What are some things you wish you knew when you started writing?

Tarrow said:

What are some things you wish you knew when you started writing?

The type of things you learn months/years later and kick yourself for not knowing earlier. Just thought it would be interesting to ask.

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How to Paragraph properly.

I'd say I'm relatively new. I'd definitely heard of "Show, don't Tell", but the first time I started getting feedback that was the main issue I kept running into.

So yeah, if there was one writing tip I'd give to complete beginners is that "Show, don't Tell" is going to be one of the first stumbling blocks they'll face.

How to write. Sometimes I feel like I still haven't learned how. It feels like sometimes I'm just spewing nonsense and calling it a story. But that's half the fun of it, just putting words down that make me happy.

writerwolf359 said:

I wish I had believed that I could write earlier in life. Instead, I lacked confidence in myself for so long that I didn’t seriously try until my 30’s.

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are you me? lol
I resemble that remark

To keep writing no matter what.

If I had just told myself not to give up, I guess I would have been done writing a couple of books. Many books I've written before were dropped because of demotivation and thinking to myself that no one's ever gonna read it.

The thing is that writing takes time to get recognition, and once you do get the recognition you wanted for your work, every time spent writing a letter itself will be so worth it!

Tarrow said:

The type of things you learn months/years later and kick yourself for not knowing earlier. Just thought it would be interesting to ask.

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generic list...
1) have an idea, write the first chapter.
2) you should have some idea what the story (conflict) is. immediately? write the last chapter. or at least have a *firm* goal of what it is.
3) try to avoid all the "-ly" words. most can be avoided by restructuring the sentence.
4) avoid repeating the same word too close together. you should have vocabulary, you're a writer. you can catch these on proofing/editing passes.
5) story can't be too linear. you need some twist or reveal. plop that chapter where it goes. you can write to it, and after it to the ending (you made the ending, right?)
6) don't use a english teachers graded outline. That, plan every paragraph nonsense. Just a list of say 1 to 20, each line in the list gets a sentence fragment. That's what that chapter goal is. once you have a skeletal outline, it will prevent wandering and meandering and sprawling.
7) character models, use them. they fix half of whats wrong with new writers that they struggle to fix.
8) finding you voice, is one of those nebulous things. like when doing classical composition? people say "you need to really have something to say, dude." for me, this was finding first person and getting used to it. I used to not like it. and when i tried it, it didnt work. years later, i tried it on a lark and it worked perfect for me. been on a steady roll since. so, finding your voice, for me? was first person.
9) show dont tell, and kill your darlings. these are good things but I feel too many people use them to have something to say and they know it sounds profound.
10) coming around the bend, I'm learning other stuff now. the short shocking or interesting first chapter, so I can then do my usual slow build up to get the plot going.
11) the simplest most basic of plots, can be the most compelling. one of my novels i like perhaps the best? started out as not. it was just a writing exercise, to see if something would work. So I just grabbed the most generic of plot ideas as a plot device to do the writing exercise. damn thing started writing itself.

I just decided to try narrative change. IE, my (added to fix) first chapter to satisfy the opening hook rule. the short shocking opening chapter, is in third person. the whole novel, is in first person. i *think* its working, but I'll see. I definitely like the switch from the third person preface, to the first chapter first person. I'm thinking of it as the "light intro" to give the classical composition more "weight". *shrugs* analogies and metaphors, i'm a writer what do you expect.

I wonder what else I need to know. I'm sure I'm missing stuff.

I keep fine-tuning as I go. I had a problem with too many parenthetical questions. Example:

Is this really the way to go about this? I'm not sure, at all. I suppose I'm about to find out.
fixed...
Is this really the way to go about this, I'm not at all sure. I suppose I'm about to find out.

I also had comma-itis, and I cringe seeing all those question marks and commas when I go back and read an older text. Before I post them here, I have to do a read through slowly fixing them chapter by chapter. I used to make up a lot of my own words, I put the squelch on that. I did a lot of *this*, and I stopped that one. I started abandoning words I know are real words, but they're not in my spell dictionary in my text editor, I just noodle around and make those red underlines go away. Probably a reason its not in the editor spell dictionary anyways, lol.

I'm more concerned about flow, than actual grammar rules. As long as i can read it fast and nothing seems amiss, then its right. I don't know why I naturally produce alliteration and it sounds good to me, but when it feels like it reinforces something, I use it.

last thing. number 7, the character models. There are *all* these methods for character this that and the other. Bubbles, and diagrams, and all this stuff. I use none of them. I pick a person I can "see" them as the character or side character. LIke, I'm thinking they would be a good actor to play the "part" in my story. maybe the waitress I know for years? Is the secretary. I can now describe things to a T. I know how she dresses. her mannerisms,. how she speaks. things she says, all of it. her flaws, make my character more real. that secretary is now not a cardboard cutout. shes real and alive? because she is! Best kept secret in the industry, you almost never hear it said anywhere.

but from day 1, the first time I wrote my first short story for fun. This, trumps all.

when i read, I get a little movie in my head. when I write? I've been daydreaming and imagining something until its "cool". When I sit down to write at the end of the day or on the weekend? I'm just writing out that movie in my head. Its the reverse process of reading, that way.

in hindsight, I would say this. Yeah, I always dreamed of that giant, epic, thing. all these characters, the big group splits up, on separate things, all that. (think, LOTR here)
now, i think in terms of *few* characters. *simple* plot. 200 to 300 page paperback, not... a trilogy of 800 page monsters. a small, limited setting. It can all take place in a small setting, with few characters. with character models driving dialog and character characteristics, it works better, I think.

I wrote two "monsters" of projects. One, was basically the origin story for this one character. The other? ended up being the origin story for the other. The two characters, I re-used. Together. They produced so far, three tight concise paced regular novels. okay, one went a little over, but i didn;t let it go monster sized. if just one or two of those, is what "makes it" for me? all the other sprawling monsters, was worth it. I *know* those several characters down cold. I know everything about them, because I've used them so much.

remember. when you see that one, perfect, paperback you liked reading it. 300 pages, it was kino. you;re seeing the end result of WHO knows how much work was shelved getting there. I keep telling myself? I only need *one* that's "right".

peace out.

grammar

Tarrow said:

The type of things you learn months/years later and kick yourself for not knowing earlier. Just thought it would be interesting to ask.

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Literally paragraphs. I was a Fanfic.net addict back in the day. And I had chapter length paragraphs. It was horrific.

I wish I had understood pacing better. When I first started I would have a "brilliant idea" and then I would rush to get it incorporated. Ultimately it did not work and just looked like paragraphs of a lore dump with some witty dialogue sprinkled in. It was embarrassing.

Writing advice is not strictly black and white. "Show don't tell" doesn't mean you have to show every little thing. "Avoid adverbs" doesn't mean you can't use an adverb in certain situations. And there are cases where general advice of what to do or not do might not apply to your specific story. Rules have exceptions.

Also, don't obsess over making every little detail perfect for something people are reading for free. That's for if you're actually publishing.