How do I get better at writing?

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>>30779849
You don't.

Write more?

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>>30779849
you don't. you keep failing until you die. if you're lucky your works will be picked up long after you die.

>>30779862
Did the ban wear off already?

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>>30779870
what ban?

>>30779849
Read, and notice what is effective, what they do and do not do. Read a lot.

>>30779849

Practice, practice, practice. I've been at it for 12 years, and practicing is the most vital thing you can do. Just try not to be overly perfectionistic, and understand that there will always be mistakes. You need to accept them and move on, or else you'll be pissing around with the same chapter for weeks without end. Also, it's good to be acceptant of criticism; don't get overly defensive when someone tells you your work is dogshit. Inquire as to why that is -- assuming they aren't trolling or just being retards -- and apply what you've learned to the next chapter or story.

Lastly, avoid greentext. Only talentless hacks do greentext, and it encourages you to be less descriptive and more lazy with your prose. You need to paint vivid imagery for your readers; not shovel half-baked shit into their mouths. Even though a lot of folks around here like that.

>>30779879
The one that you deserve for spamming this shit

>>30779849
>Try once
>Fail
>Hate self forever

>>30779892
>Only talentless hack use greentext
Then you must use it a lot

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>>30779903

Never have, never will. Traditional writing is best writing.

>>30779920
You're not just wrong, you're stupid. And you're ugly, just like your mum

>>30779892
Some greentext is almost exactly like prose though. There's nothing that says you can't use normal dialogue tags, write in past tense, or be descriptive. The only real difference is that you can't do paragraphs, although you could use > as a janky indent instead of going line by line.

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>>30779926

>sincerely, assblasted greentext "author"

>>30779934
This. I find most greentext too disjointed, but some greentext is almost exactly like prose.

>>30779849
How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
Practice, practice, practice.

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>>30779934
>>30779951
>be me
>not much interest in gay porn
>not in my recommended pornhub videos
>too busy and poor to just get male escort on backpage
>satisfied with seeing male's asses get creamed on the inside
>visit with sister
>pulls out her special dildo
>starts laying into me for not being properly prepared
>joke that I'll just fuck her without a condom
>gasps, "YOU CAN'T DO THAAAAAAT!!!"
>it begins
>proceeds to suck my inbred cock and handle my balls
>this from a girl man who waits tables for a career
>politely tell her to bend over and let me do what I want, but I probably won't because her pussy it too loose
>at home hours later, get call from mother
>"what's this about you cumming into you sisters pussy!?"
>i_wonder_who_told_her.jpg
>"you can't, muh pregnancy, muh hpv"
>getting pissed
>point out that she got pregnant from her brother and doesn't know how to use contraceptives
>>she's just parroting what she's heard
>hang up angrily
>reaching my limit with these people
>pull out gimp
>black clad sex slave spends hours playing with himself
>"Oy vey, muh cock, muh tight asshole. I'm going to cum in ten seconds flat!!!"
>Ii've. had. enough. of. this. shit
>bend over that slave, at the peak of my anger hard-on
>hate fuck that little whore's ass
>a lovely milky stew bubbling from his ass
>become pic related, counting to 15 seconds
Am I gay?

>>30779958
Don't read this; it's an irrelevant copypaste shitpost.

>>30779968
Bullshit. I made it myself

>>30779849
Write what you know.

>>30779892
Could you suggest someone who has finished a well written fic?

>>30779849
By writing.

>>30779981

Sorry, bud; I rarely read fanfiction these days. But whatever you do, don't trust anyone who recommends Fallout: Equestria. It's a poorly written, cumbersome mess of a story, as are most of its spin-offs.

>>30779937
Never written in my life

>>30779849
I'm going to save you some potential pain. Semicolon and em dash are your friends; they let you legally write those sentences that read better in your head without conjunctions—it's very cool stuff.

>>30779994
I feel like you're one of those people who have very punchable faces

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>>30780028

Never been punched by a fat dude in my life.

>>30780042
Implying

>>30779859
>>30779880
>>30779892
All of this.

Read a lot, write a lot.

And don't get assmad when you receive criticism about it (whether it be grammar, spelling, word choice, sentence structure, etc.). If your critic is just sperging out about not liking thing (or you specifically) and isn't actually helpful, disregard it. But if it actually has substance, give it due consideration even if they're a dick about it (and if you're writing here, that will be a frequent occurrence, get used to it)

Write moar, read more, repeat ad infinitum.

