I can't write
I can't write
I can't write fanfic or anything else. I had an idea that could have been used for a book about a time traveling rescue sent to 1918 to rescue the Romanov's and replace them with clones but It would be disaster worse then any fanfic I have written. I need something with grammar and spell check. I was gonna call it Mission 1918 but then may not happen. Everything I type turns into a disaster. Most fanfic I have read is not very descriptive because the people reading it expect those reading it are familiar with whatever TV show or movie they are writing about. I know books have to be descriptive cause the readers don't have clue what is going on.
In actuality I think good fiction requires the right combination of description and dialogue. Best advice I can give you is to read a few fiction novels and get a feel for how these books are written and work your way from there. And practice makes perfect and all of that. I've done well using microsoft word for my basic writing.
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Dr Frankenollie
- In The Vaults
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Re: I can't write
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Last edited by Dr Frankenollie on Tue May 21, 2019 6:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
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littlefuzzy
- Anniversary Edition
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Even if you think it's crap, write it. It's practice, and you can look at it and see where you went wrong. If you do upload it somewhere, you might get some constructive criticism. You might also get people who love it, but their knowledge of grammar might not be any better than yours. You might also get people who flame you without giving any real feedback, but if you ignore the fans, ignore the haters, and listen to the ones who DO give you feedback, you can only get better with time.
Spell check is easy, most word processing programs can take care of that, although you'll need to make sure that you have the right version of a homonym (or technically a homophone) - They're parking their car over there, etc. Grammar is a bit tougher, there are some grammar checkers, but there is only so much they can do.
Writers write, wanna-be writers say they are going to write someday.
I wrote a juvenile short-story/novella way back in high school for a writing contest/workshop, and I always felt I was a writer, but I didn't really do much for years after that. I had worked on a couple of short stories, but they were much shorter than this post. However, I recently began working on several short stories, and I'm up to around 250K of text, one of them is right around 22,000 words so far (about the minimum length for a novella, good for e-publishing.) Novels start around 50-70,000 words.
I will say this, write as if you are speaking. If you read something back out loud and it doesn't sound like what you'd use in a conversation, readers are probably going to feel that the grammar is off. If you are serious about writing, invest a little time into learning better grammar. If you aren't studying it in school, pick up a used textbook or look for some online courses, and spend anywhere from a couple of hours a week to a couple of hours a day reading through and practicing the grammar lessons.
I volunteered to proofread a novel for a "friend of a friend", and I'm regretting it now. While there may be an interesting story there, the grammar is really off, and frankly, I don't feel like spending hours upon hours rewriting his whole story when I could be working on my own writing. It would probably be different if I was a closer friend to the writer. If you had a close friend with good grammar, who WAS interested in helping you with your story, then that would always help. However, if you give them something that is good but not polished, I'm sure they would appreciate that a lot more than something where they would need to rewrite every sentence.
Part of the problem with this friend's novel is that he wrote it in mostly third-person present tense, but he keeps dropping to past tense. Personally, I find past tense much easier to read.
First-person can be good if well written:
I entered the room and looked around. I saw the sultry redhead standing there watching me, and I went to take her in my arms. "Kiss me, you fool!" she said, and I happily obliged.
You are usually tied to the thoughts of your main character, and need to be careful to unfold events as he sees them, since he isn't psychic. Of course, you can switch viewpoints, but if you jump around to multiple viewpoints in the same paragraph, it can get very confusing.
Avoid second-person, unless you're writing a Choose Your Own Adventure book or an Interactive Fiction game.
You enter the room and look around. You see the sultry redhead standing there watching you.
Do you:
A. take her in your arms
B. Ignore her and move to the buffet
Third-person provides a way to describe things that happen even if your main character isn't personally there to witness them, and depending on the voice, can describe the thoughts and feelings of your main character, as well as other characters.
Jonathan entered the room, looking around. A sultry redheaded woman eyed him, and flashed him a grin. Intrigued, he smiled back and approached her, taking her in his arms. "Kiss me, you fool," the woman purred, and Jonathan happily obliged.
