Which element of writing do you think you've mastered?

Ellis Clover

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... Or if you're reluctant to claim you've mastered any of them yet, which ONE do you feel is your strength?

I'll start :) Mine is dialogue. My storytelling might be shaky, my sentences might lack rhythm, but gosh darn can I write me some snappy dialogue.

Your turn!
 

CathleenT

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I've actually gotten rather good at editing other people's work, due to many writer swaps. This gives me hope that I'm also gradually improving at editing my own. : )
 

MaeZe

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I was good at dialogue from the start. It's the rest of world building and description that I'm reasonable at but definitely not mastered.
 

The Second Moon

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People have told me I write amazing action and that they love my characters. I kind of guessed that readers would love my characters because I love them. When you put your heart into something it shows.

I never would have guessed that I wrote amazing action, but that's what my beta reader said.

Things I haven't mastered would be spelling and grammar.
 

Lakey

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Mastered? Oh, goodness, absolutely nothing. The one skill I have that serves me well as a writer is that I love editing and revision. I love seeing my work improve before my eyes as I slash and cut and rearrange. Tightening up a flabby paragraph is extremely satisfying.

:e2coffee:
 

Girlsgottawrite

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I've always had an easy time with dialogue - probably comes from all the years taking drama. What I feel like I've really gotten better at recently is inner dialogue.

Things I haven't mastered would be spelling and grammar.

I feel you. It's taken a long time to get my grammar to a respectable level, and I still can't spell worth a darn. (But that's what spell check is for, right?)

If you're interested in improving your grammar, I highly recommend this book: My Dog Bites the English Teacher It's pretty old, but I found it at the library. Anyway, this was the first and only reference that explained grammar to me in a way that made sense. I liked it so much a bought a copy.
 
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Ari Meermans

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Mastered? Oh, goodness, absolutely nothing. The one skill I have that serves me well as a writer is that I love editing and revision. I love seeing my work improve before my eyes as I slash and cut and rearrange. Tightening up a flabby paragraph is extremely satisfying.

:e2coffee:

That. I'm stronger in some areas than I am in others but mastery? No.
 

Kat M

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I can spell!

Sort of.

I can spell even better when there's a squiggly red line that suggests I attempt "rhinocerus . . . rinoceruss . . . rhinoseros . . . rhinoceros" again.
 

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I doubt I'll ever get to the stage where I can say I have actually mastered any aspect of writing, but after three decades, I'm confident enough to tackle any challenge that comes up in my novels or screenplays and do it pretty well.
 

mccardey

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I keep my pencils all in one drawer, now. It took a while to master that. Sharpeners and rubbers (stop snickering, that boy down the back :granny:) are in the same drawer.

Also - I just checked - there's an old Xmas card stamp that the glue has come off, and two cough drops.

I'll just leave them there for emergencies.
 

JJ Litke

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Oh no you don’t. The second I say I’m good at this or mastered that, something will go horribly horribly wrong with that very thing.

I admit I have an advantage in being formally schooled in proofreading, formatting, and some copywriting. Though that makes it all the more embarrassing when I mess those things up. And in the past year I think I’m finally figuring out how to get some good voice going. Not that I’ve mastered this yet, but I’ve nailed it a couple times. Now if I could turn it into a regular habit, that’d be pretty sweet.
 

Ellis Clover

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I've actually gotten rather good at editing other people's work, due to many writer swaps. This gives me hope that I'm also gradually improving at editing my own. : )

Good to hear from so many people! (One thing I definitely haven't mastered is multi-quoting, so this will be painful, sorry.)

Editing is such a great skill to have in your toolbox, CathleenT. As someone who writes ad copy for a living (with no overseeing editor), I'm a fairly ruthless self-editor too. Lakey said it well below (above?) - tightening up all the saggy bits is very satisfying!
 
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Ellis Clover

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I was good at dialogue from the start. It's the rest of world building and description that I'm reasonable at but definitely not mastered.

I can't recall if you write fantasy/SF, MaeZe? I tip my hat to anybody capable of building worlds. My work is set squarely in the here and now. (Sometimes I venture back to the 90s, a period I've heard referred to once or twice as 'historical', which is hilarious but also maybe... accurate??)
 
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Ellis Clover

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People have told me I write amazing action and that they love my characters. I kind of guessed that readers would love my characters because I love them. When you put your heart into something it shows.

I never would have guessed that I wrote amazing action, but that's what my beta reader said.

Things I haven't mastered would be spelling and grammar.

Action's a good one!

Spelling has no bearing on how good a writer somebody is, imo. And I reckon grammar skillz are a work in progress for lots of us :hi: (I recently learned what 'editing for parallelism' is and it was such a revelation!)
 
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Ellis Clover

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Mastered? Oh, goodness, absolutely nothing. The one skill I have that serves me well as a writer is that I love editing and revision. I love seeing my work improve before my eyes as I slash and cut and rearrange. Tightening up a flabby paragraph is extremely satisfying.

:e2coffee:

I also enjoy editing, and dunking biscuits in tea!
 

Ellis Clover

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I think I am pretty good at developing strong, unique, multi-faceted characters that readers cares about. Maybe my writing isn't strong enough yet but I'm confident in my characters!

Nice! Character is king, imo. An author I read compulsively is Lee Child - a master of tightly plot-focused stories with a main character who manages to feel extremely real for all his arguable Marty Stu-ness. I guess my point is that even when plot is king, a great character makes all the difference!
 

Ellis Clover

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I can spell!

Sort of.

I can spell even better when there's a squiggly red line that suggests I attempt "rhinocerus . . . rinoceruss . . . rhinoseros . . . rhinoceros" again.

I remember struggling with 'privilege' all through high school. My modern history teacher finally said to me, 'just remember it's two i's, then two e's.' If only all tricky words had such simple solutions!
 

Ellis Clover

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I doubt I'll ever get to the stage where I can say I have actually mastered any aspect of writing, but after three decades, I'm confident enough to tackle any challenge that comes up in my novels or screenplays and do it pretty well.

Doggedness is a skill of its own. It even has the word dog in it, so you know it's good :snoopy: