The art of writing can be reduced to a few rules

[THE BULK HULK]

The art of writing can be reduced to a few simple rules:

Rule No. 1: Show and Tell.

Rule No. 2: Let your subject find you.

Rule No. 3: Write what you know.

Rule No. 4: Never use three words when one will do.

Rule No. 5: Keep a dream diary.

Rule No. 6: What isn’t said is as important as what is said.

Read more - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/bo...me&ref=general

[THE BULK HULK]

Anyway I thing that the author of this is a braindamaged gay asshole.

He wasn't even been able to write the rules in a concise and clear way.

[THE BULK HULK]

Here are my rules for successeful writing:

Rule No. 1: You need to start writing now.

Rule No. 2: You need to know where to end.

Rule No. 3: Write what you know, don't invent.

Rule No. 4: Never use more words than necessary.

Rule No. 5: Keep a live journal, or be a forum poster.

Rule No. 6: Whatever you missed to say is disappeared.

[meateor]

A lot of people seem to have this idea that all writing should be boiled down into Ernest Hemingway-esque linguistic brutality. I'll disagree with that until the day I die. Telling people not to use ten dollar words is like asking a painter not to blend blue and red to make purple.


P.S. I don't dislike Ernest Hemingway.

[iMagiNation]

Originally Posted by meateor

A lot of people seem to have this idea that all writing should be boiled down into Ernest Hemingway-esque linguistic brutality. I'll disagree with that until the day I die. Telling people not to use ten dollar words is like asking a painter not to blend blue and red to make purple.


P.S. I don't dislike Ernest Hemingway.

Lol it's not about using large words its about using no more words than necessary.

[crazzyass]

Originally Posted by meateor

A lot of people seem to have this idea that all writing should be boiled down into Ernest Hemingway-esque linguistic brutality. I'll disagree with that until the day I die. Telling people not to use ten dollar words is like asking a painter not to blend blue and red to make purple.


P.S. I don't dislike Ernest Hemingway.

No, you misinterpret. $10 are great, because you can use fewer words and they are more descriptive and specific.

You really shouldn't have to use lots of little words to make a sentence to explain about how you're using too many words in your writing.

See^shit.

[THE BULK HULK]

Originally Posted by crazzyass

No, you misinterpret. $10 are great, because you can use fewer words and they are more descriptive and specific.

You really shouldn't have to use lots of little words to make a sentence to explain about how you're using too many words in your writing.

See^shit.

Twitter is a great way to gain skills in not using unnecessary words.

[iMagiNation]

Originally Posted by THE BULK HULK

Twitter is a great way to gain skills in not using unnecessary words.

twitter is great...for internet marketing. not for literature. I'm sorry, but a 140 CHARACTER count is absurd for getting meaning across. maybe words, but not characters. why even institute such a maximum in todays internet? maybe like, ~15 years ago, when shit took forever to download but what the fuck, twitter is just an evolution of the talking heads and pundits of mainstream media, which is why they all took it. less time, more bullshit.

[Mashleshmash]

Originally Posted by THE BULK HULK

The art of writing can be reduced to a few simple rules:

Rule No. 1: Show and Tell.

Rule No. 2: Let your subject find you.

Rule No. 3: Write what you know.

Rule No. 4: Never use three words when one will do.

Rule No. 5: Keep a dream diary.

Rule No. 6: What isn’t said is as important as what is said.

Read more - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/29/bo...me&ref=general

Dude I'm not trying to be a prick but it seems most all your threads suck dick...this one is Okay. which is why i'm commenting..

[THE BULK HULK]

Top 10 of the rules for writing fiction - http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010...ction-part-one

[broseph]

Originally Posted by THE BULK HULK

Twitter is a great way to gain skills in not using unnecessary words.

yes, i owe my #1 best-selling novel to twitter, in part.

[THE BULK HULK]

Originally Posted by broseph

yes, i owe my #1 best-selling novel to twitter, in part.

I don't knwo about best sellers, but thanks to twitter people write less mindless bullshit for sure.

[Greyusurper]

So these will help my erotic fiction career, hmm?

[whocares]

dafuq is this gay shit. the art of writing is adhering to your own unique style of writing.

[broseph]

Originally Posted by THE BULK HULK

I don't knwo about best sellers, but thanks to twitter people write less mindless bullshit for sure.

twitter is the vacuous attention-whoring part (the worst part) of facebook, but refined into a website where that is its sole purpose.

fuck twitter.

[broseph]

then again, i'm probably pretty militant...

i deleted my facebook - which, by the way, was a fucking liberation - and since my tv broke, i don't watch television at all...

all i need is the internet, and now that is all i'll have...and let me tell you: i feel much healthier and more comfortable with myself both physically/mentally.

why let these cunts tell you what to watch/buy/fuck/whatever, when you can simply follow what feels right for you? the internet, even though it's far more linked-in and comercialised than it used to be, is still a bastion of personalization and freedom. i'll choose the option where i can filter content to suit me.

edit: you mark my words, one day that type of thing will be the trend...i can see it now: it's 2020 and youths are writing paper letters again.

[Struwwelpeter]

Shut up you poor ass bitch, if you can't afford to buy something shut your goddamn ass up

[Built To Last]

Originally Posted by iMagiNation

twitter is great...for internet marketing. not for literature. I'm sorry, but a 140 CHARACTER count is absurd for getting meaning across.

Haven't you heard Hemingway's six-word story? "For sale. Baby shoes. Never Worn."

[moron]

Originally Posted by Jim "fuck latinos" Carrey

Shut up you poor ass bitch, if you can't afford to buy something shut your goddamn ass up

[broseph]

Originally Posted by Jim "fuck latinos" Carrey

Shut up you poor ass bitch, if you can't afford to buy something shut your goddamn ass up

was that witten just for me, jim?

i can afford a lovely LCD tv if i want, i just haven't got around to it, and that alone proved to me that it wasn't worth a purchase.

not all of us waste our hard-earned money on crack and heroin.

[Irukanji]

I'll bite;

Tip No. 1: Write everything, scraps of information, half paragraphs of random thoughts. Voice recorders might help if you can speak clearly.

Tip No. 2: Research your shit before you publish it as fact.(protip for all aspiring and current journalists)

Tip No. 3: Remember that writing isn't an art, so make it as messy as you need to or want to.

Tip No. 4: Avoid overuse of the dictionary/thesaurus when writing. Keep it simple to read and fast paced(in writing terms), so people will read more than the first page.

Tip No. 5: Avoid slang if taking the role of narrator, unless the audience is likely to know what the words mean.

Tip No. 6: Use sufficient words to convey your message. The more the better, but don't describe the same thing over more than 1 sentence unless it is something particularly important in the storyline.

Tip No. 7: There are no rules, so do whatever. Pick your own style and go from there. Borrow good bits from others styles and discard the rest. Keep revising it until you can write pages and pages of coherent material which keep the reader interested. Forget about forcing emotions onto a reader - changing 1 word can make all the difference.

[crazzyass]

Originally Posted by Built To Last

Haven't you heard Hemingway's six-word story? "For sale. Baby shoes. Never Worn."

Reading Hemingway is like dragging your eyes across sandpaper.

[Built To Last]

Originally Posted by crazzyass

Reading Hemingway is like dragging your eyes across sandpaper.

A Farewell to Arms is the most creative writing I've ever read.

[moron]

The art of writing can be reduced to a few rules

nah, brah

[iMagiNation]

Originally Posted by crazzyass

Reading Hemingway is like dragging your eyes across sandpaper.

Not if you try to drink as much as he did. Then it's golden.

[General Butt.Naked]

For Whom the Bell Tolls was one of the first books that grabbed me in over a year.

