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Any NF/F writers here? |
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ColdReverie 
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Joined: 13 Jan 2015 Location: Luxembourg Status: Offline Points: 128 |
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 Topic: Any NF/F writers here?Posted: 29 Aug 2018 at 11:31pm |
Thanks Vim - that seems like sound advice. Like I said above, I hope the 5-minute exercises will make it easier to develop a routine and help me get past these obstacles. I spoke to a colleague who I recently found out has written three novels, and he said something exactly along the same lines as you have.
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Vim Fuego
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Death, T/S/G, Grind, VA Teams Joined: 05 Jul 2015 Location: Canterbury, NZ Status: Offline Points: 6618 |
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Posted: 29 Aug 2018 at 12:53pm |
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I think I go a bit the other way and often think "fuck it, that's good enough. Time to move on", but I have a background in journalism where you can't spend all day trying to get things perfect because there are daily deadlines staring you in the face.
A routine helps, if you can set aside a regular time to write. The biggest thing though, is just write something. If the words aren't coming, write something else. I have dozens of unfinished reviews on my computer, a lot of which are just a single sentence. Sometimes I go back to them but often I don't I still have a few dating from 2005, and have no motivation whatsoever to finish them, so probably never will. Your quality will improve with time. It's something which only happens through practice and sheer volume of written material. If you want advice, there are plenty of people here who would willingly help, and you will find you get conflicting advice from different people. That's fine. You just have to find what works for you.
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ColdReverie
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Posted: 29 Aug 2018 at 12:56am |
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Thanks for sharing, both of you. I've come to understand that writing successfully is a matter of habit more than it is of inspiration, but I do find it excessively difficult to build a routine around what I often associate with frustration and severe cases of brain farts. I suppose I will have to work on being something other than my harshest critic to really get there, and it helps to know that I'm not alone in feeling (or having felt) that way.
Though far from perfect, the fiction I wrote as a teen is actually not too bad, bar a few adjustments needed. In retrospect, I'd say that was because I wasn't afraid to write whatever stupid story I felt like writing, and I wasn't exposed to the amount of essay writing that going to university entailed. Since I finished my studies, I feel that my writing has suffered a lot from having been used solely for formal academic purposes, and as a result, comes off as either clunky, artificial, or simply dull. The review I posted above is undoubtedly one of the least severe cases of how dead my writing can get, but replicating that effort often feels unsurmountable. I recently bought a 5-minute writing exercise book to try to hoist myself out of the academic context and reconnect with writing that is less uptight and factual, so I hope that will help me develop a routine and eventually get me going.
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adg211288
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Black Metal, Prog/AG Teams Joined: 05 Nov 2010 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 22293 |
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Posted: 25 Aug 2018 at 3:57am |
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I often write isolated individual scenes when they are in my head to be incorporated later. I tend to like my writing on those more than anything I ever wrote as the first chapter. I think my biggest problem is that although I have a lot of plans and have done a lot of world and character building, I'm still unclear on exactly how and where the story should open and which character should be introduced first. Logic says it should be my main lead, but in some ways it makes more sense to start the story with one of my secondary protagonists. And I'm not convinced one of them isn't just deadweight in the story now that I've changed the setting and much of the plot. I may well cut him if I stick with the setting I have now.
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DippoMagoo
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Posted: 24 Aug 2018 at 3:20pm |
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Yeah, getting past the beginning part and actually allowing the writing a chance to flow, is always the hardest part. I always struggle when writing an opening paragraph for a review, sometimes leading me to put a review off for several days, even though I'm otherwise fully prepared to write it. Even when I get it done, I'm almost never happy with my opening paragraphs, and always look back at them and think they're terrible. Once I get a review going, though, I'm usually done with 45 minutes or less, and generally feel pretty good about them.
I have the same problem as Adam for writing fiction: My last serious attempt was in my teen years and was obviously legitimately bad, but recently I've come up with some ideas that have potential to be more interesting, but actually getting it out is proving to be damn near impossible. As usual, I'm sure if I ever get past the opening I'll end up making significant progress quickly, but actually getting past the opening does not seem like it will happen any time soon.
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adg211288
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Posted: 24 Aug 2018 at 12:37pm |
I judge my own work harshly, perhaps too harshly as whenever I stop writing I tend to go back to what I wrote previously and start pulling it to bits instead of picking up where I left off. This is especially true of my fiction work, less so for reviews though I've stopped writing those due to burnout. Currently I don't miss doing them. Personally I can only speak from the experience of doing reviews and that's to just keep writing (which is advice I should take in other writing endeavours). Actually, Encyclopedia Metallum were very helpful in my writing improving due to their approval system: all my early reviews were rejected. Then suddenly one wasn't. Then suddenly rejections became an oddity rather than the norm. I do think it's possible to get into a rut when writing reviews and fall into a formulaic approach which I don't actually like and it's the reason why I had my first burnout around the end of 2014 and through much of 2015. When I got back into them my reviews were more varied again. This time around I've simply got burned out by the sheer volume of 2017 album reviews I was trying to write, rather than being dissatisfied with the writing. I currently have no plans to pick them up again. My writing efforts need to be focused on my novel, which I'm eternally stuck on the first chapter of due to continually throwing it out due to dissatisfaction. I have a saying about writing: the first line/chapter is always the hardest. I think my writing would flow a lot better if I could get the first chapter to my satisfaction.
