for those who ask advice about writing (a couple of things)

`raspil Dec 9, 2012 Writer

No, this isn't another bitch-out thread.

say you get the piece of advice you are looking for. it came in the form of a link or a google search or an answer here or in a workshop or book about technique (the list can go on but you get my drift).....

here's my question:

how often do you actually implement the piece of advice in your stories/poems?

do you read the advice and hope it has been absorbed into your brain through memory-related osmosis or do you make a real concerted effort to make a positive change happen?

i wonder if advice that is given here from one writer to another, not taking anything other than desire to improve into account, that the "another" writer is actually using the advice they're given. each piece we write should be better than the last in some way, it doesn't have to be a jump from "See Spot Run" to "Moby Dick", but something. you know how to write dialogue a little better, a little more believable. you understand the mistakes you were making with POV. you finally were able to conquer your love for adverbs by using better descriptives. something.

we should be learning from each story we write. we should be able to compare a story written two years ago with one written last week and be able to see a bump in quality. otherwise, this:

EVEN THE BEST ADVICE IS USELESS WHEN IT GOES UNUSED.

What is a piece of advice you were given that you ACTUALLY USED and saw an improvement in your work?

Mine was from a deviant here, about paragraphing and POV. The next piece of advice I am going to use is about improving revisions from Trey Parker.

Your turn, please.

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Devious Comments

~AlternateMew Dec 19, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

With anything written, it's a lot easier to incorporate advice than in something drawn/painted/etc. So yes. Even though the advice I get I look up or find on TV Tropes, I still try to use it the best I can, doing editing whenever necessary to make a story better. Granted I don't write publicly much. Even if I should.

~toxic--sunrise Dec 18, 2012

_{Probably the straighten out the plot advice from you on the only Screamprompt I've completed to date. It's being applied to my novel in progress, and working rather well. I've gone from confusing to plot wrenches. Short stories, however, I'm still sinking. Mainly because I don't write definitive plots for them.}

`raspil Dec 18, 2012 Writer

use my plot arc for your short stories (it's in the Workshopping the Rasp journal at the bottom over at my page). it will work for a short story from 1000 words on up. i use them every time. it is guaranteed.

~toxic--sunrise Dec 18, 2012

_{I'll have to give that a look when I finally get home. Thank you}

`raspil Dec 18, 2012 Writer

cool. if you have questions, please get in touch.

~Razor13 Dec 16, 2012 Hobbyist Writer

Depending on what the piece of advice is and if I have asked for it or not I use the advice. As soon as possible. Or I do some research on the advice and see what more people think. Often I get advice because I search it out. I won't search it if I won't use it. And if it just gets pushed on me it's a 50-50 shot as to if I will use the advice or not. I am not as easy about advice being forced on me.

~The-Grey-One Dec 14, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

What I do is I figure out whether the person is genuinely trying to be helpful or if they have some other less pleasant reason for saying something(Some people have given me harsh and undeserved criticisms because I've left constructive ones on their work. Their only aim is "payback".). When it's the former I evaluate whether or not I agree by rereading my writing and if needed, writing sample paragraphs with and without the improvement to see the difference.

Most of my critique lately has come from myself. The more I write and the more often I do it, the more I start to see patterns my word choice and sentence structure. That is, I rely on habitual words even when another word might have been a better fit to that particular scene. I'm also trying to vary my sentence structure a little so that at least it isn't so obvious.

~SimpleBend Dec 12, 2012 Hobbyist

Oldest one on the book: Show, don't tell. I didn't understand it like I thought I did, until I met this amazing teacher who rephrased it for me: Create and atmosphere, but don't say anything. It was really earth-shattering. I realized that I didn't have to explain myself, and let the reader make his own interpretation. I was doing the contrary but I hadn't noticed until he told me that... And that's it.

~Hurricaneclaw Dec 11, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

This one time someone told me the pacing in my stories sucked. So now I'm trying to make it better.

Do self critiques count? Because the structures in my sentences are the same each time, I've noticed.

Meh. Nobody's perfeeeect

`raspil Dec 11, 2012 Writer

did they tell you how it "sucked"? i don't like it when people hit and run like that.

sure, self-critiques count. be glad you can critique yourself.

and nobody's perfect, duh. we're not meant to be. we're human. we can't be perfect but we can at least be better with each attempt.

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