#gentip

[ffxivroletips]

General Tip #2

If your party ever wipes, always vote to abandon. Whether it’s a low level dungeon or a high-level raid. Wipe? Quit. No professional Good Player should have to attempt something more than once.

[ffxivroletips]

General Tip #1

While in a duty, make sure to sprint to every encounter, especially bosses -- you wouldn’t want them to escape!

[the-hardyest-critic]

Another Tip on Style

We're still talking. This bit of advice came forth:

It's about how you work. The creation process. This is something that intrigues me to no end mainly because its so difficult for me to create in a typical format. My creation process is atypical, and I've had to learn to accept that.

I used to get very upset/frustrated that I wasn't like everyone else when it came to creating. Especially being in art school made it suck because people had very specific ways of creating that many understood. And mine is so haphazard and spontaneous, on the fly that people got confused and the numbers diminished of those who wished to work with me.

They stopped wanting to create with me because they couldn't trust my form of creating. So I think part of claiming your style is accepting how you create, and how you make it work/all click together. I'm a firm believer of that. Just…beginning to accept your process. I think because then, you can begin to use it to your advantage.

One of the best bits of advice I heard in art school, there was this kid in my class who constantly tried to make his artwork as detailed and pleasing to the eye. He'd try /so/ hard. So damn hard. And his work just didn't meet the mark. At least, in terms of who he'd constantly compare himself to and try to aim for that.  

And one day the Professor just went, "Why are you doing that? Stop. I want you to create to the best of your ability for what you can create. Embrace how you work and the product of your work." And the guy was so adamant about it because he felt inferior to those who were deemed better or more skilled than he was at creating, and he hated his own style. But by embracing it, I think that's the first step to true achievement and improvement. 

Because it's only through acceptance that you can begin to understand your capabilities.

Her response:

I believe that there is an obvious and not so obvious line between, yes, approval is a great thing, you need it, keep seeking it, and then the no, I need to be more happy with what I write myself. Because I do. I need both. We all do.

The point being the fact that I was unbalanced about it.

I seeked too much from others and wasn't happy at all with what I was doing, not seeing the fact that there was actually good in my own "art".

My concluding response:

Yes, in all things there needs to be a balance. Everything in moderation. The happy medium, so to speak. It's good to embrace both side of the spectrum, but lean too much to either extreme and it begins to stifle your growth and ability to learn.

Hope this helped.

-- Hardyest

P.S. To the individual I'm speaking with-- I adore you, and our conversations. Lots of love xx.

[the-hardyest-critic]

On Writing Style

This will be wholly unedited, but I'm talking to a friend on AIM, and we got on this topic. I've decided to share this bit of advice with you all. Her question related to how it's been bothering her that she would change her personal writing style and alter it to what most people would want to read. I told her this:

So you sacrifice your personal style to fit what other people want to consume? You're catering to an audience? Hm...you know, I'm the worst person about catering to an audience.

I'm very, very stubborn. I don't like sacrificing my own work for anyone. Or really sacrificing myself for anyone. I don't really write with people in mind. It's hard to describe. I write for myself, and I still seek acceptance, but I also refuse to let go of my style or the way in which I write/create work, because I find pleasure in it.

I think it's about not just writing for one's self, but also writing with the sense that what you do has a purpose. As in, the reason you write a certain way is for a very specific reason. That's what I do, really. Same when I make short films though I haven't done that nearly enough to figure out how I work yet.

But, that specific reason you've got about how you interpret, how you create, it makes sense for /you/ when you understand why you're doing what you're doing. You know what I mean? It kind of...makes that fluctuation in style diminish. I mean, you might improve your writing say grammatically or try and make it clearer for the reader. 

I had one teacher say I don't write with my reader in mind (which I don't) but I mean I suppose that's what proofreading is for (I don't proofread lol). But what I think I'm trying to say is I know my style works. It has a different level of intrigue that makes it compelling, and I'm mimicking another author's style while adding my own flair.  Know what I mean?

Like I'll relate this once again to Tom Hardy but he looks up to his acting idols he's said before in an interview, and that he steals /everything/. From everyone. He takes bits of pieces from all over and makes it his own. 

