Ways to learn how to write before writing an ebook.

[chrisbiz4444]

I think many of us face this problem with ebooks. At least I do. But what is the best way to learn how to write. I'm a math guy and writing has never been my strong point but I would like to improve my writing and spelling skills and e-books seem like a great challenge. My question is how do you become a better writer? Is there material out there to read on this topic?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Breaking Free]

I think many of us face this problem with ebooks. At least I do. But what is the best way to learn how to write. I'm a math guy and writing has never been my strong point but I would like to improve my writing and spelling skills and e-books seem like a great challenge. My question is how do you become a better writer? Is there material out there to read on this topic?

Write, write, and write some more. Whenever you have a break, write. After work, write. When you're taking a break from writing, write down ideas for writing.

I could recommend books and anything like that, but I'm not going to. There's a ton of stuff on it already. But it's like any other skill. If you're not writing, it's not going to get better.

 

[goodfella]

personally I feel you don't get better just by writing. Some tips I can offer are pay attention to words that you hear especially on TV shows and documentaries (it will help your vocab). Reading books will also help in terms of vocab and sentence structure as long as you take the time to break down and understand the material. Basically, just be more mindful of how others write and use those techniques for yourself.

 

[JPBB]

One book: The Elements of Style by Strunk & White.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Thriftypreneur]

One book: The Elements of Style by Strunk & White.

I second this. Here's a link for everyone: The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition: William Strunk Jr., E. B. White, Roger Angell: 9780205309023: Amazon.com: Books

I'm also much like you. I'm a math guy and was always very weak in writing. I do believe that writing is like a muscle, and that exercising it as often as possible will help you improve. As for structure and punctuation, I think legitimate studying is best here - something I don't do enough of.

I've finished my first novella ebook, and just from this small work, I can certainly notice an improvement in my writing from the beginning of the book to the end of the book. I just think there's no substitute for experience, so keep on writing.

 

[Breaking Free]

Guess I should reword my reply. Don't read about writing before you start. Read WHILE writing. Else you may never start.

 

[COSenior]

Some tips I can offer are pay attention to words that you hear especially on TV shows and documentaries (it will help your vocab). Reading books will also help in terms of vocab and sentence structure as long as you take the time to break down and understand the material. Basically, just be more mindful of how others write and use those techniques for yourself.

Don't read about writing before you start. Read WHILE writing. Else you may never start.

I second both approaches. As an editor, I'm appalled by a lot of the indie published stuff I'm reading in my genre. In fact, I had to stop reading a title with what could have been a compelling story line today, because literally every sentence had some sort of error. As I struggled to make progress, I realized the point of view was changing from first to third for the same character ever paragraph or two. OK, I'll stop beating around the bush. Write, pay attention to mechanics, and then have someone read what you write. Get feedback, accept it graciously, re-write. Rinse and repeat.

But before you do any of that, ask yourself why you want to write. Do you have something to say that you can't wait to share with the world? Or do you think of it as an easy way to make money without spending any? If the former, it's worth the pain of growth. If the latter, do the world and yourself a favor and find another way. I don't mean to be harsh or sarcastic, but doing something you admit you aren't good at to earn a buck is very counterproductive, so I sincerely hope that isn't it.

Good luck and namaste.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Thriftypreneur]

If the former, it's worth the pain of growth. If the latter, do the world and yourself a favor and find another way. I don't mean to be harsh or sarcastic, but doing something you admit you aren't good at to earn a buck is very counterproductive, so I sincerely hope that isn't it.

No offense intended, but it's this kind of outlook that keeps people away from networking on writer boards/blogs/etc and even publishing their first book. I don't disagree that people should avoid throwing up garbage just to try and make a buck, but, it seems to me, that people who consider themselves "real writers" absolutely hate the fact that pretty much anyone can publish something these days (not saying that's you, just speaking in general).

