Besides writing, what's the best way to improve as a writer?

[SouthernMaiden]

I would say reading a variety of genres, and just reading a lot in general.

Also providing and receiving critique, AND actually making changes based on the critique.

 

[MakBow]

Ag

I would say reading a variety of genres, and just reading a lot in general.

Also providing and receiving critique, AND actually making changes based on the critique.

Agreed
I would go as far to say I prefer criticism if anything. I don't give a damn about glaze or praise because they can only do so much. For me, criticism is the best kind of glaze out there, because these people think they can spend their time to dissect what you made.

I would also say that another way to improve is to write in genres you suck at, not just writing in general. That allows for a challenge.

 

[JordanIda]

For every word you post, write a thousand.
For every word you write, read a thousand.

 

[Fox-Trot-9]

Read widely, both inside your preferred genres and outside of them. And it need not always be prose, either: I also read manga and manhwa and manhua, as well, just to throw in some variety.

 

[foxes]

As a last resort, I'm talking to a chatbot. Today, I discussed the issues of dark matter and antigravity with it. It turns out that there are a lot of things that I've come up with that are just as good as those of the scientists. Quantum mechanics doesn't work on the global scale of the universe, and neither does Einstein's theory of relativity. Moreover, they're blindly plugging in a probability formula into general relativity, which is not allowed.

At the same time, I came up theory of an eternal universe with constant inflation and the extrusion of matter by negative gravity to renew the universe. Last time, I solved the problem of dividing by zero. It turns out that if you don't multiply by zero, it's not that difficult to divide by it.

 

[CountVanBadger]

For every word you post, write a thousand.

*Looks nervously at the 257 word post I made earlier*

 

[JordanIda]

Last time, I solved the problem of dividing by zero. It turns out that if you don't multiply by zero, it's not that difficult to divide by it.

LOL. Zero's hard to avoid. That pesky little dot smack in the middle of every graph. Except Argenne graphs. with that little 'i' attached.

Maybe the whole universe is imaginary.

 

[Juia_Darkcrest]

Life experiences
Actively take in other media. Don't just listen/watch it, but consider how and why the characters are written the way they are.
play TTRPGs with extroverts

 

[SouthernMaiden]

Life experiences
Actively take in other media. Don't just listen/watch it, but consider how and why the characters are written the way they are.
play TTRPGs with extroverts

TTRPGs are a great one. Both as a player and a game master. What's your preferred system?

 

[CinnaSloth]

Improve writing by:

Writing

Reading

Watching tv, and scripting the show in your head as you watch
-->Ex: watching a scene and thinking: he took a sip, staring at her from across the room with intrigue... She didn't notice, at first.. etc etc

Talking to your characters about nonsense

Know your characters inside and out

Plotting
-->bulletpoints, graphs, charts, webs, flashcards, whatever helps you retain information about the way you want your story to flow

Editing

Understanding your world
--> government, economics, ethnicities, and customs, holidays etc etc

World building
--> geography, climates, world lore

Thinking
-->THINK, MARK, THINK!!!

 

[Juia_Darkcrest]

TTRPGs are a great one. Both as a player and a game master. What's your preferred system?

I DM for a 5e game, we just finished arc 1 of that campaign last week. Now I am building a custom campaign. It is based in 1939-1940ish Germany

All the players will be cereal mascots, and we are going up against the Nazi's General Mills, trying to discredit and defeat their balanced Breakfast campaign. It will follow 5e kind of but I will be adjusting rules as needed.

I have also dabbled in Call of Cthulu and Blades in the Dark a bit.

 

[SouthernMaiden]

I DM for a 5e game, we just finished arc 1 of that campaign last week. Now I am building a custom campaign. It is based in 1939-1940ish Germany

All the players will be cereal mascots, and we are going up against the Nazi's General Mills, trying to discredit and defeat their balanced Breakfast campaign. It will follow 5e kind of but I will be adjusting rules as needed.

I have also dabbled in Call of Cthulu and Blades in the Dark a bit.

Congratz! Feels awesome to finish an arc.

Your custom campaign sounds absolutely bonkers, but in a good way. I wanna know what mascots your players end up creating

 

[AnonUnlimited]

I’d say telling people stories verbally and seeing how they rate it.

 

[Saltzilla]

Good is subjective, you can write a technical masterpiece in language and people hate the characters, the setting and the story.

So, is the question improve as a writer or a storyteller, because they are very different things.

Some writers focus on describing the world as a focal point, some do it from the person's view of the world and the consequences, others build complex lore and world building to make the world feel alive, but can then lose themselves within the reeds so to speak. Focusing on the small details is great, but if it doesn't add to the story overall, it's just filler or noise and can even take you down a tangent and slow the overall pacing of the story.

