Which kind of writer do you aspire to be?

[Bramblethorn]

Drown it by spending an entire page describing a roof. He does stuff like this so often it's a feature of his writing, not a bug.

Mervyn Peake (Gormenghast) is like this. It makes sense when one knows he started out as a painter and illustrator, so focussing on that kind of detail was a habit for him.

 

[SamanthaBehgs]

Of course you don't know what kind of writer you are yet, let alone what you want to be. three stories and a poem is a good output for less than three months on here. But way too little to understand who you are as a writer. I think I made my first real reflection on myself as a writer after 30 stories. I had the advantage of being absurdly prolific as a writer early on, so that happened quickly.

Give it time. Write what feels right to you. Your voice will come and you will see where you want to improve it. When I feel dry, reading stories, either here or in mainstream literature helps. For me, I realized I wanted to write evocative scenes like @StillStunned, characters that are as deep and believable as @MelissaBaby and prose that floats by like @onehitwanda. I will never achieve those lofty heights, but I read more of their stories and I have written another 100K words or so and understand what they do a little better.

This keeps popping in my mind. I keep thinking I should at least aspire towards something, right? But I just can't decide what. It's just nice to think that it's also valid to just write what feels right and go from there.

 

[Statius]

This keeps popping in my mind. I keep thinking I should at least aspire towards something, right? But I just can't decide what. It's just nice to think that it's also valid to just write what feels right and go from there.

That's what I've always done. Flying by the seat of my pants, lol. Let the words flow once you start. But I'm attempting something new in my approach with my major expansion and rewrite.This time, I have a very specific mood and tone I'm going for, something that will define and frame the work, and I think that's part of the reason my writing has always been uneven and kinda silly. Don't get me wrong, light hearted and fun was usually the goal, along with the absurd. I think going into it with this particular idea and goal is going to have a huge impact I think.

What does this have to do with what kind of writer I want to be? Probably nothing. The difference is before I didn't really have a frame work, just story parameters; this time it will be different and I think it will bring my work back down to earth, so to speak.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Entertaining. Simple as that.

 

[Off_base]

As a reader, stories are similar to songs. Every story has been told and every song has been sung, but sometimes, a songwriter or author says something that hits home or resonates, but in a new way that I've never heard or read before.
I'd love to grow into a writer with the ability to create those moments for readers.

 

[StillStunned]

1 - One whose words are a delight.

2 - One whose words disappear in service of the story.

I'm a number 2. I want my writing to read as if the words aren't even there: just the story, and the impressions I want it to create in the reader's mind.

But I've written words for the sake of words before: "Upstream" and "The Countesses of Tannensdal" both lean towards me showing off and drawing attention to the writing. Readers seem to enjoy that, but it's not my preference. Probably because I've worked so long in B2B editing, it's not my default mode either.

 

[Cinnyperez]

It's a version of #1 for me. I originally set out to write stories here that held their own power merely by being read. But as I've written more and branched into 'mainstream' writing, I've started to become inspired in a way by the ability of my words to provoke all manner of emotion in my readers.

There's something powerful about being able to affect a total stranger so strongly with my written words alone. No seductive dance. No sensual sounds. No touch. Just my words on a page reaching into their being.