Background

[demonlord-lover.livejournal.com]

I'm just curious how everyone else is working on writing technique.  

Coming off of one year in college and  6 more as a mom, I indulged in fanfiction to 'learn the ropes' in terms of balancing dialogue and action, not to mention the mechanics of grammar.  I've found that, while it can sometimes be negative, overall, the feedback I got from writing for an audience has helped me improve by leaps and bounds.             

Now that I'm branching out into original work, it's very fulfilling, but I am also eternally grateful for the opportunities to improve that fanfiction gave me.  I'd also be interested in learning a bit more about  how others improve original story skills.  (Character development seems to be the most lacking in fanfiction.  Everyone already knows said characters,  so  authors tend to leave it to the wayside.)

Comments

[aeriedraconia.livejournal.com]

I was never taught how to write a novel, it never came up in high school or college (a source of great frustration for me too). Creative writing classes always focused on poetry. *gags*

Some of the things that have been helping learn are:
Reading some of the How To Write Novels books. Don't cringe, I'm not a dummy and I know to take things with a grain of salt and not believe that one way is the right way and all. I learned some things about scene, structure and conflict by reading those books.

Playing Advanced Dungeons and Dragons with my best friend over many years was really wonderful for teaching me some things about character development and world building.

Discovering LJ a few years ago allowed me to ask question and listen to what the pros (writers and agents) said about their writing process and what made good writing.

And lastly, the practical application. Putting the things I've learned and am learning into my writing. Too bad it doesn't all go down on paper as well or as easily as I picture it in my head but hey, I'm still learning. ;-)

[demonlord-lover.livejournal.com]

Practical application seems to be the best way to go. I've read my grammar books, I go over books that I like to read and dissected them, but it seems that the special something that makes one book different than another can 't be captured or duplicated. It's a matter of getting it out of yourself, but first we have to learn how to express it.