First time Writer, Long time reader

[WittyKitty]

Hi guys,
I am an avid reader, I always loved reading all sorts of books and decided to also give it a try.
And it is hard.
I started my first book and I think I am doing ok, I can crank out about 2-3K words a day and I am happy. But then I look back at what I wrote and I am dissatisfied, and spend a whole day re-writing the chapter. It is a vicious cycle in which I just go back and forth and find it hard to continue.
Maybe it is my writing style, which is just me write what I think sounds good. I think that I might not be descriptive enough. Can you guys look at my synopsis here and tell me your honest opinion of my writing style?

"
Hu Weiqi is a 28-year-old, happy go lucky, man and his life has always been smooth sailing.
Before he was born, his grandfather met a Taoist priest and received a divination indicating that his soon-to-be-born grandson had a verry lucky fate, therefore he was named Weiqi (very lucky).
However, Weiqi’s lucky life ends abruptly, when he is hit by a truck Weiqi’s first thought is: “Hey, what about my Very Lucky fate. Grandpa, you better ask that Taoist quack for a refund.”
While he is waiting for death, or pain, or to finally fall back down “Hmm, it seems that the truck hit me so hard, it broke gravity” Weiqi opens his eyes only to find himself in a strange place.
Spouting nonsense right in front of him there is an arrogant boy, there is also a man in white that looks like he came from ancient times, then a man in black in the same ancient style suddenly appears. Yes, appears, out of thin air.
Weiqi thinks he might have transmigrated. Sadly, not like those cheating transmigration stories, where he has memories from the original person, nor where he reads a book and he knows what is supposed to happen, he does not get super OP power either “Oh, apparently his soul does not conform to the rules of this world, so the Underworld has no effect on him, so maybe that is his OP power”.
But still, he would prefer something more tangible, such as money, or a way out of here, or a god damn jacket, he does not like the cold.
Weiqi is simply thrown in a world where he knows nothing, his pants don’t fit him and even this body is not his own. He just met two supervisor of the Underworld (yup, Underworld) and after a short conversation they just left him, right there, in the middle of the forest, or god-damned mountain for all he knows.
Thus, as he is shivering and trying to find out how to get out of here and ponders if ghosts are real or not since there is, you know, THE UNDERWORLD, he thinks, “Hey, if the Underworld cannot collect my soul, does that make me an immortal?” (Spoiler: No)
So, thinking about it, he got hit by a truck and he is still alive, albeit in a strange place, but alive nonetheless, so was that Taoist priest right? Is his fate Very Lucky?"

 

[AnonUnlimited]

Not very good.
Words and conversation don’t seem natural.

Re-writing is a good thing. First time writers often compare their writing with someone else’s and it often comes off generic.

You need to spend a lot of time developing your own narrative voice in 3rd person.

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

Hi guys,
I am an avid reader, I always loved reading all sorts of books and decided to also give it a try.
And it is hard.
I started my first book and I think I am doing ok, I can crank out about 2-3K words a day and I am happy. But then I look back at what I wrote and I am dissatisfied, and spend a whole day re-writing the chapter. It is a vicious cycle in which I just go back and forth and find it hard to continue.
Maybe it is my writing style, which is just me write what I think sounds good. I think that I might not be descriptive enough. Can you guys look at my synopsis here and tell me your honest opinion of my writing style?

"
Hu Weiqi is a 28-year-old, happy go lucky, man and his life has always been smooth sailing.
Before he was born, his grandfather met a Taoist priest and received a divination indicating that his soon-to-be-born grandson had a verry lucky fate, therefore he was named Weiqi (very lucky).
However, Weiqi’s lucky life ends abruptly, when he is hit by a truck Weiqi’s first thought is: “Hey, what about my Very Lucky fate. Grandpa, you better ask that Taoist quack for a refund.”
While he is waiting for death, or pain, or to finally fall back down “Hmm, it seems that the truck hit me so hard, it broke gravity” Weiqi opens his eyes only to find himself in a strange place.
Spouting nonsense right in front of him there is an arrogant boy, there is also a man in white that looks like he came from ancient times, then a man in black in the same ancient style suddenly appears. Yes, appears, out of thin air.
Weiqi thinks he might have transmigrated. Sadly, not like those cheating transmigration stories, where he has memories from the original person, nor where he reads a book and he knows what is supposed to happen, he does not get super OP power either “Oh, apparently his soul does not conform to the rules of this world, so the Underworld has no effect on him, so maybe that is his OP power”.
But still, he would prefer something more tangible, such as money, or a way out of here, or a god damn jacket, he does not like the cold.
Weiqi is simply thrown in a world where he knows nothing, his pants don’t fit him and even this body is not his own. He just met two supervisor of the Underworld (yup, Underworld) and after a short conversation they just left him, right there, in the middle of the forest, or god-damned mountain for all he knows.
Thus, as he is shivering and trying to find out how to get out of here and ponders if ghosts are real or not since there is, you know, THE UNDERWORLD, he thinks, “Hey, if the Underworld cannot collect my soul, does that make me an immortal?” (Spoiler: No)
So, thinking about it, he got hit by a truck and he is still alive, albeit in a strange place, but alive nonetheless, so was that Taoist priest right? Is his fate Very Lucky?"

