Questionable Writing Advice

Hello! I'm Lian, and it's come to my attention that people want writing tips. This is my contribution. Hope it helps!

[theunchartedauthor]

Introduction

Hello lovelies!

I've created this blog on a whim, and I hope my advice finds those who need it. I'm not a published author, so all my advice will solely be about the writing process, at least for now.

This blog is for literally anyone who finds it helpful, hence "Everyone in Between". I don't believe there's a great distinction between published authors, unpublished authors, fanfiction authors, etc. We're all different, but we all love to write and that's the most important thing.

So, if you feel your writing is lacking something, I hope I can help you find it! Feel free to leave a comment or message me if you find my advice helpful and want to ask something specific. Enjoy!

[authielain]

Petition!

There's a femicide going on is South Africa right now, here's the petition;

Can you spare a minute to help this campaign?

Declare GBVF a National Disaster in South Africa

Just a moment of your time will be one step closer to helping those suffering because of those who think they have the right to treat our fellow humans as lesser.

Turn your profile purple as a show of support 💜

[theunchartedauthor]

This is obviously not a writing tip, but I'm posting it on all of my blogs due to it's importance.

[theunchartedauthor]

Rules?!!! Wtf dym

I feel like I'm obligated to say this, being the person I am; um, fuck writing rules. Obviously there are plenty of places that they're important in, but like... if it doesn't work with what you're trying to convey, fuck it. Use a comma as a period, Mispell worrds (misspelling intended). Ruin the rhyme scheme of that one poem. Use too many lengthy, fancy, elegant, dramatic, dumb, wonderful, exquisite, fabulous, shitty descriptors.

Fuck it.

[theunchartedauthor]

Disguising life advice in a writing blog

I'm very aware that saying this will sound a bit silly, since I only started posting regularly on my account a couple months ago. I'm not a tumblr connoisseur or anything. Nevertheless, I shall proceed with my newfound motivation to stop caring so much about every little embarrassment and say it anyway.

Nearly every post on this blog has been far too serious. I have a tendency to censor my personality in everything I do out of a fear that it'll be too much.

...That attitude and fear simply doesn't translate into good writing. Or, in my humble opinion, literally anything else.

Part of the point of writing is to express something in a way no one else can or will. There's something in every creative that can't be replicated by anyone else(or AI [yes I'm moping how could you tell?]).

As soon as I start letting myself write the stuff I actually want to, I start to love my writing.

I said it in my last post, but that's because I mean it genuinely.

Don't take yourself too seriously. It only inhibits growth.

(Especially if you are, by nature, a bit of a clown)

[authielain]

This is ridiculous

Guys I write fanfiction and then don't post it bc I'm a perfectionist to a crippling degree, but I'll make a new blog at 3am themed around a dead fish.

I've fooled myself into thinking I'm so important that random people on the internet care if my fanfiction/art/poetry/original stories are cringe, that's a bit egotistical of me don't you think?

Every time I don't do something out of fear of embarrassment I regret it in at least 2-3 years, I'm inhibiting myself so much.

I will most definitely regret this post when I wake up, but I'm struggling to give a shit. Fully-cognizant me can deal with the unnecessary embarrassment of shit-posting in the early hours.

It's not the end of the world future Lian, chill out.

Don't take yourselves too seriously my friends, it doesn't last. And honestly just makes your life boring and overly complicated. I might have to work on getting that fanfiction on ao3 soon lmao

[theunchartedauthor]

I think this counts as writing advice, right? My most recent (and dare I say best) post from my main account.

[theunchartedauthor]

"The"

A few days ago I got stuck in a loop. Several times in a sentence, I noticed “the” inserting itself into my writing. It stood out like a sore thumb, interrupting the flow of my story and just overall lowering the quality of my work.

Now, I’m most definitely not saying “the” is a bad word. I’ve used it several times already in this post. What I’m trying to get to the bottom of is when “the” appears too often.