>>30779849
By writing more, and no saying that isn't a troll. The best way to get better is through repetition and practice. The more you write the more obvious mistakes become and you get better at making things flow smoothly in your story or whatever. Also, read. A lot. Read what your interested in and if you want, write down certain words or phrases that you like, always nice to expand your vocabulary so you can paint a clear and vivid picture for the reader to imagine.

>>30780076
>>30780091
So do people usually write without actually posting any of it? Sort of like how artists just doodle from time to time.

>>30780110
Yeah, I've written a couple of clopfics that I've never posted.

>>30780110
I got one thing I'm actively updating and posting, and then a handful of other things I've started writing but which never went anywhere. I sometimes implement ideas from the unfinished drafts into the "main" story, but other than that they are completely unrelated.

>>30780110
You certainly could. However making something and wanting to get better is kinda fruitless if you don't let anyone read and tell you what they think or where you can improve. Good news is, Anonymous message board. If you post something and it gets shat on then well at least you have some kind of basis to go off of. Working for hours on something and wanting it to do well only to have it criticized really fucking sucks but it's just part of the process of improving.

>>30780216
There used to be a couple of autistic proofreaders accepting any and all fics. Don't think they are around anymore though.

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>>30779849
Been writing for little over eight years now, and my technique has always been to get angry. Read what others are writing in the same genre and then proceed to dissect it in detail, all the while keeping the thought of, "I can do better," in the back of your head. Observe every mistake, every hidden opportunity for characterization, wordbuilding, so on and so forth. Let your anger at the mediocrity come to a turning point when you decide to write, let everything missed in others' writing come out in yours, let your work transport the reader into the scene rather than telling a whimsical story.

>>30780234
This is true. But still though, believe it or not there are still some Anons out there that can give sage advice when you ask. Let's be honest here, if someone makes a green or a fic of any sort that you really enjoy, and you know how precious (You)s can be to a writefag, giving them the courtesy is always nice, even if its minor. And by that I mean if you ask for advice or critique you'll probably get at least some. Also, fuck the haters, write what makes you happy my dude.

>>30779892
>avoid greentext
Damn, and here I thought you were actually trying to get your point across
Here's another (you) for your efforts, I mean, it's slightly above the glimspam level so I gotta give you some credit

>>30779892
Most of this, though I won't cosign on the avoid greentext bit. It can set bad habits, but if you have a hard time committing to regular writing, greentext is good for keeping you writing regularly due to the lower effort it requires. I've written traditional literature style for a decent while, so I actually have a hard time staying in the style of most greentext, but doing it sometimes works good as a draft before I clean the work up, or keeps me writing when I don't have the will to go all-in.

Writing regularly is the most important thing, though. It's like a muscle. Do it every day. Set yourself a word limit per day, build it up, and you'll keep getting better.

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>>30780284

Thanks for the (You). Sadly, I can't return the favor by shoveling half-baked shit in your mouth, since I actually write paragraphs and stuff.

>>30780110
I'm a writefag and a drawfag, and I can say that nobody sees most of the things I make. I do a lot of quick scenes and quick sketches, and a lot of them are shit. But just like a quick doodle isn't anything that's supposed to be criticized, a quick thrown together paragraph of text is just playing around. Get out of the realm of thinking of it as practice, and to the point where you just do a bit now and then to try/do for fun. If you're always writing/drawing for an audience, it's a lot more likely to feel like work. That said, if you accidentally make something good, no shame in cleaning it up and sharing it.

>>30779849
By reading a lot

>>30780303
Your opinion isn't bait, but it's dumb. What, you read one shitfic on here and decided they're all the same? If you're incapable of delivering prose without meme chevrons, you probably shouldn't be writing. Green is fine.

>>30779849
By reading and writing. On this board specifically? Low effort porn gets the job done.

>>30779892
>Lastly, avoid greentext
I've read a lot of shitty greentext in my life time, but I've also read a lot of shitty prose. The medium through which your story is being told doesn't always determine the degree to which your story engages the reader. You can have vivid imagery in greentext if the author chooses to do so, there is no law stating that greentext has to be written in a super concise format.

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>>30779892
his octavarius. removed your name?

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>>30780451

Can you repeat that, in proper English this time? Assuming you're capable.

>>30780473
i say old chap, are you not the ruffian known as octavarius? awful business, that.

>>30780483

That I am. Just paying a visit before I go on my merry way.

>>30779849
Read books of the genre of your target. Real books, not greentext or fanfiction. Then you practice until you git gud with character and prose. Start with adding short side-gigs or followup to canon events, then you can go risky.

