How would you help first-time writers?

[Gamblnluck]

Hard to say if I'll use this as an opening or not. Or even in a story, they'll say I plagiarized it, even if it is self-plagiarism.

It is a solid intro though, so use it. The idea is to catch the attention. The hard part is to not drop the ball in the next few paragraphs.

 

[Gamblnluck]

Not counting my high school writing portfolio, I've been writing around ten years or so, and still feel like an amateur.

We are ALL amateurs. And we ALL have egos we want stroked.
Think you don't? Think you are one of those who write only for yourself and will post what you want in whatever category? Then why do you you get on the author hangout and complain your story was not well received, that the readers were all just idiots who do not recognize a good story when they read it.
You poured your heart into that story and you barely registered a 3. The comments told you kill yourself at worst or at least to quit writing. You are a 'mental midget' ( I get that often) who does not understand basic human emotions/psychology.
Yeah, it chafes your ass, but you get back to it and try again. Do you repeat the same mistakes and hope for a better result? Who described that as insanity? Einstein? or was he plagiarizing?
Do what works. You want to paddle upstream in a rapids and complain it did not work despite your effort?

Me? I like to tell stories. I want them to be as interesting as possible. I want my audience to appreciate them. Yeah, I'll fall short, but then again, I am an amateur. Nobody is paying for my efforts or even kissing my ass.

 

[jomar]

I’m with SimonDoom on read, read, read. But I’ll add a note-in college I took an auteur director class. We watched movies multiple times. One to watch, two for dialogue, three for score and then we’d watch for structure and stuff. So I’d encourage a new author to read a story that speaks to them multiple times focusing on different aspects of what the author is doing with each read. Hopefully, doing that will be informing.

Paul Chance made me smile with his post #44 as it reminded me of something I read long ago about story structure. As in:

1. Beginning: Chase a man up a tree.
2. Middle: Shake the tree.
3. End: Get the man out of the tree.

Though he breaks it down more precisely.

 

[Paul_Chance]

You hit on an important thing.

People here (and widely on the internet) talk about reading as a necessary thing for a good writer. They are absolutely correct. However, when it gets shortened down to "read, read, read" it misses the important part.

Read with a critical eye.

Find a short story (or any tale) that you, as a consumer-reader love. Read it once for pleasure. Hell, read it several times for pleasure.

Then, turn the critical eye on and read it. Identify all of the elements of a story (beginning, middle, end, rising action, resolution, transition) and really look at them to decipher HOW they did it. What was the theme? What was the plot? What were the plot points? How were they presented? Mark the short story up, dog-ear the pages.

There was an amusing interview of Jim Butcher I read some years ago. Whether you like him or not, he is very successful. He tells the story that when he was in college his professor stressed the importance of intricate, detailed plotting. Jim totally disagreed with her, so to prove her wrong he did it "her way" and submitted it, just so he could get the rejection letter and show it to her. It sold. He said (paraphrasing) 12 successful novels later and he's still trying to prove her wrong.

 

[StillStunned]

There was an amusing interview of Jim Butcher I read some years ago. Whether you like him or not, he is very successful. He tells the story that when he was in college his professor stressed the importance of intricate, detailed plotting. Jim totally disagreed with her, so to prove her wrong he did it "her way" and submitted it, just so he could get the rejection letter and show it to her. It sold. He said (paraphrasing) 12 successful novels later and he's still trying to prove her wrong.

He tells that anecdote in his foreword to Deborah Chester's course "The Fantasy Fiction Formula". Deborah Chester being said professor.

 

[Paul_Chance]

He tells that anecdote in his foreword to Deborah Chester's course "The Fantasy Fiction Formula". Deborah Chester being sais professor.

Awesome - thanks for the cite! As I was typing it out I wondered if anyone here would already be familiar with it.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I suggest they read as many hours as they write, at least initially. Read good writers, pick mainstream writers, and dive into their writing style. Pick an erotic writer here (other than me; choose someone who writes well) and read in the genre you plan on writing in. But when you write, figure out what your style is.

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

2nd @SimonDoom's point about active reading. I can very quickly tell when a writer doesn't do this.

 

[Jackie.Hikaru]

Oh, also, to @MillieDynamite's point, I've realized after discussions with beginner writers that I've volunteer edited and beta read for, that many underestimate how much they should be reading to get the hang of how writing works.