How did you improve your writing style?

BOWIESENSEI

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Just write!

Writing comes in naturally, when you're writing more and more chapters over a span of time you begin to have certain preferences that you'd like to add for instance;

I began to write both the dialogue and the narration in the same paragraph next to each other during chapters 15-20 in my Black Witch story on the original Wattpad version. Previously I write them separate but I wanted a better flow between the words so I first experimented then added it in.

Then I always just did "You ate that." She said. Those types of things. But then I started to hate saying said all the time so I did, "You ate that." She called me out while I took the last bite. I described it.

Or just very recently I started to hate that I kept using the word "as" a lot when writing. Then from my English class actually I learned of semi-colons, these things (;) So I began using them in my writing and it made the narration less monotonous so now it's a new part of my writing style!

It's all little things at first, but it adds up over time and when you look back at your old work you begin to cringe at it; that means that you've improved as a writer. It all starts when you start to dislike something about your writing and change it around to improve it.

That's how you improve your writing style :)
The way you describe your change in style really speaks to me. I've felt and done similar things.
Maybe It's my lack of confidence that convinces me that I'm not getting any better, but from what you've said. Maybe I have c:
Semi-colons aren't something I've gotten to learning properly yet. I'm still kind of new to this, which is probably evident in my work hahaha.
Thank you for your reply <3
 

BOWIESENSEI

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Reading a lot and practice. Some things are subconscious, you might be surprised as to how much you can improve just by writing a dozen chapters. Every time I go back and edit my older chapters, they look like they were written by an idiot to me... Every time...
Oh i know that feel for sure! I deleted a whole Book I was working on because it felt so... Clumsy? Plus I ended up working on something I'm a lot more happy with, but I'll always keep those ideas in mind.
 

BOWIESENSEI

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Just write. You know you got better if you cringe at your past work.

*remembered the story I published as a 7th grader*
*vomits*

Lesson learned: Write now, die later.

Serious Answer:
Read a lot. Not everyone can have their own style right away. Take inspiration and feel free to use the style that you like reading. In time, you'll be able to have your own voice.
Beautifully said, I really appreciate your advice!
I also wrote some horrendous stories in 7th grade hahaha ;-;
 

BOWIESENSEI

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[/QUOTE]
I'm kinda destructive in a way that even though I could do better. I try to show, and don't tell. I don't think I'm good at doing it but I try nonetheless.
Though thinking about it depresses me a bit since I've been writing every day for eight hours at best for the past four years. But most of the time my greatest enemy is my punctuation's and commas.
Show don't tell is good and it's also okay to tell a little bit. Just don't want huge blocks of text with exposition. It's, to a degree, acceptable (at least in my opinion) to do a little more telling in short stories.
 

Mack_Frantz

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I just did it as I (we) kept going. We just saw the progress and literally converted everything we did from the very beginning.
 

Minasharpwrites

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I read and try to figure out why I like something and why I don't(that's why it's a good idea to read books like what you're writing. Also good to write it down so you have something to reference later.). Also I read books on writing.

Crafting novels and Short stories by Editors of writer's digest(gives good overall advice)

Beginnings, middles, and ends by Nancy Kress
(Help for the areas that you might have problems with)

Manga in theory and practice by Hirohiko Araki
(What helped me make better bios for characters among other things.)
 

Rellawing

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Reading is fundamental to writing. You start by reading what you love and you read it until your writing naturally emulates the style. Learning by osmosis is wonderful if you can!

I started there, and after that I had story-level roleplaying sessions with a talented writer. In essence, in real time I learned a few things.

Grammar and punctuation aren't everything. They are for a final draft if you want it to look professional. Being a good storyteller is more important to start with. Having a good imagination is an important part of that.

Don't limit yourself by thinking you can't do it going into it. Just write. In my case I came back to my work a few years later and then I was able to realize it had potential. Until then I was negative about it.

You aren't going to be your best editor until time passes. Get an editor. They'll catch things you'll never see. Even years later you may not see issues. It helps to go back to old work and read it. It can help you to see how far you've progressed. If you get down on yourself, seeing the difference. If you truly improve the work, you're better.

No matter how bad your grammar and punctuation may be, chances are there are people who will read your story, find it accessible, and they'll appreciate it.
 

BenJepheneT

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It's simple. No need for convoluted paragraphs or long-written sentences. Just read more and write more. Find out what you like and what you want your writing to strive for. Simple as that.
 

thenewscifi

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Did it come naturally over time or from reading? I want to get better but don't really know some good steps to take. I haven't had much feedback either in regards to story, just grammar. (I suck at that)

Reading a lot helps, but you have to read a lot of well constructed writing in order to absorb quality grammatical, sentence and paragraph structure. But with that in your head, bad writing will look wrong to you, even if you can't immediately identify the nuts and bolts of why it's wrong. Add to that, writing a lot. There is an old adage that it takes a million words to figure out one's own style and perfect it. Some of us have done that and discovered that it's true in a lot of ways.

Lastly, where it comes to story creation and development, I learned a lot from being in a writers group, because there I was encouraged to ask a whole lot of questions, not only about the other writers' stories, but my own. I certainly got on the nerves of some of them when asking things like, why did that happen? Why did your character do that? How did you get from A to B, etc. That taught me to analyze what I was reading and writing a lot better than I was able before I faced a lot of questions about what I'd put down on the page.

I wouldn't say any of this is 'natural'. I found it took a lot of dedication to improving my own craft.
 
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Rellawing

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No insult intended, but that's why I don't read anything but published books, generally, unless the work catches my eye, and then only if it holds that attention. XD Since I learn by osmosis best, I really think it would hurt me if I read odd things. hehehe My odd is enough... adding to that would just... i have no idea. :rolleyes:
 

Arexio

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Jan 1, 2019
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Basically ditto what everyone has said so far. I only have two things to add/emphasize.

1) Write, write, and write some more. Like Malcolm Gladwell says, you need at least 10,000 hours of practice in an area to become skilled in it.

2) When you choose to read, you can read for leisure, "the normal way of reading" OR you can read like an author, where you read a passage and you think to yourself, "Wow, I really like that passage. How exactly did they do this?" And maybe you break down the author's sentence structure or their diction or literary devices, etc. etc.. In turn, consider if you can apply some of these ideas to your own writing and if it would improve your writing.
You can also do the inverse for terribly written passages, except consider how YOU would improve that writing, if possible. (Think like an editor.)

That second mode of reading is much more intentional and requires more effort on your part, but it is not without reward. Like the cliche, "no pain, no gain." :blob_wink:

Good luck my dude. :blob_nom:
 

LWFlouisa

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Studying poetry actually, as recommended by Brandon Sanderson. Yes I know, a scifi writer listening to Brandon.
 
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