>>30779849
For me it just came naturally from RPing in a serious environment, but this doesn't neccesarily work for everyone.

>>30780490
You gonna post a link to one of your stories? I want to read one.

We need writing improvement threads.

>>30780973
There used to be a Writefags' Guild, but I can't find it in the catalogue. I hope it hasn't ended, the people that ran it were amazing.

>>30780984
It hasn't been around for a while. Most of the regulars moved to a discord chat. I was planning on making a thread, but got busy unexpectedly. Hopefully tomorrow, I'll make a thread, and hopefully it'll stay up as well

I have an idea for a fanfic to write but I don't want it to sound like its translated out of German like my normal shit. Its a little bit edgy but we all get a free pass on that once, don't we?

>>30781014
Like many of us say here in the thread. Don't get too offended if someone says it's shit. There are lots of loud assholes.

>>30781037
You don't even know, man. I'm better at writing Essays than stories, and that effect carries over something fierce. I'm definitely going to give it a shot when I have the time, but I want it to look good first.

Would you like to hear the concept?

>>30781057
Sure, the more writers the better.

>>30781076
Okay, and I warn you its pretty fucking edgy.

Rainbow Dash is for one reason or another, sick of living her life. She wants to end it, but thinks that going out like a little bitch via hanging or something would make her look like a pussy. She can't bring herself to do it.

As an alternative, she lures a bunch of random urban explorers into an abandoned office building that's full of asbestos. She develops lung cancer, and is elated to learn she doesn't have long left to live. Until the pain sets in. She regrets everything now, but her life is slipping by her too fast to do anything about it. Desparate, she reflects on her life and realizes that it wasn't so bad after all.

I want it to be feelsy but I feel like there's too much edge to cut yourself on.

>tfw extremely ameteur writer with commitment issues
>want to write a story idea that I think could be really good or at least so bad it's good
>afraid that my shitty writing will affect the story
>start another one to practice
>get annoyed that I'm not writing the other one
>go and write it
>it's shit
Does anyone else know this feel? How do you deal with it?

>>30781103
Doing that right now. I've got a story that I love so dearly, but my writing level is shit, so I'm putting it off while I work on other stuff like writing exercises and whatnot

>>30781094
Why does she lure in other ponies?

Besides that, most stories are pretty edgy if you quickly summarize them like that.

>>30781140
I like to think that, for her, it was "trying something new" to not arouse suspicion, and she just "found a group to go with." Plausible deniability: "Of course I didn't get lung cancer on purpose!"

>>30781103
I have done this. I usually just delete everything, read a few fics and write it again.

>>30781103
You should probably read something with a similar genre and examine their prose. Seriously, I can't stress this enough.

Like a cool action sequence? Pick up the book and study those paragraphs.

Want to see how someone writes a baseball game without it being a giant clusterfuck? Read some baseball novels.

Having trouble describing a place or person without making it awkward? Find any example, or a few, that doesn't stick out in a bad way.

>>30781177
>read something of a similar genre
Any recs for something that has a load of scenes with characters thoughts, actions, and surroundings? Pone or not pone.

Also, how do I reveal my characters personality without it being overly blatant? Like if the character is angry because when they were young their dad didn't love them, how would I reveal that without flashbacks or a confession to another character?

>>30779849
blahhhh, there is no 'better'
writing is a mass form of communication, if you wish to convey simplicity you'll get the same fame as complications. all art is propaganda. stop worrying about getting better, just make sure it makes sense! now reporting is a different story///

>>30781198
>how would I reveal that without flashbacks or a confession to another character?
Not that Anon, but study real people who have unloving fathers. You'll find common characteristics, but you don't want to rely only on those, because it'll come off a bit cartoonish. Also, make their experience part of their worldview. What would they do to not let those bad things happen again? How would they develop a rationale behind the things that happened so that they can make sense of it?

>>30779849
By writing.

>>30779892
I'll put my name behind this one. Practice is by far the most important part of writing, and the results are typically clearly visible. A hand that has written a million words of story is very different from that which has barely scraped a thousand. But for prose, one must also understand English conventions to achieve perfection. If you struggled in high school English courses, you may want to consider some research and lessons on syntax and prose.

As far as not doing greentext (one sentence or even one word per line), I would also recommend against it. Your writing ends up being more simplistic and your story suffers as a result. At this point I write exclusively in paragraph form, because I felt that writing in a style typical of this board detracted from natural flow and writing style. Paragraphs exist in the English language for a reason, and to circumvent it is to prematurely neuter your story's potential. Additionally, I have had some newer writers express difficulty with moving away from greentext form after growing accustomed to it. While I suppose it's fine for someone truly in the earliest stages of writing, I'd say anyone even moderately advanced in their skills should attempt to avoid greentext format at all costs.