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666sharon666
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Posted: 24 Aug 2018 at 12:18pm |
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^ Darkspace is well worth checking out. Not an easy listen, but rewarding.
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Bosh66
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Posted: 24 Aug 2018 at 12:42am |
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If an album review has a mission to describe the emotions that the music solicits (and I think it should have) then this reads like a fine review. I don’t know Darkspace (perhaps to my shame) but I’m certainly intrigued and will give the album a listen.
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ColdReverie
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Posted: 24 Aug 2018 at 12:16am |
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Thanks for your reply, Chris (it is 'Chris', right?) ! I haven't written any album reviews in a good while, but here's one I posted on Adam's previous forum two or three years ago. Any feedback (good or bad) would be much appreciated!
Darkspace is a band I seldom listen to, despite the fact that I absolutely love their work. As a part of the black metal bands which have looked towards the deep void of space rather than Hell’s fires and the Antichrist for inspiration, their albums have invariably created a deeply oppressive, chilling picture of what may hide in the farmost galaxies. They are thus not to be listened to under any mood. True immersion is required, and preferably with the lights switched off. All that aside, I can’t stress enough how excited I was when I saw there’d be a follow-up to the already monolithic Darkspace III. Made up of only three long tracks (the first clocking off at almost 28 minutes and the other two passing the 18 minute mark), the band has once again spawned an eerie album. Imagine a world where light is scarce, where huge carnivorous, insectile creatures run rampant on the face of a blackened alien planet, where a handful of human beings foolish enough to have travelled across space to quench mankind’s ever-growing thirst for discovery are desperately trying to survive against all odds, where tentacular, sinuous weeds burgeon as the dark soil is tainted red with blood, as the infinite void of space looks down impassively at the struggle below. This is the picture I get when listening to this album. The first track opens with strange sounds reminiscent of ray-guns or the giant mandibles of a monstrous creature, before a disquieting guitar melody begins to echo and Hell breaks loose from then on. All three members provide vocals alternately, and they sound monstrous to say the least. The guitars are still heavy as ever, and the drum machine is rarely a bother, though it does sometimes fail to bring the charm that a real drummer has. These passages are only fleeting however, and should therefore not be penalised too harshly. The second track opens fairly quietly, where one can almost feel the fast heartbeats of the humans slowing down before a chugging riff rips through the peace, building towards an imperial roar which is punctuated by the echo of synths. Finally, the album concludes on quite possibly the most demonic track this album can offer, with the vocalists losing all control and roaring out their lyrics incoherently, lost in the absolute chaos that now reigns. The album ends with the sound of ray-guns and then, a sample: “I’ve found the hatch. […] There’s no lights, no power… I’m going in.” Silence. Fans of Darkspace will definitely be pleased with Darkspace III I. Although a masterpiece once more, it should be noted that the band have opted for a clearer sound than their previous albums. This is hardly a problem however, as the overall effect is still there and the album does not lose any of its dark majesty or its ability to create a profoundly scary vision of Hell amongst the stars. 97/100 |
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Bosh66
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Sludge, MC, HC, Post-Metal & Noise Rock Joined: 14 Feb 2013 Location: Bolton, Lancs Status: Offline Points: 25645 |
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Posted: 23 Aug 2018 at 3:56am |
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I know Adam has written blogs before and Travis’ brilliant reviews are like mini novels 😁 Thatcher also does some writing but he’s not been around for a while. I have my fill of writing at work so don’t write 😉 Putting up an album review might be a safe way of getting others to judge your writing style if you’re comfortable with that?
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ColdReverie
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Posted: 23 Aug 2018 at 1:40am |
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So I'm currently trying to get back into writing on a regular basis, be it prose, blog material, or reviews (books, mainly), which is something I haven't really done for at least ten years. The trouble is, I'm finding it difficult to establish a routine, but especially to judge my work fairly. In other words, whatever emerges from my putting pen to paper is automatically a pile of garbage in my eyes. For example, whenever I write a review for a book on Goodreads, I immediately start comparing it with other reviews, which always culminates in me thinking "Well, mine is pretty shit, isn't it?" and feeling heavily discouraged.
Have you also been through this stage, and if so, how did you get yourself out of it? What tips could you give to improve writing (be it fiction or non-fiction)?
Edited by ColdReverie - 23 Aug 2018 at 1:41am |
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Vim Fuego wrote: