Writing Talent

[Diviner]

As a writer I think of myself as a story teller. When I read the work of published writers, I find writing with more verve and more poetry than my own, writing I admire. For all my BIC, I don't seem to achieve that livelier style. Once in awhile, I substantially improve my sentences by working hard, but, in general, they are straightforward and rather plodding.

Any suggestions? Is this a personality thing or a lack of talent or am I being impatient? Are there exercises that I can do, or is there a different way of looking at my work that will help?

[reph]

Exercises: I know of one. Painters copy paintings by old masters to get the technique. Writers similarly retype pages/chapters by authors they admire. It makes you attend to every word and phrase that added up to an elegant style.

Different way of looking at it: Sure. Some people write plain, others write fancy.

[StormWarning]

Have you ever tried writing as someone other than yourself? It might be a worthwhile exercise, perhaps an hour a day for a week, to select a character--real or make-believe--and tell a simple story (like going to the market, walking the dog, attending traffic school...) from that person's POV. This might help stretch your powers of expression and give you a clearer sense of how much stylistic control you really do possess. It's always good to step outside yourself from time to time :)

[La Reine]

I used to feel dissatisfied with my writing style because I admired the writing of people who could just fill their pages with richness. I thought of myself as having a very simple, bare style (I could spot my writing from a mile away). For a while I tried to force the issue by trying to emulate other writer's styles, but then I found I was worse at it than I was at developing my own style. Now I embrace my simplicity, and my tendency to focus on language, and people are beginning to tell me that I have an "original voice." For a long time though that voice was something I tried too hard to manipulate into being something different. I think the greatest gift a writer can give to himself/herself is to find that natural way of writing that satisfies you and cultivate it. Pay attention to it, make it consistent, make yourself happy. Would I like to write like Jhumpa Lahiri? Sure. But I know I never will. My writing style is much more relaxed, slightly more poetic.

[Mistook]

Make sure you understand the tricks of the trade, so does speak.

I have no idea what your writing is like, but it seems to me the first major problem that faces a "good writer" when they write fiction for the first time, is that they don't know the difference between exposition and really puting the reader in the moment.

After a person gets a handle on how to "show" and not "tell" a story, the next major problem is understanding point of view. This is especially critical with a 3rd person narrator.

The next major problem - avoiding cliche' situations, cliche' phrases, info-dumps, stilted dialogue, and cardboard characterizations.

Only after you've got a handle on all that is it time to worry about whether the wording is or isn't too plain, because this is when things like sensory scene and action descriptions begin to demand your attention.

Finally there is plotting, and pacing.

These are the details you want to concentrate on when studying the writing of your favorite authors, and when writing your own work. And if you're anything like me, it won't be exactly "easy" to get your chops up. I'm still working at it.

[rowriter]

Just keep writing and trying to improve. Sometimes we are blind to the quality of our own work, especially when comparing ourselves to published authors.

I had a writing teacher who said that many of the people who are "natural" writers are too lazy to really do all the work writing/getting published entails, while the people for whom writing well didn't come so naturally were the ones with the persistence, tenacity to actually make something of themselves.

All in all the best thing to do is keep writing, keep reading, and keep improving! :) The more you do the first two, the easier number three will be.

[GPatten]

As a writer I think of myself as a story teller. When I read the work of published writers, I find writing with more verve and more poetry than my own, writing I admire. For all my BIC, I don't seem to achieve that livelier style. Once in awhile, I substantially improve my sentences by working hard, but, in general, they are straightforward and rather plodding.

Any suggestions? Is this a personality thing or a lack of talent or am I being impatient? Are there exercises that I can do, or is there a different way of looking at my work that will help?


Diviner, I like your question. I’m glad you asked it.


Make sure you understand the tricks of the trade, so does speak.

I have no idea what your writing is like, but it seems to me the first major problem that faces a "good writer" when they write fiction for the first time, is that they don't know the difference between exposition and really puting the reader in the moment.

After a person gets a handle on how to "show" and not "tell" a story, the next major problem is understanding point of view. This is especially critical with a 3rd person narrator.

The next major problem - avoiding cliche' situations, cliche' phrases, info-dumps, stilted dialogue, and cardboard characterizations.

