Ever wondered if you're ever a decent writer?

Discussion in 'Authors' Hangout' started by Warden-Yarn15, Jan 19, 2022.

  1. Callum95

    Callum95 Virgin

    I usually think of myself as a bad writer, a person who is garbage at writing but when i look at the love my stories both entirely my own or part of another person's story get, it helps to build me up. I get bored writing fast and i never plan far ahead in my stories or write down a plot, I'm more of an think of it and write it writer. I think the best you can do is write for your own pleasures either for fun, likes or to improve as a writer. You will feel like the best writer in the world at some points and like your story was as good as the dirty on the bottom of your boot on others. I improve by reading other stories to improve my lexicon of words, my phrasing and how people respond to different writing styles.

    I don't know if i helped or just vented my own feelings on the matter but i do hope i helped.
     
    Cuchuilain and Warden-Yarn15 like this.
  2. JakeSnakeCakes

    JakeSnakeCakes Experienced

    Whether or not you are a good writer, you can't improve by not-writing.

    My self-esteem rapidly shifts between genius-god who is blessing the world with his words, and simpering fool who is wasting his life away.
     
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  3. CurvyLinesEverywhere

    CurvyLinesEverywhere Really Experienced

    Ooh! I actually saw a thing about this recently! It's actually good news, it actually means you're improving, it just doesn't feel like improvement because it's happening in phases.

    Basically, reading and writing are two separate skills. (Perhaps "reading" would be better phrased as "criticizing literature," though-- it implies cultivating a discerning eye.) As separate skills, they each improve when you use them-- and this means that they improve at different rates.

    When you're better at reading than you are at writing, your own writing looks like crap. When you're better at writing than you are at reading, your own writing looks amazing. Unless you're blessed with skills that increase in lockstep, you'll alternate through phases of each... even though both your reading and your writing skills both keep objectively going up, in the long term. (If you don't believe me, read some of your really old writing and try to bask in how much you've improved since you wrote that mess, rather than cringing about having written it in the first place.)

    So be happy about this transition. Learn to plan for it, and ride it out. When your writing sucks, maybe it's a good time to start a fresh story so you can build it from the ground up using all your new skills, avoiding your past mistakes. When you feel like you're knocking it out of the park, find a new story to read, something you can sink your teeth into, or maybe read some articles about how to write better. In this way, you'll always be leveling up your weakest skill, oscillating between good and bad at a rapid clip.

    (Unless your doctor tells you you're bipolar, in which case, take your meds and try to find balance. But if you're not bipolar, this isn't unhealthy, it's just how learning to read and write work.)

    Also, here's one bonus tip: I often find I'm better at writing first thing in the morning, when I'm well-rested. If your lifestyle allows you to think for 10 or 20 minutes lying there in bed before you wake up, give it a try. You may just find that all the tangled plot elements that perplexed you the night before suddenly magically have an obvious and intuitive solution, simply because your brain is well-rested and you're still in that floaty dream-adjacent state where ideas come naturally.
     
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  4. JakeSnakeCakes

    JakeSnakeCakes Experienced

    I am probably just bipolar.
     
    Cuchuilain likes this.
  5. CurvyLinesEverywhere

    CurvyLinesEverywhere Really Experienced

    Found it! :D (Source)
    [​IMG]
    So, yeah. Everyone wonders this. The very act of wondering this, and flip-flopping on it, proves you're getting better at your craft.