Hello from a new author!

[vegasokie03]

Hello to everyone:

I just started writing and submitting stories a month ago on Lit and am loving it! I love creating characters and then writing a story around them and just seeing where they go.

I've been looking through past threads and posts and have found some interesting and useful information on here. What is the best piece of advice for being an author on Lit and for improving?

Have a good afternoon!

vegasokie03

 

[TxRad]

Welcome to the madhouse.

For some more good advice and information check out the How To category. Quite a few good pieces in there. Also You might have a run through the AH Library in the stickies at the top of the page.

Other than that, Loving Wives ain't what you think and it is a troll pit. So carry your shark proof underwear if you go there and if you don't have any, give me a ring, I rent suits for a reasonable rate.

Write what you want within the rules and have fun.

 

[legerdemer]

In addition to what the venerable and very experienced TxRad said, I would add that donning some Teflon may help tremendously, and keep your tongue firmly in your cheek. That is, when it isn't otherwise occupied.

Welcome, and enjoy!

 

[Swilly]

You might also want to engage writers whose work you admire and ask them to beta-read and critique for you. It can be very difficult do that for oneself, and if you keep an open mind, you'll learn and improve.

I'm working on a story for the Summer Lovin' contest. I finished it and passed it off to a friend for comments. He very thoroughly gave me suggestions and thoughts. In truth, many I already knew and just got lazy. Involving him helped me because I could no longer pretend I "missed" those things to myself. In other areas, his questions made me realize that some of my descriptions and the information I presented wasn't clear enough to someone that isn't inside my head. You get better by writing a lot, but if you get someone look at your work with a critical eye, you'll get better.

Enjoy.

 

[sr71plt]

Hello to everyone:

I just started writing and submitting stories a month ago on Lit and am loving it! I love creating characters and then writing a story around them and just seeing where they go.

I've been looking through past threads and posts and have found some interesting and useful information on here. What is the best piece of advice for being an author on Lit and for improving?

Have a good afternoon!

vegasokie03

Welcome. Best thing I can think of for being an author here and improving is to find authors writing what you do and doing well and reading their work (not to mimic the storylines but to see successful technique and writing) and then writing and submitting a lot yourself.

To do the best in the ratings, I'd suggest not posting to the forum and certainly not posting to the forum on how well you're doing.

 

[vegasokie03]

I appreciate the advice!

I try to take criticism with a grain of salt but sometimes it is hard because it feels like my baby is being attacked. My husband told me to be like a duck and to let it just roll off....

I like to read and re-read my stories several times before I submit them (and more often than not I wind up changing something each time) but I am going to take the advice of looking for an editor. I agree that sometimes I write with the assumption that others are going to understand why I wrote a story or the way I described a situation but I should know better than that

Again, thank you for all of the good advice!

 

[TxRad]

I appreciate the advice!

I try to take criticism with a grain of salt but sometimes it is hard because it feels like my baby is being attacked. My husband told me to be like a duck and to let it just roll off....

I like to read and re-read my stories several times before I submit them (and more often than not I wind up changing something each time) but I am going to take the advice of looking for an editor. I agree that sometimes I write with the assumption that others are going to understand why I wrote a story or the way I described a situation but I should know better than that

Again, thank you for all of the good advice!

There is a list of available editors in the Editor's forum that is updated monthly I believe. The link in your users CP is way out of date in most cases.

 

[glynndah]

A welcome for the little newbie from the good little witch.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I appreciate the advice!

I try to take criticism with a grain of salt but sometimes it is hard because it feels like my baby is being attacked. My husband told me to be like a duck and to let it just roll off....

I like to read and re-read my stories several times before I submit them (and more often than not I wind up changing something each time) but I am going to take the advice of looking for an editor. I agree that sometimes I write with the assumption that others are going to understand why I wrote a story or the way I described a situation but I should know better than that

Again, thank you for all of the good advice!

Most here assume youre yet another untalented hack demanding a tee-ball trophy. I do.

 

[TxRad]

Take JBJ with a dose of salts. He's our pet troll here in the AH. All he wants is a rise out of people. His mama had to tie a pork chop around his neck so the dog would play with him.

 

[SweetWitch]

Hello to everyone:

I just started writing and submitting stories a month ago on Lit and am loving it! I love creating characters and then writing a story around them and just seeing where they go.

I've been looking through past threads and posts and have found some interesting and useful information on here. What is the best piece of advice for being an author on Lit and for improving?

Have a good afternoon!

vegasokie03

Nuggets of wisdom from various authors:
1. Write what you know.
2. Write, edit, edit some more.
3. Look for constructive criticism and listen to it.
4. Ignore trolls.
5. Grow a thicker skin than you have.
6. Forget everything you think you know and learn.
7. Read.
8. Edit.
9. Did I mention editing?

Once you take all that in, toss it all out and write what pleases you. Fuck everything else.

 

[Handley_Page]

Nuggets of wisdom from various authors:
1. Write what you know.
2. Write, edit, edit some more.
3. Look for constructive criticism and listen to it.
4. Ignore trolls.
5. Grow a thicker skin than you have.
6. Forget everything you think you know and learn.
7. Read.
8. Edit.
9. Did I mention editing?

Once you take all that in, toss it all out and write what pleases you. Fuck everything else.

Amen to that, Molly.

 

[SalomeAhriman]

I forget which author said it. It might have been John Kenneth Galbraith.

"Along about the fifth revision, there begins to creep into my work that note of spontaneity for which I am so justly famous."

 

[Hypoxia]

Write what you will; the rest will follow.

Whether you want it or not.

 

[Libratine]

Welcome. I'm not new to the site, but new to the forums myself. I posted a few stories many years ago for an ex-flame, then deleted them. Now I'm getting back into it again.

Good advice given above. Not much I can add to it, so I won't.

 

[2bhard]

Welcome to Lit

Since were neighbors I though i would see if you want to make a story to write
about ?

 

[GoldenCojones]

Welcome VegasOkie. Good luck in your writing. I think most of the best advice has already been given in this thread so I'm just saying Welcome

To do the best in the ratings, I'd suggest not posting to the forum and certainly not posting to the forum on how well you're doing.

Damn, I wish I'd known this before posting LOL

 

[wastelandwriter]

Best advice I can give is more of a warning: The sure-fire way to find something in your story that needs to be fixed is to hit "submit." You won't even have to look at it after that to realize you need to change something.

 

[SamScribble]

Hello. And welcome.

People are often advised to ‘write what you know’. But even more important is ‘write what interests you’. If you’re not interested in what you have written, your reader will soon find you out.

Good luck.

 

[NaokoSmith]

There is a list of available editors in the Editor's forum that is updated monthly I believe. The link in your users CP is way out of date in most cases.

Welcome to the Forum! Ignore anything weird anyone said. You can always get very sound advice about writing and posting on here, along with a pinch of weirdness to make your day entertaining.

The Editors' Forum is the best place to find an editor, I believe. That or look around, spot someone whose writing you admire and schmoozle them till they agree to beta-read for you.

Another good way to improve your writing that I discovered is to edit for someone-else. Especially if it's someone who writes in a different style/genre to your own, you can learn a lot. Not only from their successfully different style of writing but because the mote in their stuff is a lot easier to spot than the beam in your own.