As far as editing, yes, you should edit your work. I don't edit mine, but that's because I've been writing on a pay-per-word system for years and have refined my editing to be an efficient "as-you-go" technique. When I first started, I absolutely edited everything I wrote, sometimes multiple times. For a newer writer, editing helps you to recognize your errors and see discrepancies that may be unclear while you're writing. Also, give your story a brief read-aloud. This will help you to weed out unnatural phrases and recognize where pauses need to be in the form of commas and colons.

>>30779892
>Lastly, avoid greentext

FINALLY someone who gets it.

Powerpoint bulletpoints are a TERRIBLE way to limit yourself when telling stories.

>>30781198
The Farseer Trilogy, and anything written by Robbin Hobb. Seriously, her main characters are very fleshed out. They feel like real people. This is, however, mostly, because she's not afraid to scar them literally and figuratively. She also makes them a sort of cog in the wheel of great events, but they can rarely do things alone, at least most of the time.

>>30779892
Oh come on. Green is fun. It's not like it can't be done well. It won't get you published, but it by no means indicates that your writting is shit. You can build just as many bad habits through a more traditional writing style anyway. Just git gud.

>>30781240
Just a question. How many words a day do you write or do just write it all in one go?

But wait.

>Why couldn't I just use a greater than symbol to indicate a paragraph? It's not like there's a hard limit to how many sentences I can stuff into a single quote; I can place as many as I want. What people really seem to be referring to are the loose conventions established by spaghetti stories on other boards.

>So there's
>nothing
>forcing
>you
>to
>write
>them
>like
>this

>>30781288
I have attention problems (possibly ADHD, seeing a doctor about it soon) but I can do 1500-2000+ per hour if I can keep focused. The most I've done in one day is 6500 words. If I could stay focused it would be a lot more.

>>30781314
That's what I do. Meme arrows are actually pretty good at replacing indents and making text stand out. I like to have my main character's dialog alone not be greentext, since that ends up standing out.

>>30781314
Let's write a greentext one word at a time, I'll start.

>Twilight

>eats

>her

>Foal

>brand

>>30781317
>1500-2000+ per hour
hi, Evictus. Im your fun.

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>>30779849
Do the opposite of what the MLP writers do.
Questions?

>>30781160
>"Of course I didn't get lung cancer on purpose!"
So she did get it on purpose? Aiming to die from lung cancer seems oddly specific.

>>30780879

Don't have anything to link yet. And even then, I'm wary about doing so, considering I have a couple of disgruntled furfag stalkers who like to impersonate me in threads. Wouldn't put it past them to try and hack into my Fimfiction account.

Fuck me, I posted a thread like this on /lit/ a little while ago and got zero replies.
You post this on /mlp/ of all places and get so many useful replies.

>>30782050
It's a sad fact of 4chan that you always get better discussions on boards not about the topic you want to talk about.

>>30779849
Don't write for /mlp/ cause they want the same "self insert dicks pony" garbage all the time.

Bumper

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>>30781241
They don't have to be powerpoint bulletpoints.

You can set the scene with them, but then the greentext lines can simply be different sentences.

Greentext is the ideal medium for certain types of stories.

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>>30782565
You can even put several sentences per line. The lines only separate the thoughts.

>>30781241
People can hate on this >>30782585 for the disgusting story, but the reason it is so damn emotionally effective is that it transcends the "bullet-point" bounds of traditional greentext.

>>30782594
I'm pretty sure the reason it's emotionally effective is because Starlight Glimmer is the main character.

>>30782602
How is that relevant? The only reason it's Glimmer is for context plausibility given her arc.

Ironically, some of the people who hate Glimmer want to see her punished for her crimes, and here we have a scenario in which she was.

>>30782050
People on /lit/ are mostly LARPing about reading books or they only read 'philosophical' books.

>>30782075
Who cares about them? It is more fun to write about specific fetishes.

>>30782075
No, that's what they think they want.

In reality, they want to feel.

>>30782565
>>30782585
Some of those greentext lines are three lines long.

>>30779981
Somber

>>30782029
Then create an anonymous pastebin account, post the story there, set it to private, then post the link.

Alternatively, don't overestimate your own popularity, people don't care about writers nearly as much as writers think they do.