-9]

So far I have been doing:

Writing 2, 000 words per day.

Edit everything I write and give it some sleep before posting.

Keep a schedule that works for me (3 chapters a week).

Read a book per week.

Read writing advice (currently I am reading The Fantasy Fiction Formula by Deborah Chester).

Be respectful to commenters, and correct my mistakes when they are pointed out.

Plan the story ahead to avoid getting lost.

Damn, you're doing better than me in the productivity department. From writing, editing, and reading to commenting etiquette and story planning, you're doing well on that front. Even if your efforts so far haven't been rewarded with the recognition you deserve, the fact that you've written so much despite that lack is amazing. It's a testament to your creativity and discipline, which you've got plenty of.

I remain a bad typist. Now I know I have no talent and my creativity is low. There are also very few comments in my stories, so I can't judge in which area I am lacking. Let's be realistic and assume that I am weak in all areas. Are there any ways I can get better?

With that said, don't shortchange yourself! Just because you're not at the level of recognition you wanna have right now doesn't mean you can't get there. It's just you haven't used all the perks of this site yet. I'm looking at your profiles right now on both the main site and on this forum, and you haven't set up an About section yet on either. Also, I see that you haven't used the messages feature on your profile on the main site. You need to make use of that. How can readers find you when you haven't posted any updates/messages about your work/presence there yet? Those features are there for a reason. Use them! Put yourself out there. Put your work out there. Let people know you exist.

 

[Tsuru]

Sorry to bother you, but I need advice if you have time to burn.

I've been writing for a little while, but I'm still suck and can't write a good story to save my life, despite wanting to write. Writing is a hobby for me, but it is irritating for me to not be able to improve.

So far I have been doing:

Writing 2, 000 words per day.

Edit everything I write and give it some sleep before posting.

Keep a schedule that works for me (3 chapters a week).

Read a book per week.

Read writing advice (currently I am reading The Fantasy Fiction Formula by Deborah Chester).

Be respectful to commenters, and correct my mistakes when they are pointed out.

Plan the story ahead to avoid getting lost.

I remain a bad typist. Now I know I have no talent and my creativity is low. There are also very few comments in my stories, so I can't judge in which area I am lacking. Let's be realistic and assume that I am weak in all areas. Are there any ways I can get better?

First and foremost
Writing is like drawing

Also what you are doing is no longer a hobby as you are forcing yourself. (and even having a schedule, proof you are like a worker)


But...........Biggest first point.
READ. Read more until you barf. (/joke but half only)
Bc like game making. Reason nowadays west games are crap, is bc the ones making decisions ARENT GAMERS.
And why eastern CNs are becoming better and not full of faceslaps like 10y ago ? Is bc the young readers grew and wrote themselves the books. (btw manhuas adapts are from trash series that even chineses wont even read, while right now, they got WNs that could rival konosuba etc)

2)
Don't start big And start low

I rec to write a fanfic.
As someone with crap imagination / creativity (despairing in front of blank paper)
Do a fanfic of something already created.
Modifying, is a first step.
Also big mankas all started as assistants lol.

3)
Stop this schedule.

And return to fundamental fun of a hobby. Having fun.
Want to write ? Do it.
Doesnt want to ? Take a break / half-give up and go binge read a book. Until you go back to writing for fun.

4)
Advices are good to write, but sometimes its better to simply write whatever you want.

All old series, movies, etc
were all done without any advices and wanted to tell a "story"
CHARACTERS were ALIVE.
I mean, did Miyazaki pondered if LAPUTA or Howl castle or CHIHIRO would be a blockbuster globally ? Nope.
Onepunch man author, was a salary man, that did OPM as hobby and never thought it could bring him money (also crappy art first vers.)

5)
Theme

As you ask IMPROVE SKILLS
and not the usual nth thread of "how do i get popularity" (which warm my heart of you being different and your phrasing for it)

I will recommend you, to NOT focus on popularity.
AND PICK WHATEVER YOU WANT TO WRITE.

And its also why BIG POPULAR CREATORS ARE POPULAR. They did WHAT THEY WANTED.
cough Asanagi cough did ultra rough porn and became popular for it. To the point of being famous brand-name. but clearly this person only wanted to sell some random doujin-paper-books in conventions.

Its a question of balance. Popular vs What you want.
You can't put too much in each if you want to succeed.
I mean, chinese authors did some niche "restaurant" novels, there are some, that became timeless classics like "Cook in another world". While some became unpopular. First one had fighting added, and badassry that could please mainstream, vs others were boring as no other points of attractions or even too boring writing of cooking-focus (once saw the author describe 5 paragraphs of the recipe entirely) or too tame.