I think when you begin to adopt someone else's form as your own source of inspiration and make it your own, and craft that, you won't begin to sacrifice it. Because you know it works. 

You'll stop catering to the audience because you're beginning to adopt something that compels you. Clarity is one thing-- so, proofreading. But beginning to adopt your own style and claiming it is another.

I wouldn't sacrifice that style for anything. It's your own.

Find what works for you.

Sorry if it's a tough read. There were responses in-between on AIM, and it's fairly unedited, but, hope it's offers insight.

- Hardyest

[the-hardyest-critic]

Help. I keep using had in my paras. I feel like I'm switching tenses and I don't know how to fix it.

First, you’ll need to specify what exactly the issue is. If you submitted a sample of where this occurs, I might even be able to give feedback on where confusions begins and ends. I’m not the greatest with grammatical advice so I’ve been asking opinions from a few friends regarding this. 

My best advice I can give you, however? Clarity. Always make sure that your writing is clear. Switching tenses mid-sentence or every couple sentences will completely throw your reader off. And advice that I received on this topic? If you think you’re switching tenses, you probably are. Go back and proofread and check to make sure your sentences are clear. Read your work out loud, as well. I’ve been doing that myself a lot lately, and I’m finding that when I begin to stumble and lose focus of what I’m saying, that’s a sign for me to go back and edit. Writing versus reading your work is clearly a different relationship, but by reading it aloud you can ask yourself, “Is this really clear to the reader what they’re reading? How well are they processing this? Is the work verbose?” etc.

One friend gave me this advice:

It depends on how you’re using had. ”I had been to the bank and back before she noticed I was gone” is different than “I had chicken for dinner.” 

To get rid of “had” stop using the tense of “to have” that requires you to use “had” or stop using the verb “to have” in that tense. so instead of “I had chicken for dinner,” say “I ate chicken for dinner.”

Verbs like “to have” are sometimes not the strongest, most descriptive choice to describe an action. “I had seven dollars” is pretty basic, but even that could be changed to avoid “had” and still employ the verb “to have”. “I used to have seven dollars.”

These resources were provided: 

Conjugation of the Verb Have: (X)

Is it okay to switch verb tenses? (X)

Verb Tense Consistency: (X)

And if you’re seeking to write in the present tense:

Present-tense books: (X)

Present-tense Verbs: (X)

How to write in Literary Present-tense: (X)

If you’re also seeking further resources on writing in present-tense, I’d also recommend script-writing. Screenplays (reading and practice in writing them) are a fantastic way to learn how to keep consistent to that specific scene or moment. Here’s some further resources/readings. For most of my own screenplay writing I refer to actual scripts written.

Screenwriting Tips

Screenwriting.info

The Script Lab

And here’s a script I always refer to by Gavin O’ Connor simply because I think his screenplays are fluid reads.

Warrior.pdf

Another friend (Quel) gave this advice:

You have to pick a tense and a perspective, and stick to it. Or you’re bound to confuse or annoy your readers to the point where they might not even want to read anymore. The thing about writing is consistency. And randomly switching tense or perspective breaks that consistency, and it makes the story stop flowing. The moment a story stops flowing, it borders unreadable. The reader might not realise what’s going on, or why they’re not able to enjoy the story as much, but it does happen. 

If you switch perspectives, make sure you separate it from regular narration  For instance, you’re narrating in third person, past tense, and then a character’s active thought is in first-person, present tense (as they’re experiencing it at that moment), but then I’d suggest that line is italicised. I do this occasionally, because it gives a direct link into the character’s thoughts. But it’s important to stick to a main perspective.

[the-hardyest-critic]

Usually when you don't get notifications for your tags, it's because you have too many tracked tags. Once you hit a certain number of tags tracked, the numbers beside the tag of how many posts have been posted don't show up anymore. I believe it's around 18 - 25 tags is the limit. I can't remember the exact number.

Really? Thank you so much for the tip. I wasn’t aware. I’m at 22 tags. Think I’ll untrack a few, then. This was extremely helpful thank you so much. 