I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who could sculpt some pretty amazing stories, but are too intimidated by the flack they would catch from "real writers" and all the limitations those same people try to impose on every aspiring writer around them, and I think that is a shame. It's one thing I like about sharing my journey with this forum, because it seems like most of the writers here aren't established and jaded toward self-pubbers and profit-publishers.

For all intents and purposes, I'm exactly the type of person that "real writers" despise in the industry, because my introduction to publishing was fueled by monetary prospects. Granted, I do try and put out the best product I can and improve myself as much as possible, but I know I still make structure and style mistakes. I'm the epitome of what everyone would consider "a hack." But, thanks to self-publishing, that doesn't have to stop me.

I think the "you can't write unless you're <this>" type of thing should go the same way of print publishing - toward extinction. If someone wants to write, for whatever the reason, by all means, write. You won't get better if you never do it, and you may surprise yourself at how much you actually enjoy it.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

My question is how do you become a better writer?

1st... Practice. Practice. Practice. Having a blog helps. I my case, I write everyday by virtue of writing here at the forum.

2nd... Read a lot and pay attention to when you notice good writing. Notice words. Structure. Phrasing. Rhythm.

Is there material out there to read on this topic?

Absolutely. I just checked out 4 books at the library regarding writing, specifically fiction and comedy. They have helped me immensely. In fact, I can already tell a difference between material I wrote 2 months ago vs 2 days ago.

 

[COSenior]

No offense intended, but it's this kind of outlook that keeps people away from networking on writer boards/blogs/etc and even publishing their first book. I don't disagree that people should avoid throwing up garbage just to try and make a buck, but, it seems to me, that people who consider themselves "real writers" absolutely hate the fact that pretty much anyone can publish something these days (not saying that's you, just speaking in general).

I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who could sculpt some pretty amazing stories, but are too intimidated by the flack they would catch from "real writers" and all the limitations those same people try to impose on every aspiring writer around them, and I think that is a shame. It's one thing I like about sharing my journey with this forum, because it seems like most of the writers here aren't established and jaded toward self-pubbers and profit-publishers.

For all intents and purposes, I'm exactly the type of person that "real writers" despise in the industry, because my introduction to publishing was fueled by monetary prospects. Granted, I do try and put out the best product I can and improve myself as much as possible, but I know I still make structure and style mistakes. I'm the epitome of what everyone would consider "a hack." But, thanks to self-publishing, that doesn't have to stop me.

I think the "you can't write unless you're <this>" type of thing should go the same way of print publishing - toward extinction. If someone wants to write, for whatever the reason, by all means, write. You won't get better if you never do it, and you may surprise yourself at how much you actually enjoy it.

I'm sorry you feel that way. You are one of the people whose contributions on the Hello from Denver thread and your own progress thread I value greatly. I absolutely did not intend to intimidate, nor to make anyone believe I think I am a 'real writer' as opposed to a 'hack'. In fact quite the opposite. I was merely asking the OC to evaluate his desire to write against the work it will take to learn to do it, given his own assessment that it is a weak spot for him. I apologize to chrisbiz4444 and to you if my articulation was awkward.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[mayana]

Thank goodness someone (MJ!) suggested READING. Reading anything and everything, written in different styles and different subjects will help internalize good grammar and creative use of language. Apart from writing something every single day, without fail, reading is KEY to being a great writer.

A really cool book for people who want to learn how to write, but need some creative inspiration? Unjournaling: Cheryl Miller Thurston, Dawn DiPrince: 9781877673702: Amazon.com: Books is a book full of writing prompts that are fun and challenging.

Good luck

 

[ChickenHawk]

In a way, there are two aspects to writing -- (1) telling a great story and (2) getting the mechanics right. I think you need both. If you tell a great story, but it's littered with mechanical errors, it can be a big distraction to the reader. If your mechanics are perfect, but the story is dull, the reader won't want to finish.