I have this problem a lot when Im writing though. First of all i can never a find a proper way to develop my story, creater believable dialogue, and bridge scenes. Second, I overanalyze everything, and think that whatever I write sounds cliche. And I do have that problem with being too verbose. Good writing is supposed to be about painting a mental picture...about getting in someones head and painting a picture. You cant get in their head if it doesn't flow. If it doesnt naturally fit the environment of the imagination, it wont seem real...it'll seem like someone TRYING to write something.

"Just as he'd feared, the sun rose again- a searing bright, obnoxious "fuck you" to the senses. It giggled red and orange , peeking out over the brick red mesas and stretching its fingers across the scorched expanse of desert, through the rain and fly shit spotted motel window, the rotted, dusty needles of a dying saguaro, and into the sticky, uncomfortable room- to play shadow puppets on his eyelids. Rolling over to find the solace of darkness, he stifled a yawn and stretched his feet out from under the itchy blanket. For a moment, a smile. Then, like an inky stain, it started coming back to him- his what, when, why and where. And most unfortunately- who.

The early aire of disappointment sat him upright with a jolt, like a dull syringe of dirty meth. He slung his legs over the side of the shaky queen bed and held his head in his hands, staring down at his feet. They stuck slightly to the carpet when he tried to lift them. God knows what was down there. You never really knew in a place like this. He thought he had seen a cleaning lady mulling around when he had checked into the room a few days ago, but judging by the state of it, it seemed likely that she only ventured into this miserable pit to play hooky and watch her novelas. Or, judging by the state of this town- to get fucked up or bent over the dresser and pounded by sweaty truckers for twenties and gift cards. In places like this- of which he had seen many- you can never be sure."

I can illustrate well, but I have problems using the same sentence structure, and being very verbose. I still write pretty much the same way.

My apologies...I know this thread isnt supposed to be serious, but still.

[moron]

^ you should rap that shit to a beat

[crazzyass]

Originally Posted by Built To Last

A Farewell to Arms is the most creative writing I've ever read.

lol

Originally Posted by iMagiNation

Not if you try to drink as much as he did. Then it's golden.

Good point. I think I'll reread the Sun Also Rises and drink the same amount and with the same frequency as the characters in the book.

In other words, about three bottles of wine an hour.

[General Butt.Naked]

It goes on for a while. In my head it almost plays like a junkie film noir. He feels a apin in his back and finds a brastrap. He remembers the escort girl he ordered last night, because the only person he could get to talk to him is someone he paid. He wants someone to tell him that people are essentially good (I dunno why he thought a hooker would have a sunny disposition), and that life is worth living for some reason. But the escort girl ended up here after starting a bakery with her high school sweetheart. He blew the business on gambling and started beating her. One night he fucks her up so bad that she runs off and miscarries her baby in a gas station bathroom, and wraps it in paper towels to bury out back in the desert. Our antihero had hoped that at the very least hed feel something, that hed care about this poor girl's tale of woe and comfort her...but in the end, he just fucks her face and fills her mouth full of jizz and then kicks her out. He tucks an old single action .44 magnum into a leather shoulder holster and pulls on a T-shirt and jacket, Squeezes the last few drops of Clarity that he has into each eye, winces at the burn, and then walks out.

I have a hard time judging my own work, but I think I get too hung up on some things. I try to paint the picture too vividly. Other writers do the same, but they bounce back and forth so theyre not harping on the same thing over and over. And I can never fully flesh out whatever is is im trying to go for...what the characters motivations or end game is... I suppose theres no way I really could though.

[meateor]

Originally Posted by iMagiNation

Lol it's not about using large words its about using no more words than necessary.

No I understand that much. I've just heard from people before that using simpler words is better, which pisses me off. Was making a side point.

[Duelist]

my dad only had one rule, "write like your talking to someone,"--- easy enough, and it's worked well for me so far.