Help with writing.

[valis2]

I'm inching toward writing original stuff. Slowly, very slowly, but I am. And I need your help.

I did a writing meme recently, you see, and I couldn't identify my strengths and weaknesses as a writer. I have some vague ideas, but what I would really love is some input from those of you who have read stuff I've written.

So if you have a moment, and are so inclined, could you please share with me what you think my strengths and weaknesses as a writer are?

If you would prefer, email to [myusername] [at] livejournal [dot] com. Or share them anon. Whatever works.

I would really appreciate it. Anything that can help me improve (and perhaps even better my teensy chances of publication) would be awesome.

Comments

[imafarmgirl.livejournal.com]

Thinking of TLS. You write characters that one can sympathize with in some small way. There is enough mystery to keep a person reading, but not so much that you feel you have to pull the author's teeth to get info on who is involved, what their backstory is, and where things might be headed. I would need to re-read to give better feedback.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you so much! This is incredibly helpful. I'm really glad that the balance worked for you. Thank you tons for replying!!

[imafarmgirl.livejournal.com]

Where is TLS posted again? If I get time and feel like reading fic maybe I'll re-read it. Of course I could read something else too I suppose. lol.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

You can find it at lastbloodwitch. :)

writing

[penball.livejournal.com]

I think you worry too much about the fact if people will like your writing or not! You are a great writer and you do a lot of rechere - your characters are so alive and while reading, I think I am a part of the story, it's deep and touching and given the length of some of your stories, I am surprised that you really never loose the way!

Re: writing

[valis2.livejournal.com]

You're very sweet! Thank you so very much, I really appreciate it. Sometimes with the long stories I get a little scared that people won't follow, but so far the reaction seems positive! *hugs*

[artystone.livejournal.com]

TENACITY!

[valis2.livejournal.com]

hahahaha! Wait--is that my strength, or my weakness? *snorts*

[artystone.livejournal.com]

Both?

pointless comment is pointless

[gmonkey42.livejournal.com]

I wish I could offer some useful advice but I don't know that much about writing. I know I like reading your stuff!

I just wanted to comment because I know if I posted something like this and I didn't get a lot of responses, I'd worry that it was because people only had negative things to say and they were holding back in order to be nice. And I wanted to show that some people, like me, just can't think of anything to say at all.

Re: pointless comment is pointless

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Aw, you're so sweet! I've tried this before and gotten no comments, so I was steeling myself for a similar reaction, lol. But thank you so much! :) *hugs*

[idleleaves.livejournal.com]

I want to second the above. =D It's not that I have negative things to say (which I don't), it's just that I don't know what to say. Heh.

You and I don't share a lot of fandoms, and when we do share fandoms, we don't tend to share characters, so I haven't read enough of your work for anything to strictly stand out as a strength of a weakness.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

hee! Yeah, I think that some of my readers are not reading my LJ, lol. Oh well. It was a good try!

And yeah, we just don't share enough fandom stuff. Thankfully, we share a friendship. ;)

[idleleaves.livejournal.com]

Hee. <3 We do indeed.

[milomaus.livejournal.com]

Sorry this is so late, I tried to find some time, to read some of your stories again. Couldn´t find it, though I did some cleaning up....
And these are just some random thoughts of mine.

Anyways, I think I read all your Riptide fics you´ve posted so far, and I love it! You write the boys so well, you take off of the show and start to create a new story with staying true to the characters. That´s one great plus on your writing Riptide. And I´m awefully sorry to say it like this, but that is one thing, I don´t know you´d do well in a story of your own since I never read one, so far.

But you do have a great way to express the feeling and the undercurrent of your stories, you pick the right words, you create a feeling I can go with, you paint pictures I can - sorry, lost for the right word here - play? rely? see? - with/on/before my eyes.
You make me want to read more, I love your longer stories, you built up the tension just right and I never had the feeling of "Come on, get this over with and the story back on it´s way." ´cause you stick to the things that are essential, without me ever missing anything.
Or trying to figure out, what you meant by the things you described.
That´s the next thing I love so much: I can read your stories without going back to try and figure out who said what and when and why.

