Do You Get Better At Writing?

[Kantarii]

I like to think my writing has gotten better over time. I find myself going back and updating old chapters from time to time to reflect my progress at writing

 

[weftandwarp]

Is it really fair to ascribe this to Harper Lee? She didn't publish anything else at all after Mockingbird until the recent Watchman, many years later. It wasn't a deterioration in her case, it was a complete absence.

Interesting point. I'm not sure but reviews I've read say Watchman isn't as good. I thought you may have referred to the help many believe she got from Capote with Mockingbird to refute what I was saying. So much conjecture. Still, without digging into the conjecture I think it does apply but am happy if it is refuted. I can't recite any names but there are authors who are accused of writing one book and writing the same thing over and over. I think they would demonstrate the veracity of the assertion. Basically, I'm saying that while rules can be found to explain things there are frequently exceptions. I'm told that to be a good writer one has to write a lot but really, is quantity the answer and not quality? I know I need a good plot to help me and if I don't have that I'm lost. Aimless writing doesn't hit any worth while target for me.

 

[TxRad]

A good plot helps but it is not the whole of it. How you carry the arc of the story makes it even better or worse and you learn that from writing and writing some more.

I've never considered myself to be a writer even though I have a dozen book in mainstream. I'm a story teller and that goes a long ways toward good work. The mechanics can be learned. The storytelling, not so much.

 

[weftandwarp]

A good plot helps but it is not the whole of it. How you carry the arc of the story makes it even better or worse and you learn that from writing and writing some more.

I've never considered myself to be a writer even though I have a dozen book in mainstream. I'm a story teller and that goes a long ways toward good work. The mechanics can be learned. The storytelling, not so much.

Thank you.

May I ask, is the arc of a story about how it's organised to its conclusion? Please tell me more. I agree about being a story teller and see it as being much better than being a writer. I've always thought that. The mechanics of writing aren't always easily learned. Some of us find it very difficult but I have learned that the language seems to improve when the story is good.

I'm no writer. I write my stories because in a strange way it is like I'm communicating with my children, all of whom died a long time ago. I write because I think one day it will explain things to me and them.I also think it will explain the death of my wife. There is no other way I've found. I find though it does help to alleviate the pain. I know it doesn't make sense, but then, nothing does. For me the erotic is like a protest against the unreasonablness of aspects of life. I love to elicit emotions that aren't expected, that I often have the feeling I'm not meant to have, like laughter. Yes. It is crazy but ...

 

[ElectricBlue]

May I ask, is the arc of a story about how it's organised to its conclusion?

Yes. The term 'story arc' is often used for a multi-part thing where each part might be self-contained and could stand alone; but where there is an underlying theme or direction for a longer story that becomes apparent only as more parts are read.

TV series such as Doctor Who use the concept a lot - each episode is self-contained, but there is a continuing thread of something bigger, unravelling bit by bit, and brought to a conclusion in the last episode.

Your reason for writing sounds terribly sad, but at the same time, extraordinarily powerful - writing for loved ones you've already lost? My heart goes out to you. My own writing can be cathartic for me at times, and I'm writing about the living, so I can't imagine where your writing takes you. One hopes there is healing, however strange or late.

 

[John Blackhawk]

Yea i think you can get better at writing the key is getting the opinion of someone else

 

[oggbashan]

I like to think my writing has gotten better over time. I find myself going back and updating old chapters from time to time to reflect my progress at writing

I understand that but I leave my earlier stories posted on Literotica exactly as finished to remind me of how much I have changed.

Writing sequels or completions to older stories has become difficult. I have to think back to how I was as a writer fifteen years ago...

 

[NoJo]

Being a "natural" tale-teller is a great asset to becoming a successful writer, just as being someone who can musically extemporise is to becoming successful as a composer. But writing is a craft, acquired mainly through practice; and that requires persistence and diligence rather than flair.

I've been very fortunate to have socialised and discussed writing with a few acclaimed authors. What's heartening to me is the sheer variety of them; some were similar to me, analytical and conscious of rules and structure, while others (women more than men) stressed the practice itself, emphasising the importance of "loosening up" and free-flow. All of them stressed rewriting as part of the writing process.

The majority of stories here are vignettes, they aren't really tales per se (some of the many exceptions are by authors who have posted here on this thread). So agonising over things like story arc are misplaced if that's the kind of "story" you want to write. Similarly, many of the longer stories here are actually serials, because they were written that way - often the author clearly neither knows nor cares what's going to happen in Chapter 15 while they're working on Chapter 1; in fact they usually don't know whether there will be a Chapter 15. Some great novels have been written this way (Dickens is an obvious example), but I think that's because they were written by great novelists, not because it's a good way to write a long story.

Reading the posts here I can see that the "basics" (I use quotes because I don't actually think it is basic at all) like grammar and punctuation are stumbling blocks that need to be overcome by everyone, and prevent people taking your story seriously. Some people find bad grammar irritating, like hearing someone singing out of tune. But it doesn't bother me anywhere near as much as laziness and reliance on cliches: Calling your protagonist "Tiffany" is a turn-off for me, much more than too many commas or misuse of capitalisation.

I read a story here by a real nut-job, who happened to have a poor grasp of grammar, presumably because English was not her first language. But the sheer weirdness and originality of her ideas kept me reading her stories.

So the key thing is not getting "better" at the craft but coming up with really original stuff. And that comes from always trying to think freshly about what you're writing about.

 

[glynndah]

Oh, I certainly hope so.

 

[litfan10]

Thank you.

May I ask, is the arc of a story about how it's organised to its conclusion? Please tell me more. I agree about being a story teller and see it as being much better than being a writer. I've always thought that. The mechanics of writing aren't always easily learned. Some of us find it very difficult but I have learned that the language seems to improve when the story is good.

I'm no writer. I write my stories because in a strange way it is like I'm communicating with my children, all of whom died a long time ago. I write because I think one day it will explain things to me and them.I also think it will explain the death of my wife. There is no other way I've found. I find though it does help to alleviate the pain. I know it doesn't make sense, but then, nothing does. For me the erotic is like a protest against the unreasonablness of aspects of life. I love to elicit emotions that aren't expected, that I often have the feeling I'm not meant to have, like laughter. Yes. It is crazy but ...

I read a great analogy of the plot arc and I can't for the life of me remember who wrote it. I think James Scott Bell.

Think of the arc of a story as a suspension bridge. When the reader firsts get on the bridge there is a massive construct that supports the rest of the bridge. This is the introduction of the characters, the setting, and the main problem. Next we take the long travel to the other side. That is the story. At the end the reader meets with another tall construct. This is where the characters and problem resolve and the reader can safely exit the bridge, travel complete.