#This probably fits on My Cringe Writing page soo...

[venprea]

so i finished reading east of eden and of florists and tennis shoes and your writing is ??? so???? good????? i loved both soo much. i was wondering if you had any tips for someone who just started out and wants to improve their writing/vocab? im always too scared to post my stuff and you kinda made me want to try again (sorry this is so long ahhhhhjdkshk)

okay wow, thank you so much! i’m glad you enjoyed them :) well, i’m no expert, and i still have a long way to go - but i’ll try my best listing the general stuff i do/keep in mind:

i. read more, more and more -  

you’ve probably heard this one more times than you can count, but it works like magic, believe me. you don’t necessarily have to pull out a donna tartt-length novel or anything - fanfiction as a starting point will do! it helps introduce you to new perspectives, new forms of syntax, and new vocabulary. most of the time the learning process is passive, so don’t sweat it

ii. use a thesaurus - but sparingly

here’s the thing: a thesaurus can be your bestfriend if you’re trying to remember that one word that just refuses to come to you. hell, it’s also great for finding words that fit your context better - but things get messy when you resort to using words you’re not fully familiar with. you might have a wonderful sentence typed out, but one misused word is really all it takes to make some readers cringe. the term you have in mind is usually the best suited, so trust your gut!

iii. metaphors + similies + imagery

i’m guilty (so very, very guilty) of abusing these. that’s not what you want to do! used every now and then, any of these can bring your writing to life, giving it the necessary depth to keep things vivid and interesting. used in excess, though, they tend to cheapen your prose. it’s hard not to turn your writing into a symbolic, metaphysical shitshow when you’ve got pretty images in mind - but you’ve got to keep an eye out! if you can make something shorter/simpler, do it. 

iv.  down with the backspace button! 

in the early stages of your story, you really want to get everything out on your page. this sounds like a given, but no one ever does it. we’re always worried about what sounds good and what sounds stupid. in this phase, nothing is stupid. write away, my friend. you’re going to edit it eventually, so you may as well pump out some quality stream of consciousness! this goes for both writing your story and plotting for it.

any idea that you don’t use now, you’ll use later. you’ll give it depth later, when it matters - i can’t stress that enough. most of my ideas come from scrapped excerpts, so keep your files full of them.

v. find channels of inspiration you can revisit

learning from others is easily the best way to improve - and it’s also the fastest. whether you like listening to spoken-word, typical poetry, or prefer reading books on your windowsill after watering your plants - go for it, and do so often. instead of just enjoying it this time around, pick at it - what imagery did you like? why? what’s so gorgeous about it? what about this sentence structure made you feel the way you did? so on and so forth. (it goes without saying that inspiration and plagiarism are different ballgames, be careful!)

vi. negative feedback exists

it sucks, but it does. the only thing you can do is learn from it! learn to not take anything personally, especially if you’re posting your stuff online. learn to tell constructive feedback apart from someone who’s being a jerk; take neither to heart, and only the former to practice.  

lastly - have fun, okay? there’s no use doing it if you’re not enjoying it! :)