So damn kind. Thank you for informing me.

[the-hardyest-critic]

hi! do you have any advice/tips/resources for people who are looking into writing a novel. For example how to format it and in general just how to make it a greatly written novel?

I feel really inadequate as this is out of my league and I’ve never pursued anything of that caliber in my life, personally. So what I’ll do is provide references. 

Writeworld 

Manuscript Format for Novels

Novel-Writing Programs

Six Tips for Writing Young Adult Novels

5 Ways Not to Write a Novel

Writesfriend

Outline your Novel in 30 Minutes

Novel Outlining 101

Nine Ways to Ruin your Novel

Revising a Novel

How to Write a Novel

Totalrewrite

The Beginning of your Novel that Isn’t the Beginning of your Novel

Hooked: The Beginning of your Novel

Thewritingbug

How do you plan a novel?

Timothy Hallinan

Finish your Novel

Maureen Johnson

How to Write a Book

If anyone has anything else they can contribute, let me know.

[the-hardyest-critic]

Anonymous Asked: Hello! I have a bit of a question, though I have a feeling you've already answered it. I'm writing a personal narrative, and a bunch of grammar checkers have found that I use the passive voice a lot. I've tried researching it and alas, have no clue what the fuck I'm doing. And so dear Hardy, I come asking you the following: What is the passive voice, when should it be used, and how do you find it/fix it?

Made Re-bloggable on request.

Alright so, here are a few quick tips. First let me define for you what the passive voice is and why it’s important to identify. I’ll give you the best definition presented to me, so that it’s better understood. The active voice is straightforward and tells you specifically who and what and raises no questions or leaves them unanswered. The passive does not. 

In the passive form the subject of the sentence isn’t in a state of “being”, and is acted on by something else. Thus it confuses the reader because they’re left to wonder what that “something else” is. Let me give you an an example:

The car was being driven by John to Mario’s.

The sentence isn’t expounded upon and as a result the “something else” (which is usually identified as the verb ‘to be’), is unclear. It leaves the reader wondering what is the author truly trying to say? Are they trying to tell us about the subject (the car in this case), and place importance on the topic of the car itself (why is the vehicle important) ? Or is the author simply trying to tell us that John drove the car to Mario’s (the active voice)? 

See how the passive voice makes it unclear? It leaves those reading your work unsure of what you, the author, is trying to say. In my understanding, it places importance on the wrong thing. For example if you said in the passive voice:

The stick was caught by the dog.

It places importance on the stick, as the stick becomes the subject of the sentence and it acts upon verb. Whereas if we placed it in the active form of, 

The dog caught the stick. 

The dog (the subject) is doing the action. The dog is catching the stick, as opposed to the stick somehow being caught by the dog.

Reasons you should pay attention to when you’re using the passive voice versus not?

Clarity (when using the passive voice, it leaves questions unanswered such as the who, the what, the how). It’s straightforward and doesn’t “beat around the bush” so to speak. The reader isn’t constantly left wondering what is really trying to be said. Instead, by taking care to use the active voice you are eliminating potential confusion.

What about when you should use the passive voice? A great article to which I’ll link below, specified it in really simple terms. They said:

Businesses may use it to avoid responsibility, such as “Cigarette ads were designed to appeal especially to children”, as opposed to the active voice of “We designed the cigarette ads to appeal especially to children”, which accepts responsibility for designing the ad, instead of attributing it to some unknown entity (see above). 

Technical writing (The actor or the doer of the action isn’t important; the process of what’s being done is).

Now on how to identify the passive voice? Seek out the verb “to be” and the past participle. The verb “to be” can be identified as has been, am, are, is, was, were etc. The past participle can generally be identified as terms ending in “-ed”. Such as, hoarded, poured, proved, revised with exceptions such as written, eaten, gotten, given. The combination of these to or the verb “to be” itself can usually identify the passive voice.

For further reading and understanding:

The Passive Voice

The Writing Center - Passive Voice

Active/Passive Voice

And a good tip on style from reedus-andweep on the verb “to be”:

Another tip on style

Hope this helped!

- Hardyest