Personally, I always think back to the Dragon Ball Cartoons when I was a kid, and remembered the 'filler episodes' and thought to myself, why did those exist, what did they actually offer to the plot other than letting the company stall to come up with the next idea etc. So, I always ask the following whenever I write a chapter:

What is the point of this chapter?
Did it achieve this?​

If it does something to help move the plot along, and did what it intended, then you've removed filler and bloat from the story and people don't feel like the story is meandering along. A lot of disengagement stems from that.

As a practical suggestion, try reading your story as a reader, and you'll naturally come up with things you hate about your story and things you love. The things you hate, will likely answer most of your questions as to how to improve. Or if you want something profound to remember it by...

You are your own harshest critic. If you can master your failures, competence follows.​

 

[CharlesEBrown]

The advice I've been given over the years can be boiled down to:

1. If you aren't writing, read. Or sleep.
2. If you aren't reading, go outside, or spend time with friends and family and just observe people.
3. If you need a break from people, consume other media (TV, movies, comics).
4. When you get tired of that, either get back to writing ... or sleep. Then write. Or start the cycle again.

 

[Kazehiro]

I would say reading a variety of genres, and just reading a lot in general.

Also providing and receiving critique, AND actually making changes based on the critique.

I think, the best way is just to read more.

Like anyone said, the more you know something (in this case, the more you know how the story goes, how the conflicts going up and down, and how building a character connection) the more likely you improve yourself

 

[L1aei]

Read a lot of what is here, but I didn't catch one that helped me out. And I probably know why; it's hard to suggest without receiving the side-eye treatment.

So... this might be very unpopular because the practice is frowned upon, but it does produce results. Here I go.

Firstly, go find that one piece of writing you admire. Maybe it was just a chapter and the rest of the novel is shit. Whatever you enjoyed, grab it, and type it up word-for-word; manually copy it.

Now, after you do that, read a paragraph from it, close the window, and try to rewrite that paragraph from memory. Then, compare yours to the original. When you do, take note where the original writer used a stronger verb or a more catchy, rhythmic sentence structure.

What exactly does this do? For me, it transitions that attractive writing from my eyes to my fingertips; you will hopefully begin to physically feel the rhythm and pacing of whatever you nabbed and wrote down, making it easier to write what you liked.

To be clear: when you try to rewrite from memory, you're not just copying; your brain and hands are learning the rhythm, pacing, and punch of each one of those sentences. You start to feel how strong verbs land and how those incredible sentences start to flow, so you can build that trained instinct into your own writing instead of just noticing it on the page. I'm being serious. This works.

But I would not suggest doing this to a single author or you'll regret it; do this across multiple authors or you'll sound like a clone of that specific author.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Read a lot of what is here, but I didn't catch one that helped me out. And I probably know why; it's hard to suggest without receiving the side-eye treatment.

So... this might be very unpopular because the practice is frowned upon, but it does produce results. Here I go.

Firstly, go find that one piece of writing you admire. Maybe it was just a chapter and the rest of the novel is shit. Whatever you enjoyed, grab it, and type it up word-for-word; manually copy it.

Now, after you do that, read a paragraph from it, close the window, and try to rewrite that paragraph from memory. Then, compare yours to the original. When you do, take note where the original writer used a stronger verb or a more catchy, rhythmic sentence structure.

What exactly does this do? For me, it transitions that attractive writing from my eyes to my fingertips; you will hopefully begin to physically feel the rhythm and pacing of whatever you nabbed and wrote down, making it easier to write what you liked.

To be clear: when you try to rewrite from memory, you're not just copying; your brain and hands are learning the rhythm, pacing, and punch of each one of those sentences. You start to feel how strong verbs land and how those incredible sentences start to flow, so you can build that trained instinct into your own writing instead of just noticing it on the page. I'm being serious. This works.

But I would not suggest doing this to a single author or you'll regret it; do this across multiple authors or you'll sound like a clone of that specific author.

Completely forgot it but was told MOST of this many years ago - the person who suggested it did not say to copy the chapter (or the part about the rest of the book being irrelevant, even if great or awful). But all the rest, yeah. Never tried it myself (or I'd have remembered getting it before) but have heard it.

 

[L1aei]

Completely forgot it but was told MOST of this many years ago - the person who suggested it did not say to copy the chapter (or the part about the rest of the book being irrelevant, even if great or awful). But all the rest, yeah. Never tried it myself (or I'd have remembered getting it before) but have heard it.

Glad to see I ain't alone in being taught this.

 

[Juia_Darkcrest]

Your custom campaign sounds absolutely bonkers, but in a good way. I wanna know what mascots your players end up creating

Yeah

So far we have

the Kellogg's Cornflakes rooster as a fighter. He is working on his Foghorn Leghorn voice for the live stream
The Trix Rabbit. I forget what class she is planning to use, maybe bard
Fruit Loops Tucan Sam - A swashbuckler I think
Count Chocula - Wizard or sorc i think
And I think Tony the Tiger as well as a barbarian


Captain Crunch is me, giving them orders. Though I may change that up.