So, that much for the praise.
I LOVE Riptide. The boys are sweet and thoughtful and big hearted. You got all that wonderfully right. What I do miss about them is the ego. Sometimes they´re just too sweet and good natured. There´s no edge to them, thei´re just lovely, sometimes even with the villains. I never thought I´d miss anything until I drifted off into another fandom, and suddenly it dawned on me.
I hope you won´t defriend me for this, but I do think, that Nick and Cody are quite easy to write. I do know it´s hard to come up with new scenarios and cases and the little things. You do that so well for them. And I can´t tell at all, if you´d give your characters enough layers to act like real poeple.

To summon this up and end my braintwisting, which I did for the last 45 min., I´d like to say this:
You do write very, very, very good fanfic. Very good indeed. And if that´s sth. to by, you´d write great stories! So go ahead and give it a try, you´ll never know if you can fly, until you spread your wings. I know you can soar, and that´s the first step!

(Please go on writing Riptide, I LOVE the input, the love and the sweetness you are so able to create!)

Hope this helped??? *hugs*
Rain

[valis2.livejournal.com]

And these are just some random thoughts of mine.

Thank you so much for taking time to put down these random thoughts! I appreciate it VERY much.

Anyways, I think I read all your Riptide fics you´ve posted so far, and I love it! You write the boys so well, you take off of the show and start to create a new story with staying true to the characters...And I´m awefully sorry to say it like this, but that is one thing, I don´t know you´d do well in a story of your own since I never read one, so far.

I'm so glad that you like the fics, and thank you for the wonderful compliment! And please don't feel awful about saying that--it's completely true, it's impossible to judge my original fic without having read it, you're completely right.

But you do have a great way to express the feeling and the undercurrent of your stories, you pick the right words, you create a feeling I can go with, you paint pictures I can - sorry, lost for the right word here - play? rely? see? - with/on/before my eyes.

I always worry so very much that I'm not being clear enough, and I'm so glad that you are able to follow along and it makes sense to you!

You make me want to read more, I love your longer stories, you built up the tension just right and I never had the feeling of "Come on, get this over with and the story back on it´s way." ´cause you stick to the things that are essential, without me ever missing anything.

That's wonderful! That's another big worry of mine--that people get bored. I'm really glad that you have no problem continuing with the fic. That makes me so happy!

What I do miss about them is the ego. Sometimes they´re just too sweet and good natured. There´s no edge to them, thei´re just lovely, sometimes even with the villains. I never thought I´d miss anything until I drifted off into another fandom, and suddenly it dawned on me.

You know, that is very interesting. On the show, they're not always sweethearts, though they usually are good guys, and we don't always show that in the fics. Thanks for mentioning this, it's very intriguing to think about!

I hope you won´t defriend me for this, but I do think, that Nick and Cody are quite easy to write. I do know it´s hard to come up with new scenarios and cases and the little things. You do that so well for them. And I can´t tell at all, if you´d give your characters enough layers to act like real poeple.

Of course I won't defriend you! This is all about honest opinions and that's what I want. :) And they are VERY inspiring and easy to write--I think that's why I keep writing with them!

You do write very, very, very good fanfic. Very good indeed. And if that´s sth. to by, you´d write great stories! So go ahead and give it a try, you´ll never know if you can fly, until you spread your wings. I know you can soar, and that´s the first step!

I'm so glad that you think it's good! That's such a lovely compliment. I am really hoping that people are this enthusiastic about my original fic when I get around to writing it!

(Please go on writing Riptide, I LOVE the input, the love and the sweetness you are so able to create!)

So far I show no signs of slowing down, so I think you will see a lot of new stories from me! :)

*giant hugs* And yes, it helped!! Thank you!!!!!!!!

