Page 1 of 1 [ 9 posts ] 

Danimal
Toucan
Toucan

User avatar

Joined: 15 Jun 2011
Age: 60
Gender: Male
Posts: 268
Location: West Central Indiana

25 Nov 2013, 12:43 am

I need some advice. I am interested in writing about my experiences and ideas, but I am having such a difficult time doing so.
I am a visual thinker. My thoughts don't seem to translate into writing. Any thoughts?



redrobin62
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Apr 2012
Age: 62
Gender: Male
Posts: 13,009
Location: Seattle, WA

25 Nov 2013, 12:47 am

This is where editors and editing come into place. Even professional authors have their work edited. It's nothing to be ashamed of. All you could do is present your writing to people, listen to their criticism, and learn and grow from it.



Cornflake
Administrator
Administrator

User avatar

Joined: 30 Oct 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 69,398
Location: Over there

25 Nov 2013, 6:41 am

[Moved from Computers, Math, Science, and Technology to Art, Writing, and Music]


_________________
Giraffe: a ruminant with a view.


BuyerBeware
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 28 Sep 2011
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,476
Location: PA, USA

25 Nov 2013, 9:30 am

The first thing you need is a basic structure.

What do you want to write?? Stories, essays, poetry??

Essays are easiest. There's a basic five-paragraph form-- one paragraph to introduce your idea and state three main points, one paragraph for each point, one paragraph to restate your points and restate your main idea. Five sentences in a paragraph. First you work on satisfying that basic form very neatly, then you start adding ribbons.

Stories can work in a similar way-- three to five paragraphs to discuss an idea or give details; followed by six to ten lines of dialog. Over and over and over.

Poetry-- don't ask me.

Thinking in pictures is maddening. I think in concepts; getting it pinned down in words can be extremely difficult. At least YOU have a picture to work from. Get a good book of adjectives, and research basic prewriting techniques. I think with a highly visual thought process, tools like webbing should be very useful.


_________________
"Alas, our dried voices when we whisper together are quiet and meaningless, as wind in dry grass, or rats' feet over broken glass in our dry cellar." --TS Eliot, "The Hollow Men"


sacrip
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Oct 2008
Age: 51
Gender: Male
Posts: 844

25 Nov 2013, 9:40 am

If you want to write well, read. Read constantly, read thoughtfully, read variety. Fiction, non-fiction, things you don't normally read, genres you're usually not interested in. Every new book is a new voice trying desperately to tell you something. And if you hear enough of them, you'll develop a voice of your own.


_________________
Everything would be better if you were in charge.


Quatermass
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Apr 2006
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 18,779
Location: Right behind you...

28 Nov 2013, 11:01 pm

Read widely, write repeatedly until it gets good, and make sure you have someone who's willing to critique your work besides yourself.


_________________
(No longer a mod)

On sabbatical...


coffeebean
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Oct 2013
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 769
Location: MN, US

28 Nov 2013, 11:08 pm

I agree with reading, writing, and critique. Sticking to a specific amount of detail and dialogue every time will leave you with too much or too little.



BrandonSP
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 Jul 2010
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,286
Location: Fallbrook, CA

28 Nov 2013, 11:25 pm

Danimal wrote:
I am a visual thinker. My thoughts don't seem to translate into writing.

I am a highly visual thinker too, but I don't know if this necessarily subtracts from writing talent. I would think it would come in handy so long as you knew how to describe your mental imagery. Maybe you should read literature that appeals to your visual side? One of my favorite writers is Robert E. Howard (he's the guy behind Conan the Barbarian), and he's pretty good at the vivid writing style.



Sherry221B
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 28 Oct 2013
Age: 123
Gender: Female
Posts: 670
Location: NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS

01 Dec 2013, 11:30 am

If you mean professionally, that doesn't work that way. I know someone who is a real writer. That's a talent, something that comes as innate, a vocation, having skills, talent, being passionate about it, etc, etc. That's why you're having difficulty. Because that's something for professionals.
The same goes with the rest of arts. It is not something you choose it chooses you. That's why writers, and the rest of artists do it.
Reading is not enough. You must have all those things from above, and more. Seriously, why people disrespect art so much nowadays? It's insulting.
Not a writer, but here's Michelangelo: 'I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.'
This was a real artist. He worked very hard for it. He'd have to go to the mountains with the marble, and build a road to go back to where he was because no one would help him. He did everything by himself, and like those true artists there were many more, until it came to this century....