Beginners' Four Faults

[hardsciencefanagain]

Light drizzle,windy when turning corners,moody sunlight filtering through high hazy clouds

 

[Venusian Broon]

Use of weather to set mood can also be a newbie fault and one I was guilty of. Weather is important, but it doesn't need to rain for a grumpy character.

Reminds me of the immortal lines of Andie MacDowell "Is it still raining? I hadn't noticed." Happy people in love don't even notice the rain if it is there. Apparently.

I'm heading for lunch, what weather should I expect when hungry?

Use the old folk wisdom which covers all eventualities:

Red sky at night shepherds delight,
Red sky in the morning shepherds warning,
Mince beef and mash crust shepherds pie.

I'll get my coat and hat (for both comments)...

 

[KyleAW]

Use of weather to set mood can also be a newbie fault and one I was guilty of. Weather is important, but it doesn't need to rain for a grumpy character.

I'm heading for lunch, what weather should I expect when hungry?

Cloudy with a chance of meatballs?

 

[Stephen Palmer]

I think 3 is rather subjective. There's no obvious line between More Tea Vicar prose and evocative prose. What would China Mieville think…?

 

[Bowler1]

I've eaten now, so sunny spells and a clear sky - after a short rumbling thunder storm that had been brewing all morning.

I wonder what's for dinner and what's the weather for a Fat Friday takeaway?

 

[Juliana]

Guilty of (2), definitely. I have a huge problem with that sort of thing. As for (3) and (4), I tend to underwrite, I think, and then have to add in the descriptions etc later.

 

[Vaz]

I have a slight problem with literature being referred to as a craft it makes me a sad Vaz.

Not because it isn't true mind. I know as a beginner to get better there are certain tools you have to embrace and learn before you can get serious.

But then I think of other art forms and laugh myself silly at the thought of a young Leonardo Da Vince learning to paint by using a paint by numbers book in his childhood

And I am definitely guilty of (2) Silly Vaz

 

[Nick B]

To be fair, very few writers, even the greatest have 'mastered their craft'.

 

[Warren_Paul]

So I'm told. I've never read it, but it seems that that particular phrase gets singled out for particular attack!

I think the hate for it is rather overreacting. The braid tugging is Nynaeve's signature move when she's frustrated -- which typically happens to be all the time. Yes it happens a lot, but it also gives her character. I don't think she'd be the same person without it.

I suspect the problem more at fault is people don't like Nynaeve as a character so they hate on her mannerisms.


The other phase that gets singled out is "she crossed her arms beneath her breasts." I believe whenever a female character crossed her arms it was written this way. In reality, that's how women really do cross their arms for the most part, so it's accurate in that respect, but I think people are hating on the mention of breasts every time. Considering the author is male, it's seen as being sexist, and like, we get it, they have breasts...

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

But then I think of other art forms and laugh myself silly at the thought of a young Leonardo Da Vince learning to paint by using a paint by numbers book in his childhood

But he did have to master various technical skills, like drawing, grinding up the minerals to make the paints, etc. He had to learn the basics before he could go on to create art.

It is the same for all the arts. Every so often someone like Mozart comes along who was performing and composing music practically from the time he crawled out of the cradle, but most musicians, even the best, begin by taking lessons where they learn the most basic basics first and then go on from there. A ballet dancer begins with exercises, learning certain positions, certain moves.

Learning the craft spares a writer from having to figure out all the fiddly bits by trial and error, it clears away confusion and provides a clarity of vision that frees them to create. It is true that some writers get so hung up on the rules that they write everything by rote and never reach the truly creative stage, but what are the chances they would have reached that stage in any case?

That said, I agree with Stephen.

For some books it is important to provide context for what is about to happen. It depends on how complex the story is. And giving characters stage business to break up the dialogue (which is a good thing in itself) allows the writer an opportunity to provide some of that context without expository lumps. It all depends on how well it is executed and how relevant to the story even the little details may turn out to be.

Also, that article puzzles me. She keeps talking about what happens when she is editing a book, but elsewhere on her site she says that she isn't an editor. Which makes me wonder if she knows the difference between editing and critiquing.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

I'm currently listening to Rob Inglis' reading of Lord Of The Rings, and I'm marvelling at how much of Tolkien's prose would likely be cut out by a modern editor. Yet, the weird thing is, listening to it rather than reading it is really highlighting a lot of the details, which definitely add to the work… Swings & roundabouts...