[hardboiledbaby]

Hmm, I know I enjoy reading your Riptide pieces. As I commented on the writing meme post, I think you have a very clear vision of the characters and the events in your stories, and convey that vision very clearly to your readers. I think another one of your strengths is your attitude and dedication to your writing as a craft.

milomaus made a good point about the difference between original and fan fic; creating a new 'verse is different from playing in an established one. But I've no doubt you can do it, and do it well.

So, probably not very constructive comments. But I really don't see any general weaknesses in your writing. I should be asking you this question. :)

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I know I enjoy reading your Riptide pieces. As I commented on the writing meme post, I think you have a very clear vision of the characters and the events in your stories, and convey that vision very clearly to your readers. I think another one of your strengths is your attitude and dedication to your writing as a craft.

Thank you so much! That's so helpful. I always cringe when I reread stuff because I'm so worried that people won't understand what I'm saying. And sometimes I have trouble trimming dialogue tags because I really want to make it obvious what the characters are thinking and feeling. *nodnod*

I love writing and only want to improve. :)

Milomaus made a good point about the difference between original and fan fic; creating a new 'verse is different from playing in an established one. But I've no doubt you can do it, and do it well.

Oh yeah, that is definitely an entirely different ball of wax. I'm hoping that I can pull it off.

So, probably not very constructive comments. But I really don't see any general weaknesses in your writing. I should be asking you this question. :)

They are definitely helpful and I appreciate it!

And you? I *love* your writing, how you put together such evocative and heartfelt prose. There's lyricism to it and there's such feeling! I always can feel quite clearly what the protagonists are feeling. You're a great writer and I think you rock, and the ability to write short, awesome stuff is not a common one at all. It takes more talent to do that, IMO. And you can do it so well!

[hardboiledbaby]

sometimes I have trouble trimming dialogue tags because I really want to make it obvious what the characters are thinking and feeling

Hee, I know the feeling! I vacillate between being too obvious or too obscure, so my readers either go "duh!" or "huh?" :D Personally, I don't see you having a big problem with that in your finished product, but it's kinda nice to know you wrestle with that too. :)

I love writing and only want to improve. :)

I think wanting to improve, never being content to rest on one's past glories, is so very important, and what separates the true writer from the dabbler (not to be confused with a drabbler, who may be either *g*). Which is not to say a person can't scribble what they want, nor that a person should be constantly dissatisfied with their work, either. But a person who knows they just did a braindump and doesn't care to fix it in anyway to make it readable? They give fanfic writers a bad name.

I *love* your writing
Aw, thanks, babe! That's so sweet of you to say. I'm glad the emotions come through. :) I'd have to respectfully disagree with you about the short vs. long thing, though, at least for me. I have disproportionally more problems in longer stories--thank goodness for sharp-eyed betas who find them for me! I hope that crap:good stuff ratio goes down with more practice. Just means I need to write more, right? :D

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Hee, I know the feeling! I vacillate between being too obvious or too obscure, so my readers either go "duh!" or "huh?" :D Personally, I don't see you having a big problem with that in your finished product, but it's kinda nice to know you wrestle with that too. :)

Yeah, I totally wrestle with that, definitely. Sometimes I go too obscure, especially when I try to get a little artsy, lol!

Slash fic is an even bigger challenge--the male pronouns mean I have to use names more often, and it can be such a pain. *nodnod* I have a hellish time, sometimes, trying to make things clear.

I think wanting to improve, never being content to rest on one's past glories, is so very important, and what separates the true writer from the dabbler

Yes, and improvement is sooo important for the true writer! I think that if you don't work on yourself and your writing that you stagnate.

I'd have to respectfully disagree with you about the short vs. long thing, though, at least for me. I have disproportionally more problems in longer stories--thank goodness for sharp-eyed betas who find them for me!

Your drabbles are fantastic--regardless of how easy they are for you, they are so difficult to write well! Seriously! :) And yours are brilliant.