I just found something out about my writing. Writing at 10:30 PM while tired and drowsy has a habit of revealing secrets about your style. First of all, I'm pretty repetitive. I use this a lot:

_____ily, __________.
(Drowsily, he rubbed his eyes)

Or some other sentence beginning with an adverb (or whatever part of speech 'ly' verbs are)

Also, I use sentence fragments. A lot. I claim it's for emphasis, but it gets really annoying. Like, really. But you get the picture. =)

My question thus follows:

How in the world can I keep my writing variegated and not boring? I read everyone's writing and think it's great. I read my own and it's a chore...literally, a chore. =) I can't stand my own style. It sounds like something out of a 483 page technical manual on how to manually hack Google's code base while creating your own programming language that's a mix of C++/Perl/Java. (Fun as that may sound to some: Jay ) My writing is just plain boring to me.

So I'm asking y'all: How in the world do y'all do it?

eruheran

P.S Apologies -- this post is rather more of the 10:30 variety than my usual stuff. =)

Ditto for me. This drives me up the wall for me, but I don't notice it in other people's writing.

Yeah, same as Melody, I get so worried that my style's boring. I think the others reading it don't find it so. The best thing to do is give it to someone to read, I think it encourages me when people say they like it, etc. as then you realize they can't find it boring.

My style swings drastically. I'd like to think I have some control over it and can apply different styles to different books, but not always. Some scenes just come out differently, and I think the mood I am in has a lot of effect on it.

This isn't always a bad thing. When I wrote the first words of my sci-fi story, the style came out incredibly direct and clean-cut. It was stark compared to what I usually write, and I was worried that it was too blunt. But it ended up being the perfect style for the book. Sometimes it's best to let things flow as they come.

Now I have to focus, to make sure I maintain the style consistently throughout the book. It takes conscious effort - I have to keep an eye as I'm drafting and constantly break up sentences and paragraphs to keep it sharp. But it's worth it.

If there's something specific about your style that you think you're overdoing, like sentence fragments, try making a conscious effort to watch for fragments as you draft. When you write one, evaluate it and consider revising it.

You could also try burying yourself in a style you admire. After I read some Frances Hodgson Burnett, I'm inclined to write like her, with old-fashioned narrative and long sentences. It puts me "in that mood."

And I agree - seek some third party opinions on your style. What annoys you may flow with a reader.

Huey...I have not noticed that in your writing. Let me just say that.

But I know what you mean. I have the same problem when I read my writing. I also have pet phrases that I LOVE to use (you've probably noticed I use the word 'supposed') a lot. LOL!

There is nothing wrong with the writing style you just described, unless it becomes so ridiculously pronounced that it is a distraction to the reader.

That said, if you don't like to see that kind of thing in your writing, then just fix it as you edit. And as you keep fixing things, you will eventually begin to write the way you are editing yourself to write.

And of course, read authors whose writing style you would like to mimic. (but that's already been stated very aptly by Philli. )

And as she kind of touched on, it's a good idea to alter your writing style to fit the mood of the scene. (I think.)

If you're writing a scene that's meant to be fast, and choppy, then your emphasizing fragments are going to be an asset. And you'd need to edit more of them out when you came to...I don't know, a relaxed, dreamy, possibly romantic scene, or something like that.

Good advice. That's what I do.

I think all authors are hardest on themselves. Just be careful you don't discourage yourself Eruheran. We all need work, but we shouldn't disparage ourselves. Let others be the judge. Everyone else gave good advice, so I won't beat a dead horse (that is a horrible saying by the way!).

Advice: read everything, spend as much free time as you can reading. Find an author with a style you like and read everything by them... I did this before I even like writing and it developed a good mind for writing because then it's easy to think in the style you like.
Also: don't read your work. write it and leave it sit there for a month. I've come back to my work and said "hey, I wrote this? this is good" and get really into reading my own work, but I've also come back and revised a ton because I just wasn't feeling it.
Remember: You're writing for God and he loves it, I've had my critics, I've been one of my critics, but He'll take you where you're going.


Me: I have a habit of using the same (though good sounding) words a lot. so I might say "He was explicitly clear when he stated (blah, blah blah...) which was made clear by" okay poor example, I'm tired now...
The other one is my random fear of overusing a name. A lot of times my subjects get mixed up because I refer to Him or He rather than Tanner and Pernoxnix.

It was pronounced...every other sentence started with "___ly," !

But thanks for the advice, and the encouragement y'all. All of what you said was really helpful; especially reading stuff...maybe my problem is that I just finished a four hundred page history of the revolutionary war

eruheran

LOL! Well...yeah. After reading Botb constantly over and over, it took me a couple years to break away from the bad habits I'd learned from reading that style.

Once your brain is refreshed your writing gets a makeover too.

BOTB?

