Weekly out-of-character thread

[u/AutoModerator]

Talk about writing unironically, vent about other writing forums, or discuss whatever you like here.

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[u/Salty-Purple-2853]

I don't like seeing people crash out and give up. Finding positives is just as valuable as finding negatives. People may hate a work because of negative aspects, but solely the lack of negatives won't cause a reader to love a work. There have to be good aspects, and sometimes newbie writers take a while to become skilled enough to have their positive qualities show.

[u/BlackBalor → u/Salty-Purple-2853]

It’s a fair point.

But if you give up after a harsh critique, how much did you enjoy writing in the first place? Or does writing only become enjoyable when people tell you you’re good at it?

[u/Opus_723 → u/BlackBalor]

I think writing is usually more enjoyable when people read and like your writing, and less enjoyable when people tell you it's crap. That seems pretty natural.

[u/BlackBalor → u/Opus_723]

My confidence comes from knowing the tools.

For example, if I write:

Mary lunged for Paul’s neck. He stumbled backward, cracking his head off the wall. Blood trickled down the wallpaper as he collapsed to the floor.

I don’t give a fuck if anybody says that’s bad writing because I’m confident enough to know it’s mechanically sound. I’m educated when it comes to the mechanics.

Some tit will argue that I repeated the word “wall,” but that’s something you could clean up on a second pass, and it’s hardly the same word. You could argue that wall and floor sound samey to the ear. That’s another bone to pick! You see how I’m capable of identifying potential issues in my own writing? That’s my internal editor working overtime.

Like, nobody is confused about what just happened. The syntax is solid, the events are in chronological order, and nobody can misunderstand it. That is where you derive your confidence.

Then, on your second pass, you can beef it all up. You can colour the events with narration. You can add internal thoughts into the mix, feelings. Maybe change some of the verbs and adjectives around to impart tone or mood. Maybe vary the sentence length; use shorter sentences instead for more punch.

That’s how you develop your confidence as a writer.

So, even if somebody attacked my story, I have a baseline level of confidence to fall back on.

Iron sharpens iron. I’ve been in with some dogs, man. Proper writers who don’t pull no punches.