6) Psychology of human beings

The ultimate EX+ secret,
why eastern games (and lot of entertainment), works
and eastern books works

A) They were clients/use their own products
B) VERY IMPORTANT
Authors, They know full well the psychology OF THEMSELVES
AND OTHERS/readers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sure, its kinda cheating that east authors have the insensitive of SALARY $ per chaps so they have more motivation etc
but
competition vs other novels, too many books, etc
the big brains of easterners,
make it so that authors now guess / predict or even LEAD the readers to what they want to.

Cover, summary, title, 3golden chaps, MC, good looks, MC, heroine, tropes, enemies, etc ?
I and east authors could write a gigantic page for you about each and everything of them, explaining what to do or not.
But in fact, its not studied, but simply subconsciously studied. Simply by READING. Seeing other flops. Seeing other succeed.
----Ex (distant tangent example) : Its like Sora of Hololive
There isnt a study on her "looks" but people will subconsciously (or consciously) understand, that her design is too tame. And creators will then consciously or not, not do the same error for this.------

C) Author must keep their "reader" pov

Reason, gamers are pissed by west game devs => bc they don't play their own games (or follow orders higher-ups / money)
Heck HD2 is currently flopping hard, and innemurable dramas (that i wont tell, you can check reddit/steam forum to understand)
despite the gigantic success.

Welp, its same thing for writing.
You want to be a good author ?
Don't write something that would annoy a reader / your younger self.
A dense MC annoyed you in a book of your past self ? You wont do it.
You were annoyed by tsunderes ? You write a honest heroine.
You are tired of shitty tropes ? Fuck them, and be chinese authors that directly don't follow them or trollingly dodge them (similar to KONOSUBA is "anti-routine")




tldr :
Stop all,
Have fun,
read.
Then write when you want to. What you want to. Whenever you want to.

 

[gaylolis]

hmm you can try reading more good books. if you enjoy classics, you can get a lot of them free in amazon and read them via kindle. if claiming them right away doesn't work you can just use vpn like urbanvpn and claim them there.

like i remember a seller named de marque who gives out lots of free ones. i even manage to nab in search of lost time, catch 22 and 1984.

tho i hadn't got the time to read them yet.

there are also tons of free novels (non classics) out there, but im not sure if they all have good quality. some of them can be good though.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Its a question of balance. Popular vs What you want.
You can't put too much in each if you want to succeed.
I mean, chinese authors did some niche "restaurant" novels, there are some, that became timeless classics like "Cook in another world". While some became unpopular. First one had fighting added, and badassry that could please mainstream, vs others were boring as no other points of attractions or even too boring writing of cooking-focus (once saw the author describe 5 paragraphs of the recipe entirely) or too tame.

Just a side note - I know Asian cinema focuses on food to a ridiculous level (some Italian movies come close but nobody else does AFAICT), but they hardly started it - but they did seem to influence manga and novels as a result.
That said, the Finnish Mabinogion has an entire chapter (and not a short one) on what needs to be done to brew the mead for a wedding - about 10 pages of a recipe. And that text is several hundred years old. They also, at least three times, take a break to describe meals, though, oddly, they do not show people eating, just describe the meals as they are prepared and set out; almost like the James Bond "fade to black instead of showing sex scenes" thing.

 

[Saine]

I'm actually amazed how low your views are with those wordcounts. I think you need to rewrite your story blurbs and schedule your chapters for an american time zone. I really think the time zone is actually the biggest problem. Post your schedule in the Synopsis and schedule your chapters for the same time window sometime in the early afternoon pst and your views should improve.

Your reading to dropped ratio doesn't look bad, I think people are literally just not seeing your story pop up in the first place.

 

[Sylver]

You and me both :(
I started writing in October but I have paused for three weeks now. It's really difficult to continue writing to entertain others when no one is around. Have you seen a comedian try to perform on an empty stage? It feels kind of like that, where the comedian starts to doubt themselves and wonder if they have any talent on comedy to begin with.

People say some writers get a lucky break after some time, but they forget that not everyone does. In truth, I'm hoping that me not continuing the story may produce a comment from someone asking when I will continue, but that hasn't happened. Luck isn't on my side it seems, or maybe I've been in benial about my work. Maybe it's much simpler to acknowledge that I'm not good at writing and that writing isn't for me.

