#read and write!

[flowerandblood]

How did you get so good at writing? Were you born that amazing or did you practice? I’m trying to become a writer but I seem to suck at it. Loooove all your work btw 🥰

This is actually a very difficult question, but I'm glad you think I'm a good writer. That so kind of you. 💐

I have always liked Polish language and literature lessons, especially text analysis, during our classes we also have to write something like an "rozprawka". In other countries it is most often called an "essay", but in our case this form has clearly defined rules and is not an argument purely with your thoughts, only arguments for and against, analysis of fragments of texts, a bit as if you were a prosecutor.

Rozprawka comes from the Polish word rozprawa, which means dissertation in English.

By analyzing works of literature from all over the world in this way, you begin to analyze them very deeply, and it seems to me that nothing helps me in writing more than my experiences with other classical writers that I have read.

I love Edgar Allan Poe, I love Jane Austen, I love Molière, I love Sophocles, I love Shakespeare, Tolkien, Dostoyevsky, but also many outstanding Polish writers and artists, Gombrowicz, Mickiewicz, Wyspiański.

I have their books at home and they had a huge impact on me, but what impressed me the most was the analysis of these texts, because without it you don't fully understand what you're reading.

I have always liked creating my stories, but I usually presented them naturally to me, in the form of drawings and comics. It turned out that it was easier for me to present and describe something with words than with drawings, even though I am an artist (hehe). So I didn't write before I created this fanfic account, with maybe two exceptions, but only with my friend, and before that all my texts were serious comparative analyzes of other books.

So I don't know if I was born with it, probably not, but the words just come to me. First I come up with scenes and then I write them down, but sometimes I just write and the plot takes care of itself. I never plan my stories, I usually have no idea what will happen in them, I come up with ideas on the fly. I never know how it will end, it's always a guess. I admire writers who plan everything step by step, I would die halfway through, I try to write whenever I feel inspired.

Yesterday and today, for example, I wrote 8 chapters of The Prince and The Fox and I will probably write a few more, because I have inspiration, I feel this story now and I want to go further.

I will add that I write in my native language: Polish, because it is the language in which I think and in which words come naturally to me, and only then I translate them into English.

I don't know if it will help you, but my advice, for the despair of some people, is this: read the classics of literature!

[drumlincountry]

If your life is horrible and you need a new source of meaning and direction.... Do NOT find religion. Learn to identify plants.

[knebellindemann]

[minyicho]

starting a collection of my favourite AO3 author’s notes

honourable mentions

[heartbreakincident]

nothing but respect for our troops (smut writers) but listen. i dont want to be the person to tell you this, but not every character is going to be a dom or a sub. some people. and i know this is hard to hear. but some people do have vanilla sex. and some of those people might even be The Character.

[cloudabserk]

WARNING do NOT start reading books and comics or watching movies or looking at art!!! you will start wanting to create art yourself. or god forbid. writing.

[arynneva]

wait do people read first person stories and think they're the ones in the story???

Saw people talking about not liking first person, which is fair, but their reasoning was like "I would not do that" and I don't understand that mindset.

First person stories are still about a character. A character making their own decisions. First person isn't about you???? At least I thought it wasn't. What am I missing? I've always seen first person as just a more in-depth look into a character's mind and stricter POV. Not as a reader stand-in.

[roboticnebula]

Pros of re-reading your own fic

a good time;

Has exactly the tropes you like and the characterization you want to read;

Gratification: yes you did finish a thing and yes you did do good;

just a very fun time all around.

Cons of re-reading your own fic:

Is that another TYpO

[theaftersundown]

*writes two paragraphs after months of literally nothing and it took three hours*

[going2hell4everythingbutbeingbi]

I firmly believe that some stories can never be translated into a different medium and that's okay

[milkcryptid]

do people have no shame anymore?

[alexanderwales]

There was a reviewer or commenter who said "I always keep track of how many mistakes the protagonist makes and after three, I stop reading the story and never look back".

I think about that person pretty frequently. We read for our own enjoyment, and therefore there's no wrong way to read a book so long as you're enjoying yourself, but ... maybe I don't actually believe that. Maybe there are wrong ways to read a book, and this guy found one.

[thesefallenembers]

the problem with reading and writing leading to a strong vocabulary is that you tend to know the vibe of words instead of their meanings.

if I used this word in a sentence, would it make sense? absolutely. if you asked me what it meant, could I tell you? absolutely not.

[fangsandthangs]

When you’re in the middle of a fic and realise you’ve missed a very critical tag

[inkskinned]

please i love you i'm begging you bring back suspension of disbelief bring back trusting the audience like. i cannot handle any more dialogue that sounds like a legal document. "hello, i am here to talk to you about the incident from a few minutes ago, because i feel you might be unwell, and i am invested in your personal wellbeing." "thank you, i am unwell because the incident was hurtful to me due to my childhood, which was bad." I CANT!!!!

do you know how many people are mad that authors use "growled" as a word for "said"? it's just poetics! they do not literally mean "growled," it's just a common replacement for "said with force but in a low tone." it's normal! do you hear me!! help me i love you please let me out of here!!!