Is English your first language?

 

[Ekeriel]

The overall idea seems pretty good, I would suggest following the these tips with regards to your synopsis:

- Always have third-person with past tense, it’s kind of the “standard” way of writing since it makes tenses more consistent overall. Also, present tense can be incredibly difficult to write in (in my experience) unless your story is always happening in present tense
- Avoid flipping between tenses (even if it makes sense) as this can easily break the flow and coherence of your writing, making the reader less immersed in it
- Put double quotations around “Very Lucky”
- Thoughts need to be in single quotations ‘’
- New line whenever there is a new speaker

Feel free to disregard any of the tips above as I have found them to work in my own personal experience but they may not work for you.

 

[WinterTimeCrime]

Not to be rude, but even though you're a first-time writer, depending on the genre and level of writing you've previously read shows in your first draft. And I can definitely see that your literature was subpar.

Writing quality needs work. First off, sentences irrelevant to quotations from characters should be on different lines. You don't want to confuse your readers, so make sure all independent clauses, actions, and dialogue, are on different lines so they can be consumed evenly.

Next, your grammar needs to be worked on as well. Make sure to include periods and proper punctuation at the end of sentences. Also, you used parentheses to comment on some of the dialogue from your characters... Don't do that, as that's not how dialogue truly goes. However, if you want to try that type of authorship out, try 'Showing and Not Telling,' and enforce what you mean through the story, not your nitpicks.

Storywise, thank goodness this is your first draft because it definitely needs to be polished. I can definitely observe and enjoy stories that throw you into a dire situation, but this one was just way too incomprehensible. It feels like this is a storyboard for a generic transmigration plot, and someone found the script and started writing with bits and pieces... I don't think so.

However, I will say that once you start reading quality work, watch a few videos on proper writing etiquette, and perhaps... Learn a bit of English...? Then you should be all set.

Keep on writing, everyone had to start somewhere.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

 

[WittyKitty]

Not very good.
Words and conversation don’t seem natural.

Re-writing is a good thing. First time writers often compare their writing with someone else’s and it often comes off generic.

You need to spend a lot of time developing your own narrative voice in 3rd person.

Ok, will do. Thank you for the input.

Is English your first language?

English is not my first language. But I have been speaking it for over 20 years, not very well apparently. :)

The overall idea seems pretty good, I would suggest following the these tips with regards to your synopsis:

- Always have third-person with past tense, it’s kind of the “standard” way of writing since it makes tenses more consistent overall. Also, present tense can be incredibly difficult to write in (in my experience) unless your story is always happening in present tense
- Avoid flipping between tenses (even if it makes sense) as this can easily break the flow and coherence of your writing, making the reader less immersed in it
- Put double quotations around “Very Lucky”
- Thoughts need to be in single quotations ‘’
- New line whenever there is a new speaker

Feel free to disregard any of the tips above as I have found them to work in my own personal experience but they may not work for you.

Thank you, that is very helpful information.

Not to be rude, but even though you're a first-time writer, depending on the genre and level of writing you've previously read shows in your first draft. And I can definitely see that your literature was subpar.

Writing quality needs work. First off, sentences irrelevant to quotations from characters should be on different lines. You don't want to confuse your readers, so make sure all independent clauses, actions, and dialogue, are on different lines so they can be consumed evenly.