I mean I like it, a lot. I'm dyslexic, so I know I wouldn't be pushing this if I didn't like it. But I don't think that matters when the result is that my story doesn't leave any impact on anyone.

Some writers don't get a following until after numerous stories. Others blow up in popularity whilst beginning their very first story. And the sad ones don't gain any recognition until after they give up or pass away. Writing can be very rewarding or very enburing, just having a few fans would be enough support to keep a writer going.

I hope you find what you're looking for, I really do.

 

[Shard]

The only thing I can think of that hasn't been mentioned yet is to try finding writing prompts once in a while to see how you'd do something that isn't normally your focus. That can help you find ways to change your writing around, which might help a bit. Maybe try writing in a different style for a different story. From what I'm hearing though, you've mostly just had bad luck rather than anything else.

 

[MajorKerina]

Sorry to bother you, but I need advice if you have time to burn.

I've been writing for a little while, but I'm still suck and can't write a good story to save my life, despite wanting to write. Writing is a hobby for me, but it is irritating for me to not be able to improve.

So far I have been doing:

Writing 2, 000 words per day.

Edit everything I write and give it some sleep before posting.

Keep a schedule that works for me (3 chapters a week).

Read a book per week.

Read writing advice (currently I am reading The Fantasy Fiction Formula by Deborah Chester).

Be respectful to commenters, and correct my mistakes when they are pointed out.

Plan the story ahead to avoid getting lost.

I remain a bad typist. Now I know I have no talent and my creativity is low. There are also very few comments in my stories, so I can't judge in which area I am lacking. Let's be realistic and assume that I am weak in all areas. Are there any ways I can get better?

You're doing a lot more than I ever did. It's hard for me to juggle reading and writing together. The only way to get better is to do. Same as exercise same as any task. You just have to do it. Reading about methods is a good way to think about it and reading is a great experience. Honestly, if you want I can go check out your stuff and give you an assessment about what I think. You sound like you're doing everything that anyone would expect a writer to do to improve.

 

[Sergeandgreen]

You're doing a lot more than I ever did. It's hard for me to juggle reading and writing together. The only way to get better is to do. Same as exercise same as any task. You just have to do it. Reading about methods is a good way to think about it and reading is a great experience. Honestly, if you want I can go check out your stuff and give you an assessment about what I think. You sound like you're doing everything that anyone would expect a writer to do to improve.

Well, just doing something a 100 times doesn't necessarily make you better. You have to actively think about how to improve. In writing, that means analysing what you wrote, thinking of ways to improve them, actually improving them, and repeating that so often until the mistakes you usually need to improve don't happen as often or not at all. Getting a detailed feedback (like majorKerina offered) can help, if you are unable to see the mistakes/weaknesses in your own writing, but you won't find someone to babysit you through it every day, every time, for no money, so if you can't judge what is wrong, you need to study stories that you think turned out well and learn from them.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Well, just doing something a 100 times doesn't necessarily make you better. You have to actively think about how to improve. In writing, that means analysing what you wrote, thinking of ways to improve them, actually improving them, and repeating that so often until the mistakes you usually need to improve don't happen as often or not at all. Getting a detailed feedback (like majorKerina offered) can help, if you are unable to see the mistakes/weaknesses in your own writing, but you won't find someone to babysit you through it every day, every time, for no money, so if you can't judge what is wrong, you need to study stories that you think turned out well and learn from them.

You left out one other thing a writer can do to improve: Challenge yourself.
Especially if you hit writer's block in an ongoing story, pick something you would not usually write, or something you do write but in a different way, and write something there.
If you've never written erotica, or isekai, or horror, or whatever but have read some, try writing some - especially if you did NOT enjoy reading it, to see if you can make a version you like.
If you always write in third person, try writing a scene, perhaps a new one, or perhaps one from one of your stories, maybe from the POV of a supporting character, in first person (or, if you always write in first person, try redoing or creating a scene in third person).
Or even look for a thread in Writing Prompts and go with the idea in it.

 

[Story_Marc]

Find a mentor to study under. Someone you respect and who is willing to help you out will likely help you progress far more than just asking questions here.

 

[Bdyerbooks]

I have posted a couple of my chapters, and need feedback on my writing. I know I need to work on a lot of things, but any feedback, even negative is appreciated. The Dark Assassin is the current book I am working on, and I would appreciate any tips, tricks, and hints as to improve the first two chapters.