For example: “The lake was still and calm, a near perfect reflection of the stars. The smell of evergreens permeated the air, and the only sounds interrupting the silence were the crickets and the wolves singing to the moon.”

This is what one of my settings looked like when I was first fleshing out the scene. I hated it when I reread. In this situation, I used “the” so many times that I was telling rather than showing. The concept of “show don’t tell” appears often when I’m writing, usually in the form of this kind of mistake; and it’s an easy mistake to make, but that only makes it all the more frustrating.

The advice I usually hear for too many “the” uses is to replace it (when grammatically correct) with words like “that”, “this”, and “my”. This is completely valid advice, except it didn’t fit anywhere in my scene!

So, I looked back, reworked my sentences over 7 times, and worked it down to 4 “the” uses in that paragraph: “A resoivoire sat undisturbed somewhere halfway up the mountain, an uncanny reflection of the stars. Evergreen scented stillness permeated the air; crickets and wolves interrupted the silence with their singing.”

By adding, removing and reworking several parts of the paragraph, I finally got it to something I deemed passable, and more “show” than “tell”.

I’m not sure exactly how to explain this concept more concisely. In my experience this just takes practice, and for me, lots and lots of reading since I was a kid for reference (:

Sorry this is so long XD I enjoy essay writing a lot and I kind of got into a zone. Lmk if anyone likes this way of explaining things! I hope referencing my personal learning curves is helpful to someone (and interesting).

Happy Writing!

[theunchartedauthor]

Character-driven writing

If something feels out of character but you want it in the story, make it crazier. Maybe they’re actively trying to be someone they’re not, maybe they think they’ll hurt someone they care about if they don’t do this thing. Hell, maybe they’re possessed; as long as it doesn't feel out of left field.

In some cases, you might just need to switch out the characters, and that’ll make it feel more natural.

It’s usually better for a story to be character-driven, because otherwise it might just feel fake and that can take you out of a story pretty fast; but if there’s a plot point that’s really important to you, there are ways you can twist it that won’t interrupt the story flow or make your character seem fake.

(This is especially important if you're a fanfiction author and you're trying to stick close to the canon attitude, personality, and morals of a character.)

[theunchartedauthor]

Editing

There are plenty of tips that can help with the quality of your writing, and plenty of those I will share later on (especially as I improve my own writing, bc to be honest it’s not up to my personal standards yet).

Out of all of these, though, the most important one for me has been editing; take full advantage of the editing process! Trying to make everything perfect on your first draft often makes your writing feel stilted; you’re trying to flesh out the story and edit at the same time that way, and it’s just a lot for our brains to handle.

Allow yourself the freedom to go at your own pace. Try not to pressure yourself while you’re writing! Your story is something to build up in stages, like a painting.

Remember to have fun, and good luck!

[theunchartedauthor]

Story Flow

If you’re stuck on a scene and don’t know how to move forward, you might need to go back a paragraph or two and change something there.

The interruption in the flow of your story isn’t always right in front of your eyes, so it’s good to read back over what you’ve written sometimes to check for whatever’s stilting your progress.

It can be discouraging to rework a scene, especially if you really liked something about it; but hopefully you can look at it after and be proud of the improvement!

If you're really attached to something but it won't fit, you can usually find a better place for that concept later (;

Good luck!

[theunchartedauthor]

Word Vomit

My first bit of advice to anyone struggling to write is to just get it out. Whether you're stuck and can't think of anything to write, or you have the idea but can't seem to write it cohesively, just put something on the page.

Your idea doesn't need to be refined and polished when you first write it down, but getting it on the page gives you a starting point; it may even get you into the flow and get you started on your first draft!

Alternatively, if you can't think of anything to write, simply write whatever you're thinking. Maybe the only thing going on in your head is "I can't think of anything to write"; as silly as it sounds, write that! And keep writing every silly thought you have until something of substance appears.

This isn't a perfect strategy, but at least in my experience, eight times out of ten it'll get your mind out of that stuck place and get some ideas flowing. That's often the hardest part of the process.

Happy writing!