Yeah, I definitely agree. =D

eruheran

My writing style typically stays the same, but the quality can swing a bit. I tend to be a wordy, descriptive writer. I tend to use the word "that" too often. (Something my mom is helping me remedy in my essays for school. )

My writing quality is really poor when I am writing about something that doesn't interest me. If I'm not in the "write" mood (haha) then it feels like I'm forcing the words out, giving it a artificial sound. Music plays a key part in my writing. If I can feel the emotion the character feels, it comes out more authentic. ^_^

I agree with Airianna, we're our own worst critiques.

Oh, man, yeah. I can sympathize. I often find myself groaning inwardly as I realize I'm using the same turn of phrase I've used repeatedly in every story I write. It makes everything feel rather stale.

But I think the others are correct when they suggest we are often our own harshest critics. Showing your work to someone else and getting some honest feedback is probably going to be most helpful. Often other people don't pick up on the phrases and terminology we think we're over-using.

It definitely helps to read other authors' work, both to cleanse the palate and to give yourself some inspiration. I've been reading a book by Dan Abnett that I'm borrowing from the library, and he has a great way with language. I've also always enjoyed that same quality in Fritz Leiber and Peter S. Beagle. Reading their work inspires me to hit the thesaurus and do more research reading.

Oh, I did the exact same thing a year ago with fragments. They're for emphasis, I told myself, and ignored the spell checker. Until one day, I was rereading some of my old writing and realized just how bad fragments were. After that I listened to the spellchecker and tried my hardest not to use any fragments at all. Since then I've allowed them to creep back in, for emphasis, but my writing dramatically improved.

The fact that you're starting to notice these things is good. If you think your writing is perfect, (like I did,) and you ignore all advice because you know what you're doing, you'll only get so far. Once you learn enough about the craft you'll start to pick out flaws and I think it will help you as much as it did me. My number one advice would be: keep writing. Write and write and write, even when you've decided you'll never be as good as all these other writers. You will, if you write. The more you write the better you'll get. It's true; it's what happened to me.

Yeah, my first four or five novels were sorry, but I didn't let that stop me. I did consider giving up writing when I reached the point where I realized how sorry they were, but I loved it too much and just decided to give up the idea of publishing. But it's like a long bend in the road, you come around it and see the the tunnel is indeed getting brighter. My writing has improved, and so will yours.

Another thing, regarding third party sources, is sometimes you have a tendency to not believe people when they tell you it's really good, because you are your harshest critic. Try finding someone you don't know very well to read it; people you don't know are often more willing to be brutally honest because they don't have to worry about a friendship if you get offended. (Which you won't anyway, but it's still a factor.) Getting people to send you private critiques (if your only source is HW) might get more honest input too, rather than the generic "I really like it, post more!"

But be encouraged. Thinking your writing is lame is one step towards making it better. Recognizing your flaws and mistakes is the first step towards fixing them. Keep it up!

My style waves between long sentences of telling and short choppy sentences. Just write it out, edit later. That's my advice.
Perhaps we are so harsh we make ourselves think there's a mistake when there isn't actually a mistake there.

@Varon: Goodness, yes! My mom never minds pointing out that my sentences are very long.

My Mom doesn't generally read what I write, she thinks fantasy is good only for imagination and it appears that she thinks sci-fi can be dangerous.

My style is never really the same. In Hunter Romero, my style is more laid back and fun. In TPoF, it's rigid.

I've only let my mom read my most recent story. I'm sort of embarrassed to show her what I write. No idea why. But she does read my reports and essays for school! And that is how show know I write in long thoughts.

This is especially true since we as writers read our own work over and over again, spending a combined total of who knows how many days on end writing and editing, while the average reader will go through the book in a matter of hours.

I think what Vanya said is beautiful, encouraging, and absolutely fantastically true.

Thanks so much for posting that, Katie.

I agree! Wonderful job!

Same here. I guess I underestimated how bad a writer I was. Or maybe I just underestimated how hard it is to write well.

Yeah--same here. But it's important just to keep plugging =D

eruheran

It's like diamonds. You find a rough stone, unearth it and polish it. Then you give it to a Jeweler. Sometimes He puts it in a necklace right away; other times He saves it for a special ring. You find an idea, write it down, and then you refine it to say how you want it to. Then you let God take it and put it where He wants it to be wherever and whenever it should really go.

For me, if I edit/polish up, it's fun, but I need substance to work with. Then it's in God's hands to do what He wills with it.

Terrific analogy, Shawn. That really applies to everything I've written so far. I actually find it entertaining and enjoyable to pick up an old idea, grimace, and be re-inspired by it to create it into something new. ^^

Thanks.

EDIT: I just thought of how to carry it further...

My family only reads my writing sporadically. But as messy as my nano novel is I've got two sisters who can't put it down, and read everything I've typed while I'm gone. They haven't read any of my novels in several years and they're telling me my writing is so much better they scarcely recognize it.

Maybe there's hope for me.

So just keep writing. Write and write and write and write, even when you know what you're writing isn't any good. Keep at it. And one day someone will tell you; wow! It's amazing how much your writing is improved. and you'll say: "Really? I haven't done anything..."

Thanks.

That's my girl, such an encourager.

*pinks and smiles* Thanks, sis.