Only after you've got a handle on all that is it time to worry about whether the wording is or isn't too plain, because this is when things like sensory scene and action descriptions begin to demand your attention.

Finally there is plotting, and pacing.

These are the details you want to concentrate on when studying the writing of your favorite authors, and when writing your own work. And if you're anything like me, it won't be exactly "easy" to get your chops up. I'm still working at it.

Mistook, thanks. The combination of Diviner’s question and your answer puts the “Show and not tell” in a better perspective of understanding for me.

[Diviner]

You have given me much to think about. Soon I will be submitting a couple of novels. Any feed back I get then will tell if my laconic, essentially plain vanilla style appeals to anyone. (I am expecting very little, but hope breathes eternal and all that.)

Now I have another question. Some readers have said my work is lacking feeling. Everyone likes my description of the visual--being an artist, how could I miss?--but more than one has said I don't get deep enough into my characters' feelings. Is this, too, a matter of taste or a failure of writing? Is there a procedure for developing this skill?

An example from my WIP of a woman who has just been questioned (politely) by the police:

Martha collapsed trembling, her head on her arms on the table, too weak to move, too numb to think. It was as if a great hand had reached for her, held her, squeezing out her breath, and then loosened. She could breathe again, but for how long?

[Garpy]

For my money...I'd say that's enough of an emotional description if she were a minor character. However, IF, she's the main character, and IF this has been a pretty traumatic experience, a little more getting-into-her-head wouldn't hurt.

But, really it's so subjective. I think if you can communicate how she feels, whether it's a sentence or a page...provided you can get the reader to understand her state of mind, you've done enough.

[MystiAnne]

One very strong way to make readers feel they are in the character's head is to "borrow" the vocabulary, syntax, and rhythm of the *character*, even in third person. Read The Garden Party by Porter (short story, in lots of anthologies), and note how the third person narration changes in diction to make you feel like you are reading the pov character's thoughts. Joyce does this as well at the beginning of The Dead, where the narration switches from the pantry maid to the main character, just through word choice & a bit of syntax difference.

The big answer to your question is, start reading your favorite works like a writer (after you've read them once as a reader for the joy of it, of course!). Identify the word choice, sentence & paragraph length, syntax, punctuation and teach yourself what kinds of choices make what kinds of effects.

My classes were a real eye-opener for me, taught me to truly close read. If you have access to advanced lit classes, go for it. Otherwise, start with Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Faulkner, from similar backgrounds at a similar time, and compare how different their works are, and what kinds of results they get.

For your particular example, I get the sense of a woman who is a bit hysterical (polite police questioning squeezed the breath out of her?)...if that's who she is, great. If she's not hysterical, but rather inexperienced, feeling guilty, trauma survivor, shy, or whatever, choose words that will hang a lantern on those feelings, so we know with greater specificity what she's experiencing.

hope that makes sense. I'm finishing the final copy edit on my novel and am not sure I'm entirely rational any more :)

[Diviner]

[QUOTE=MystiAnne]One very strong way to make readers feel they are in the character's head is to "borrow" the vocabulary, syntax, and rhythm of the *character*, even in third person. Read The Garden Party by Porter (short story, in lots of anthologies), and note how the third person narration changes in diction to make you feel like you are reading the pov character's thoughts. Joyce does this as well at the beginning of The Dead, where the narration switches from the pantry maid to the main character, just through word choice & a bit of syntax difference.

The big answer to your question is, start reading your favorite works like a writer (after you've read them once as a reader for the joy of it, of course!). Identify the word choice, sentence & paragraph length, syntax, punctuation and teach yourself what kinds of choices make what kinds of effects....


For your particular example, I get the sense of a woman who is a bit hysterical (polite police questioning squeezed the breath out of her?)...if that's who she is, great. If she's not hysterical, but rather inexperienced, feeling guilty, trauma survivor, shy, or whatever, choose words that will hang a lantern on those feelings, so we know with greater specificity what she's experiencing....

[/QUOTE}

Thanks, o jewel among women--an incredibly helpful insight. Whether I can benefit from what you suggest is another question, but it surely helps to point me in the right direction. If I could only look at the implications of my own words as clearly as you do!

This writing business is much harder for me than messing with paint.