Hey! I have a question- I hate to bother you but, I'm a completely self-taught writer but haven't written in months. So there's a lot I don't know. I have a really tough time with descriptions and sentence structure and choppiness of sentences and the flow of sentences and descriptions. Do you think you could help me?
Hi!
Here’s a post on describing emotions, here’s a post on describing characters, and here’s a post about deciding what to describe and how much to describe. As for the flow of things, you have to find that rhythm in your head -- everyone’s is different, and that’s what makes up your style. For example, Hemingway often wrote in a series of choppy, simple-structure sentences, and that is now known as his style. To start you off, here’s a post about when to change paragraphs (image) -- to it I would add “when there’s a certain detail that you want the audience to notice or remember later”, and “when a character’s attitude shifts in the middle of dialogue” (for example, if a character is ranting about something, then runs his hands over his face, takes a breath, and continues in a calmer tone of voice).
I hope this helps! If you need anything else, please feel free to ask. - @authors-haven
Paragraph structure is crucial in essay writing. The structure dictates the information that is necessary for readers and the order in which they appear.
the average quality of fanfic is so much better than it was in like 2004. im proud of y’all. the system is working and everyone is better and has learned a lot. im not being ironic at all, we did this as a team and i think it is cool & good.
This is about constructive criticism and learning how to graciously accept it and use it to make you into a better you!
Constructive criticism is how we learn and grow as people, not only artists. So, my advice is to go through life with an open mind and open heart and never stop learning!
After all, even the most beautiful plants need regular pruning or they will wilt. They don't suddenly reach an age where they don't need pruning anymore. And I think the same goes for people and learning new things. So please, don't let the beautiful flower that is you wilt from lack of regular learning and improvement.
As BTS says, "love myself" and "love yourself!" I strongly believe that part of loving yourself is understanding that constructive criticism is not meant to hurt but is meant to be a tool to help you grow. Self love is to never stop learning and growing!
Now, I understand that constructive criticism is hard to take. Any criticism is. And the ability to receive it is definitely a learned one. When I was studying writing we had to sit through entire workshops where everyone would critique the writing and the author was not allowed to say a word.
I once had to sit through a guy spend five minutes trying to make sense of one of my sentences over a simple typo and I wasn't allowed to correct him. It was excruciating!
But, like all skills, it gets easier with practice and experience.
And I'm not saying you should take anyone's crap either. But if someone says "hey, I think you need a comma here," please please please understand that they're just trying to help, even if you disagree because you have very strong and educated opinions about comma placement. But it would definitely be a valuable learning experience to find out why they think a comma belongs there.
Anyway, so let's discuss grammar!
Proper grammar is for the reader, not the writer. I strongly urge and plead with you to care about proper structure.
You, the writer, know what you're trying to convey but the reader might not always pick up what you're putting down.
You can't please everyone. Even professional novelists can write some pretty confusing paragraphs.
But if you care about your readers, I hope you care about grammar.
Please don't say "it's not technical writing, why does it matter?" It matters because, without proper grammar, your readers won't be able to understand you. And your beautiful writing deserves to be understood as much as possible.
Paragraphs need to be their own entity! You can't shove a whole bunch of ideas and quotes into one paragraph!
Different subjects get their own paragraphs. So if you're beginning a new subject or new idea or someone new is speaking, you need to begin a new paragraph!
Sometimes you need to start a paragraph right in the middle of one person's dialogue. It's rare but it happens! Check out Lord of the Rings if you don't believe me.
Starting a new paragraph in the middle of dialogue has it's own special rules so I'll save it for another post.
Here are some resources on beginning a new paragraph:
Also, MLA is the end all be all in making decisions for how writing should be done. So if you can get MLA resources, use them! But make sure they're up to date! The rules may not change every year but MLA does update every year!
MLA stands for "modern language association"
They are the big boss and literally make the rules
