I've been told I have a strong voice. Apparently this is a good thing, at least in America. That doesn't mean I have any idea what said voice actually is. Is it just how many times I use "just" in a paragraph? How many times I use compound-complex sentences?
Then there's also style, which seems to be how many times I use dashes and ellipses. What else, though? If it has to do with punctuation, could this be related to sentence structures, too? Would usually using an everybody-kills-each-other plot be in this category?
Basically, I'm trying to improve my writing, and I have been told I have these things but don't understand them enough to improve them. Assistance requested.
Also, should I continue updating this blog daily? I still have a few posts backlogged, so it's definitely possible, but it doesn't seem to be bringing much publicity beyond my usual even with daily updates. I don't really know how the advertisement of these things goes, but apparently I'm not doing it right.
Hmm, about improving your writing ... I'd say you have a very fast-paced, very direct style of writing. To elaborate, I mean that you describe what happens very quickly, very up-front. That can be a good thing and a bad thing. It's great in fights, but not so good in slower moments. I've noticed that in slower moments you spend a lot of time describing somewhat pointless things, like "I sit down, shuffle my legs, look at the sky, move the supplies around, etc." I'd say to improve it, maybe try not to get chapters out in so much of a hurry, but spend longer getting into the character's mind and trying to tell it more like it's in the past, not in the present. That's kind of hard to explain ... I don't mean that you should switch tenses, but ... hmm, I really suck at getting this across. I'd say spend more time describing character, as in their emotions, their facial expressions, thoughts, etc. This might help you adopt a more mature style of writing.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've noticed that your style is very informal, very casual. That's not necessarily a bad or good thing, it's just the way you write. There's really no need to change it, but if you wanted to make it sound more formal, for lack of a better word, you could try choosing less casual terms. But it's a fine line, you can't overblow it ... like instead of saying "I kind of think so and so," say "It occurs to me briefly that so and so," but not "As I sit mulling over the occurence, the new and startling idea that so and so etc. bursts onto my mind like a ray of sunshine."
Hope that helps. It's the best I could do. Remember that I'm just doing this to try and help, not to criticize you! I love your writing!
That first part is called filler! Yay! If I didn't hold myself to certain chapter lengths, I feel like it'd be easier to drop that, but if I did that, the chapters would probably be terribly short... My ability is a lot more in fast updates than splendiferious writing of a hundred or so different characters, so I'll take what I've got.
DeleteI've been working on thoughts/expressions, especially with TL&WR, but it's difficult in third person. I'm especially bad at describing expressions other than raised eyebrows and jaws hanging open, so I'm trying to lean more towards body language... It's a process.
What do you think about beats? Like, " 'Blah blah blah." He shifted his legs. "Blah blah blah.' " I definitely do a lot of boring descriptions for those, but I feel like I need to break up text and there's not too much more to say about the speaker during some of it.
I think I can go more formal for third person things, so we'll see what happens. It's hard in first person, because I try to vary it depending on the person—I think Amer says "kinda," while Fronce would say "kind of," and Igris "a bit." Of what individualisation I'm capable, I can do that. Though I have looked through to find Amer using a lot bigger words than I think he would... Yeah, that's why I don't look back much.
I quite like the "As I sit mulling over the occurence, the new and startling idea that so and so etc. bursts onto my mind like a ray of sunshine," though. Haha.
Ah, Filler. What could any of us accomplish without it? XD
DeleteI like beats like that in between sentences. I think they're good to help break up text; I hope I didn't give the impression that I didn't like them.
Yeah, with what I said about formality - I do like how you have some characters, like Amer, be more informal, while others, like Osso, are way more formal. That really helps give them each an individual voice. I guess I was just applying that rule because I never really write in multiple POVs, so I don't know the difference much.
I'll put that sentence into my next chapter as a tribute for you. XD
... Hahano.
Indeed.
DeleteJust making sure, since I think that's the majority of "shuffle legs, toy with supplies" stuff.
Well, you should try it sometime. Hehe.
Yay!
No!