 

[Ray McCarthy]

A ballet dancer begins with exercises, learning certain positions, certain moves.

And apparently never stops practising those Beginner moves every day?

As I read and re-read many books now since I started writing seriously, rather than just read for enjoyment I'm keeping an eye on punctuation, dialogue, grammar and afterwards considering the plot and characters. Perhaps I should try writing a plot outline, synopsis, critique, cast list with personality of some books I read, as a sort of literary diary? Especially re-read my own after a 3 month to 1 year break and do that.

I've read Ursula Le Guin since the early 1970s, one of my favourite authors:

Wouldn’t it be nice? But alas, there are no recipes. We have no Julia Child. Successful professional writers are not withholding mysterious secrets from eager beginners. The only way anybody ever learns to write well is by trying to write well. This usually begins by reading good writing by other people, and writing very badly by yourself, for a long time.

The poet Theodore Roethke said it: “I learn by going where I have to go.”

There are “secrets” to making a story work — but they apply only to that particular writer and that particular story.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

As I read and re-read many books now since I started writing seriously, rather than just read for enjoyment I'm keeping an eye on punctuation, dialogue, grammar and afterwards considering the plot and characters. Perhaps I should try writing a plot outline, synopsis, critique, cast list with personality of some books I read, as a sort of literary diary?

I'm not sure how well that would work. Some of the best books look really lame in outline or synopsis.

These days, what I seem to pay the most attention to is style. But that's because style interests me. I think that paying attention to how writers we particularly like handle dialogue could be useful, or comparing dialogue that is vivid and expressive (while still sounding natural) with dialogue that is merely serviceable and pedestrian.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I'm not sure how well that would work

I'd probably rather spend time reading and writing. It sounds like work and not much return unless I was sitting an exam

I think that paying attention to how writers we particularly like handle dialogue could be useful,

Yes, but I'm not sure I know how to note that, I know my dialogue is much weaker than my stories, so that is important. But perhaps I just need to write more dialogue? I do recognise good or bad dialogue when I see it.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I don't think it is something you would make notes on. You should read it, compare it, think about it, and internalize what you've learned.

 

[Hex]

I need to work on dialogue too -- if you find anything that makes you go "Wow!" I'd love to see it! I must go and internalise some of Sarah Rees Brennan's dialogue. It always makes me laugh (in a good way).

 

[Ray McCarthy]

You should read it

I like that bit of the "homework".
Now that I'm writing I can claim all the reading I do isn't a waste of time. (Now if I was watching Daytime TV ...)

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I need to work on dialogue too -- if you find anything that makes you go "Wow!" I'd love to see it!

Tanith Lee's dialogue is often quite good -- I don't know if I would say that there are any "wow" moments but the overall effect over the course of a book can be quite stunning. I like the dialogue in C. J. Cherryh's Fortress books. There is a period feel to it, but it's done with such a light hand that it sounds natural and accessible. In LeGuin's Earthsea books the dialogue is simple and on the surface nothing special, yet you always get the sense that the characters are seriously engaged with whatever they are talking about, which I think is very important. If the characters are engaged then so will readers be.

Personally, I love the dialogue in anything by Charles Dickens. Some of it's so long-winded that it's probably not anything a modern writer could get away with (unless it's Susanna Clarke) but it can be very eloquent. The characters don't withhold what they think, or what they feel (sometimes, unfortunately, to the point of being melodramatic and over-wrought, but I actually get a kick out of it when that happens). And it's very revealing of character.

A writer could do worse than study how he does what he does, and then make the necessary adjustments for modern tastes.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Enid Blyton's dialogue (except when she tries writing accents) makes me go wow. It flows so well and rarely infodumps or feels that way. There aren't too many other writers who have it as such a natural part of the story.

Admittedly that's the "Adventure Series" and "Famous Five" and "The Faraway Tree". I haven't read any others as an adult or since I began writing.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

I think "More tea, Vicar?" is really a staple in one of my genres, the cozy mystery. Particularly since that's about the only place you see vicars these days.