Next, your grammar needs to be worked on as well. Make sure to include periods and proper punctuation at the end of sentences. Also, you used parentheses to comment on some of the dialogue from your characters... Don't do that, as that's not how dialogue truly goes. However, if you want to try that type of authorship out, try 'Showing and Not Telling,' and enforce what you mean through the story, not your nitpicks.

Storywise, thank goodness this is your first draft because it definitely needs to be polished. I can definitely observe and enjoy stories that throw you into a dire situation, but this one was just way too incomprehensible. It feels like this is a storyboard for a generic transmigration plot, and someone found the script and started writing with bits and pieces... I don't think so.

However, I will say that once you start reading quality work, watch a few videos on proper writing etiquette, and perhaps... Learn a bit of English...? Then you should be all set.

Keep on writing, everyone had to start somewhere.

Thank you, I will do a little more research.

View attachment 15467

That is actually very inspirational.
I really like it.
Thank you for posting it.

 

[TLCsDestiny]

I'm not the best at English and grammar either...so don't put yourself down too much. All we can do is try to do better. The more you do something, the better you get at it (most of the time). If you want to add something, try picturing what the character might be feeling or seeing. And...If i suddenly died and was able to continue thinking, I'd be thinking more then that! lol. Nonetheless, don't be discouraged. If you like writing, keep doing it!

 

[WittyKitty]

I'm not the best at English and grammar either...so don't put yourself down too much. All we can do is try to do better. The more you do something, the better you get at it (most of the time). If you want to add something, try picturing what the character might be feeling or seeing. And...If i suddenly died and was able to continue thinking, I'd be thinking more then that! lol. Nonetheless, don't be discouraged. If you like writing, keep doing it!

Ha, I like that "If I suddenly dies and then continued thinking"
But thank you, I will work harder and research a lot more.
Maybe by the time I refine it, it will be a gem, or at least a smooth pebble. :)

 

[CypherTails]

View attachment 15467

This is probably the best advice honestly. From my personal experience everyone starts writing at a certain level say levels 1-10. Some start at 1 others at 3. At the start you will be trapped at a level and you won't be able to go up. I feel that is because you haven't mastered that level yet. You need to get to the point where writing at that level comes as naturally as reading. Once that happens you can start to add stuff to your writing in little pieces. Then once you master incorporating those little pieces in then you add more. So on and on it goes until you eventually get good. Story writing isn't something that can be learned in a structured manner, because the story needs to flow from you to the page. If the writing process feels unnatural it is unlikely the story is going to be good. So the thing you should focus on is getting comfortable first then advancing.

Of course this is my experience. But I advocate for this because writing is supposed to be fun and not a slog. As the quote said, people quit and I think maybe that's because they try to do this process too quickly. They try to force improvement and it kills the fun of writing. My best advice is take it slow, its not a race, just have fun and eventually you will improve.

 

[WittyKitty]

This is probably the best advice honestly. From my personal experience everyone starts writing at a certain level say levels 1-10. Some start at 1 others at 3. At the start you will be trapped at a level and you won't be able to go up. I feel that is because you haven't mastered that level yet. You need to get to the point where writing at that level comes as naturally as reading. Once that happens you can start to add stuff to your writing in little pieces. Then once you master incorporating those little pieces in then you add more. So on and on it goes until you eventually get good. Story writing isn't something that can be learned in a structured manner, because the story needs to flow from you to the page. If the writing process feels unnatural it is unlikely the story is going to be good. So the thing you should focus on is getting comfortable first then advancing.

Of course this is my experience. But I advocate for this because writing is supposed to be fun and not a slog. As the quote said, people quit and I think maybe that's because they try to do this process too quickly. They try to force improvement and it kills the fun of writing. My best advice is take it slow, its not a race, just have fun and eventually you will improve.

Thank you for the advice.
Maybe the first step is really to just get it out, the good the bad and the ugly, and then start to trim and pretty up the story.
I do not want to get overwhelmed and lose my inspiration before I even start shaping the story.

 

[Unregistered]

As much as I'd love to give my take on things, seems like everyone's said what you need to know. Hope things work out well for ya!

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Guess what Noob? Yer a noob. Everyone was a noob once. Get over it. Your first story is going to be a nightmare. Deal with it. Second one as well. Maybe all of them. The only thing that fixes it is TIME. Write. Write more. Keep writing. Write badly. Write nonsense. Write and keep writing. Write when you get sick of it. Keep writing.