Tense is also important to consider, whether you are describing things that have already happened, or are currently happening.
Past tense:
Jonathan felt her lips press against his, and he thought about what it would be like to have this beautiful woman kiss him like this every day.
Present tense:
Jonathan presses his lips against hers in deep passion, and he wonders what thoughts are racing through her mind.
There is also future tense, but it is rarely used.
Jonathan will gently kiss her, then he will move his hands to her back. The woman will start to squeeze him in an embrace.
Crappy, I know, that's because I don't write in future tense. Of course, there are times when it is used during dialogue. "I have a dentist's appointment tomorrow, they will clean my teeth and look for cavities."
Spell check is easy, most word processing programs can take care of that, although you'll need to make sure that you have the right version of a homonym (or technically a homophone) - They're parking their car over there, etc. Grammar is a bit tougher, there are some grammar checkers, but there is only so much they can do.
Writers write, wanna-be writers say they are going to write someday.
I wrote a juvenile short-story/novella way back in high school for a writing contest/workshop, and I always felt I was a writer, but I didn't really do much for years after that. I had worked on a couple of short stories, but they were much shorter than this post. However, I recently began working on several short stories, and I'm up to around 250K of text, one of them is right around 22,000 words so far (about the minimum length for a novella, good for e-publishing.) Novels start around 50-70,000 words.
I will say this, write as if you are speaking. If you read something back out loud and it doesn't sound like what you'd use in a conversation, readers are probably going to feel that the grammar is off. If you are serious about writing, invest a little time into learning better grammar. If you aren't studying it in school, pick up a used textbook or look for some online courses, and spend anywhere from a couple of hours a week to a couple of hours a day reading through and practicing the grammar lessons.
I volunteered to proofread a novel for a "friend of a friend", and I'm regretting it now. While there may be an interesting story there, the grammar is really off, and frankly, I don't feel like spending hours upon hours rewriting his whole story when I could be working on my own writing. It would probably be different if I was a closer friend to the writer. If you had a close friend with good grammar, who WAS interested in helping you with your story, then that would always help. However, if you give them something that is good but not polished, I'm sure they would appreciate that a lot more than something where they would need to rewrite every sentence.
Part of the problem with this friend's novel is that he wrote it in mostly third-person present tense, but he keeps dropping to past tense. Personally, I find past tense much easier to read.
First-person can be good if well written:
I entered the room and looked around. I saw the sultry redhead standing there watching me, and I went to take her in my arms. "Kiss me, you fool!" she said, and I happily obliged.
You are usually tied to the thoughts of your main character, and need to be careful to unfold events as he sees them, since he isn't psychic. Of course, you can switch viewpoints, but if you jump around to multiple viewpoints in the same paragraph, it can get very confusing.
Avoid second-person, unless you're writing a Choose Your Own Adventure book or an Interactive Fiction game.
You enter the room and look around. You see the sultry redhead standing there watching you.
Do you:
A. take her in your arms
B. Ignore her and move to the buffet
Third-person provides a way to describe things that happen even if your main character isn't personally there to witness them, and depending on the voice, can describe the thoughts and feelings of your main character, as well as other characters.
Jonathan entered the room, looking around. A sultry redheaded woman eyed him, and flashed him a grin. Intrigued, he smiled back and approached her, taking her in his arms. "Kiss me, you fool," the woman purred, and Jonathan happily obliged.
Tense is also important to consider, whether you are describing things that have already happened, or are currently happening.
Past tense:
Jonathan felt her lips press against his, and he thought about what it would be like to have this beautiful woman kiss him like this every day.
Present tense:
Jonathan presses his lips against hers in deep passion, and he wonders what thoughts are racing through her mind.
There is also future tense, but it is rarely used.
Jonathan will gently kiss her, then he will move his hands to her back. The woman will start to squeeze him in an embrace.
Crappy, I know, that's because I don't write in future tense. Of course, there are times when it is used during dialogue. "I have a dentist's appointment tomorrow, they will clean my teeth and look for cavities."