Maybe it makes me a snob, but typos and bad grammar (unless it's on purpose as in dialogue) are a huge distraction to me. Aside from pulling me out of the story, I feel like the writer didn't care enough to quality-check their work. (Note: I'm not talking about a typo here and there, I mean when a book is littered with mistakes.)

 

[snowbank]

read a lot and write a lot.

when reading, note points that stick with you. what was it that made that point stick with you. learn from those writing styles.

why do some books make you fall asleep but some keep you awake because you want to keep reading?

when i started my blog i took a top author to dinner/drinks a number of times and his advice helped shortcut my learning curve by a ton.

get feedback from people who know more than you about the things you want to know. the secret is, if you're working hard people will want to help you. most people skip the work hard parts though so no one wants to help them.

if you want to be a writer, write everyday and get feedback on it. if it sucks, find out why it sucks. if some parts suck but some parts are good, figure out what's making the sucky parts suck, and what's making the good parts good, and then just stop including sucky parts and increase the good parts. pretty simple when you think about it.

my advice to help get you started on the right foot: look at what most blogs and books do. then do the opposite. most people are fluff masters. they write a lot of words, but don't say very much. make every word mean something.

200 page books could be written in 10 pages. they wasted time with 190 pages. if you can learn to make every page mean something, you'll have something.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Breaking Free]

In a way, there are two aspects to writing -- (1) telling a great story and (2) getting the mechanics right. I think you need both. If you tell a great story, but it's littered with mechanical errors, it can be a big distraction to the reader. If your mechanics are perfect, but the story is dull, the reader won't want to finish.

Maybe it makes me a snob, but typos and bad grammar (unless it's on purpose as in dialogue) are a huge distraction to me. Aside from pulling me out of the story, I feel like the writer didn't care enough to quality-check their work. (Note: I'm not talking about a typo here and there, I mean when a book is littered with mistakes.)

You bring up a point I often take for granted, and that's the grammatical aspect of storytelling. I remember reading a review on Hugh Howey's Wool and one reviewer basically sat down and told the rest of the indie authors that half the reason Hugh Howey is so enjoyable to read is because his book isn't littered with grammatical errors, like most indie published work.

Personally, I always assumed it was a given, but we know what assuming does... Thankfully I excelled in my English classes, and MS Word does a great job at catching the little things. The only thing that gets me is using the wrong word, which thankfully my editor (fiance) catches.

I'm half tempted to try and market my books at "99% grammatically correct!" and see if that helps.

 

[Thriftypreneur]

I'm sorry you feel that way. You are one of the people whose contributions on the Hello from Denver thread and your own progress thread I value greatly. I absolutely did not intend to intimidate, nor to make anyone believe I think I am a 'real writer' as opposed to a 'hack'. In fact quite the opposite. I was merely asking the OC to evaluate his desire to write against the work it will take to learn to do it, given his own assessment that it is a weak spot for him. I apologize to chrisbiz4444 and to you if my articulation was awkward.

I may have misinterpreted your post, my apologies (and I enjoy your contributions too). If it appears like I was trying to label you as one of those "real writers," please know that was not intended. I was trying to speak generally, covering a vague group of people. I was simply trying to let OP know that he shouldn't let silly things like that stop him from trying to better himself.

 

[britnidanielle]

1st... Practice. Practice. Practice. Having a blog helps. I my case, I write everyday by virtue of writing here at the forum.

2nd... Read a lot and pay attention to when you notice good writing. Notice words. Structure. Phrasing. Rhythm.

This. Pretty much.

Good writers are voracious readers. Period.

Reading well-written material goes A LONG WAY. Too many people skip this step and simply read "how to write" books. That's all well and good, but you need to READ actual fiction (if that's what you want to write) and figure out what works and what doesn't.

Do you come away feeling like it was the greatest book ever, or do you feel like you could have done a better job?

These things are important.

Write, write, write....read, read, read...then write some more.

Good luck!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Hicks]

Without a doubt reading a loton different topics and writing lots of essays on various things.

But If I had to choose between the two I'd say reading.