Just wondering what everyone's strongsuit is when it comes to writing, and what you struggle with. I'm not talking genre. For example, my strongsuit is dialogue and character descriptions. I'm also good at describing scenery, but I'm lazy about it and have to really force myself to do it ("I haven't decribed this building yet, I probably should"
). By far, I'm the worst at backstory - I have a horrible time figuring out where to place it and how much to reveal at once.
So, what's your best/worst? Action sequences? Dialogue? Backstory? Setting? Character descriptions?
Just a topic for chat
Worst:
Descriptions are difficult for me, especially when it comes to describing a room or any setting, really, and that's because I care more about the people, the characters. I tend to think that
where it happens doesn't matter so much as
to whom it happens and how it affects them internally. Plus, in real life, I tend to be so much in my own head that I honestly don't notice a lot of stuff around me. We could drive by a house on our way to work in ten years' worth of commutes before I'll notice it's even there.
I suck at titles. Oh sure, I can come up with some cool ones, but nothing that fits any story I've ever written. Go figure.
I tend to be a bit overdramatic when it comes to portraying emotions.
And backstory. Yeah, I love backstory, but methinks I love it too much. So much so that I think I've got to cram it all in. I must learn the art of writerly mysteriousness.
Best:
I think I've improved muchly on my dialogue in that it sounds a lot more "real" than it used to. Looking at my prior work, the dialogue was very stuffy and formal. Not at all how real people speak to one another.
I think I'm good at characterization in that my characters, no matter how many external changes I might make to setting or worldbuilding type stuff, remain true to who they are. I figure that means they're strong.