If you are going to improve, you need to get over this hump and part of that is just DOING IT. There re no tricks. There are no short cuts. There are no rules. The first step is write, keep writing, and then write some more.

As for rewriting...

1. I write a short outine.
2. I write the ending.
3. I write the midpoint.
4. I write the point between the midpoint and the ending, then the poitn between the midpoint and the beginning.
5. Then I write the beginning.
6. Then I write the first quarter of the book and see if It matches up what I throught I was going to be at.
7. I go back and throw out about half of the crap I wrote. Then I go over it with a fine tooth comb and remove everything that doesn't fit.
8. Rewrite the ending, the midpoint, and the 3/4th point, in that order.

The following get repeated for each quarter.

9. Reread and rewrite the first 1/4th.
10. Put it through a text to speech device. Listen to it spoken out loud. Rewrite it.
11. Have someone else read it. Rewrite it.
12. Reread it, rewrite it, text to speech. rewrite.

at some point I start to publish.

13. I read each chapter as I upload it about a month ahead and rewrite it.
14. The day before I publish, I reread the chapter. Rewrite.
15. If I have time, Text to speech it.

There is a bunch of other rules.

A. Make a pass to make sure all pronouns and proper nouns work.
B. Keyword search for the 10 pointless words/phrases.
C. Check Tense.
D. Read it to enjoy it.

A few more. I don't have my list on this computer.

My point is, if you aren't doing at least 3 rewrites, one of them as you do a text to speech listen to your story, you're not going to catch the errors. You want your work to be GOOD? You'll rewrite it a half dozen times, or you will hire an editor.

However, you are just starting out. Worry about this level of insanity later and just write for now.

 

[WittyKitty]

That is very helpful.
One of the things I never considered was reading out loud and text to speech.
But you are right.
Things that sound ok in my head don't always sound right when spoken aloud.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

That is very helpful.
One of the things I never considered was reading out loud and text to speech.
But you are right.
Things that sound ok in my head don't always sound right when spoken aloud.

Dont read it out loud. You mind will skip things. The computer has no mercy. It is a demon and will speak your words exactly as written. You with hate it. You will stop and restart every sentence. It is nightmarish. However, nothing will point out your mistakes faster. You will improve, or quit.

One or the other.

 

[WittyKitty]

Dont read it out loud. You mind will skip things. The computer has no mercy. It is a demon and will speak your words exactly as written. You with hate it. You will stop and restart every sentence. It is nightmarish. However, nothing will point out your mistakes faster. You will improve, or quit.

One or the other.

Do you have a special program for text-to-speech?
Or do you just use Google?

 

[lambenttyto]

Hi guys,

Hold it right there! I knew it was you--I could smell you, gettin' off the elevator!

Ignore everything they told you.

Who do you think you are? You're not going to write a novel and be happy with it, especially if you compare yourself to anyone else, and especially if you ask people who aren't reading it for enjoyment to see if they like it.

Some elephants can actually pick up brushes and paint pictures on canvas. Is it high art? I couldn't care less, a baby can do better. Some people spend thousands for those paintings.

Storytelling is art.

Write, have fun, enjoy the process and it will become easier for this simple fact. The more you question, the more you ask for help, the harder it will get. I assure you.

Aim to improve with each new project. You can't learn by rewriting.

Yeah that's what I said!!!whowantstofight?!!!

 

[Deleted member 93348]

Ignore everything they told you.

Sadly, that mindset became my downfall, or my new epiphany, to be exact. I wrote my novel out of self-indulgence instead of regarding how readers could grasp my story. The plot was consistent, but it only got me 30+ followers in seven moths because I couldn’t get my point across. Now, I’m writing my upcoming novel on a middle ground idea of writing in your own style (mine is very sarcastic and full of gen Z slang) while also making sure your beta readers can actually follow the plot.

Anyway, long time no see, my dude. I didn’t expect you to be here, but expect my next novel to be on RR and SH next year or so. Wish me luck!

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Do you have a special program for text-to-speech?
Or do you just use Google?

TextEdit

 

[lambenttyto]

Anyway, long time no see, my dude. I didn’t expect you to be here, but expect my next novel to be on RR and SH next year or so. Wish me luck!

Do we know each other? Your name seems familiar, but...