Thread: Real practical tips

You need to write about something important to you. A reader can tell the difference between reality and fluff.

You need also need to write about something pertinent. You need to write about something important. You need to be relevant.

And if you can't write well grammatically, then that is a skill you need to work on. No one appreciates reading something discombobulated. Writing is a skill and writing about something people care about is intuition. Combining the two is what creates art.

Not sure how great these tips are, (more like obscure rules of some sort), but regardless, do they need their own thread? What's wrong with posting it in the other practical tip thread?

Edit- I'm referring to the first two tips, I agree with the grammar tip.

You need also need to write about something pertinent. You need to write about something important. You need to be relevant.

Who's to say what is pertinent, important, and relevant? I, for example, tend to write fantasy with a bit of satire. What importance does that have to the real world? How is it relevant? How is it pertinent? Is it not simply for entertainment rather than trying to export some sort of message or ideal?

When you see something minor that is wrong, fix it. It is all to easy to think "I'll come back later" or "It's only minor, they know what I mean/it won't really show". You will forget/not be able to find it again, and it will show, maybe not directly, but, at best, it will make the difference between good writing and okay writing.

Originally Posted by Olly Buckle

When you see something minor that is wrong, fix it. It is all to easy to think "I'll come back later" or "It's only minor, they know what I mean/it won't really show". You will forget/not be able to find it again, and it will show, maybe not directly, but, at best, it will make the difference between good writing and okay writing.

So check, check, check for those typos

Originally Posted by Draxia

You need to write about something important to you. A reader can tell the difference between reality and fluff.

Yes!
When I read a book or watch a movie about a particular topic, I can smell it like a lathering of feces when the writer didn't already love the topic. With topics that I have interest in (example: astronomy) the portrayals come off as not just inaccurate, but sometimes even ignorant and disrespectful. "Write what you know" should be expanded to "Write what you love, and know everything about what you love" (not possible, but a valid goal).

You need also need to write about something pertinent. You need to write about something important. You need to be relevant.

I agree with this to a point. I think this can be translated to "love people" and "know your craft." If you love people, you care about the human condition. If you know your craft, you know that fictions carry and shape culture in critical ways. 1 + 1 = writers need to make an effort to address the concerns of people today, to connect to them. But, sometimes it's just nice to watch clouds... art for art's sake. Dr. Seuss for example. The Lorax is extremely pertinent, today even more than when he wrote it. Yertle the Turtle is pertinent. The Cat in the Hat is not pertinent. In fact, it doesn't even teach a good message; it teaches that you can get away with stuff as long as you cover your tracks XD. No less a masterpiece though, especially given Seuss's self-imposed constraints on the writing.

And if you can't write well grammatically, then that is a skill you need to work on. No one appreciates reading something discombobulated. Writing is a skill and writing about something people care about is intuition. Combining the two is what creates art.

I agree! Although, I might cut hairs here and say that more important than grammar (which is a weird amorphous thing, always in flux) is being in control of grammar and meaning. Great writers can write with poor grammar, but they're not making mistakes; they're in control. Poetry is a great example of this.

I agree! Although, I might cut hairs here and say that more important than grammar (which is a weird amorphous thing, always in flux) is being in control of grammar and meaning. Great writers can write with poor grammar, but they're not making mistakes; they're in control.

You almost have it when you say grammar is in flux. It is not a single set of rules, this becomes obvious if you compare the grammar of two different languages, for example English and Latin, it is, rather, a shared set of rules.
When a street kid talks 'street' he is not talking ungrammatically, he is talking in accordance with the rules of 'street' grammar, and if he gets it wrong he will be mocked unmercifully by his peers. Grammar is an accepted way of doing things that is generally understood, if it is only understood within a minority culture it is no use using those rules to address a main stream audience, this is most people's mistake with grammar. They use a form of words which, in the minority community they are normally in, is accepted, and therefore grammatical. in the main stream situation it will become 'ungrammatical' because it is not accepted, and potentially not understood either

Originally Posted by Bilston Blue

So check, check, check for those typos

Not only typos, in fact they are usually relatively easy to spot if you have spell check on because most get a red line, though not things like there/their of course. What I find most of when I check my work is badly ordered sentences or sentences with too much in them..

"There is a toilet at the end of the hall if you ever want one."
Does that mean that if I never need a toilet again the one at the end of the hall will vanish? Forget the wanting one, it goes without saying that you will sometime, if you don't die, and has nothing to do with the positioning.

He wrote his novel on brown paper using a pencil.
Using a pencil he wrote his novel on brown paper.

The brown paper was not using a pencil. In a case like this it is fairly obvious what is meant, firstly that is not always so, secondly the structure which makes the meaning definite makes for easier reading, it is subtle sometimes, and often the reader will not know why he prefers one style over another, but he will prefer the clearer version.

Another one I find I miss sometimes is what I call "Hidden lists", if they are single words it is obvious, but consider:-

"A number of people got off the train, an elderly man who might have been a school teacher was first, and a young mother with her baby in a push chair followed, and an older woman who looked like a housewife helped her with the pushchair, and finally my friend brought up the rear."

Should be:-
"A number of people got off the train, an elderly man who might have been a school teacher was first, a young mother with her baby in a push chair followed, an older woman who looked like a housewife helped her with the pushchair, and finally my friend brought up the rear."

Because I am concentrating on creating the characters I forget it is a list and put in all those ands.