People Talk A Lot About How Reading Is Necessary For Writing, But When You Really Want To Improve Your

People talk a lot about how reading is necessary for writing, but when you really want to improve your writing, it’s important to go beyond just simple reading. Here are some things to do when reading:

Note how they begin and end the story. There are a ton of rather contradictory pieces of advice about starting stories, so see how they do it in the stories you enjoy. Don’t only look at the most popular stories, but look at your more obscure favorites.

See what strikes you. Is it fast or complicated scenes with a lot of emotions? Is it stark lines? Pithy dialogue? What do you remember the next day?

Pay attention to different styles. It’s not just whether they use past or present tense, first or third person. It’s whether the writing is more neutral or deeper inside character’s heads. Do they use italics? Parentheses? Other interesting stylistic choices? Take the ones you like and try them out in your own writing. See what works and what doesn’t.

Keep track of how they deal with other characters. Do we see a lot of secondary character each for very brief periods of time or are there a couple that show up a lot? How much information do we get about secondary characters? Do they have their own plots or do their plots revolve entirely around the main characters? 

Count how many plots there are. Is there just one main plot or are there multiple subplots? Are the storylines mostly plot-based or character-based?  

Pay attention to what you don’t like. If you don’t like what’s going on in a book or even just a scene, note what it is. Does the dialogue feel awkward? Are the characters inconsistent? Does the plot feel too convenient or cobbled together? Does the wording just feel off? See if you can spot those issues in your own writing, especially when reading a completed draft or beginning a later draft.

More Posts from Gatortavern and Others

4 years ago
Scabs In This Update Here To Uplifit My Spirits, Water My Crops, And Ruin My Years-old Headcanons About

Scabs in this update here to uplifit my spirits, water my crops, and ruin my years-old headcanons about how she might act. Dropkicking my soul into writing that story I’ve had for a while about her. Digging the color of her spectral energy, and I wonder about her backstory.

Right now she’s kinda giving off Kuzco energy (maybe start-to-mid-movie Kuczo?). We’ll see how this progresses.


Tags
2 years ago

so uh this is an interesting one. i don't normally do these but this would technically mean that this:

So Uh This Is An Interesting One. I Don't Normally Do These But This Would Technically Mean That This:

would be in Monster Hunter Rise. either that or Deep Rock galactic, i'd need to check Steam to see which one of those i technically played last.

Thinking of this little puffball decked out in Monster Hunting gear ready to capture a monster like Mitsusune or the whirlwind monkey guy (etc.) or carrying a big ol' Gold Chunk/the big green ore stuff/ the big purple ore stuff/ glitchy cube is insanely fun to think about. i don't know if i could ever draw that at the skill level i'm at right now, but it is now taking up space in my head.

The last character you drew/wrote about is now stuck in the last game you played. How screwed are they?


Tags
2 years ago

A regular and oblivious person works at a coffee shop not knowing its a place of ceasefire for assassins and mercenaries.

4 years ago

This is some pretty awesome art, good job!

Plz draw my girl Dr. Zarei

image

Oh Absolutely! 

We love an icon who pulls off being both a badass and an absolute gay disaster


Tags
2 years ago

gotta love some HLVRAI artwork.

Soda!

soda!


Tags
2 years ago
Put The Demoman Wherever You Please

put the demoman wherever you please


Tags
4 years ago

#reptiles #snakes #adder

(Vipera Berus)  Common European Adder

(Vipera berus)  common European adder

14 known fatalities since 1876. Systemic symptoms resulting from anaphylaxis can be dramatic. These may appear within 5 minutes post bite, or can be delayed for many hours. In severe cases, cardiovascular failure may occur.

2 years ago
Sprigatito, Fuecoco, And Quaxly Travel Into A Fantasy Realm.

Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly travel into a fantasy realm.


Tags
2 years ago
1918 Two Women Sharpening An Axe. From My Vintage Dreams, FB.

1918 Two women sharpening an axe. From My Vintage Dreams, FB.


Tags
4 years ago
Hump-nosed Lizard (Lyriocephalus Scutatus)

Hump-nosed lizard (Lyriocephalus scutatus)

The hump-nosed lizard is a species of lizard within the agamid family, the only species in the genus Lyriocephalus. It is the largest agamid endemic to Sri Lanka and lives in dense wet zone forests. The hump-nosed lizard inhabits forests with high canopy and dense undergrowth, but it occasionally also enters home gardens. It is active during the day, when it dwells low on trees as well as on the ground. It goes higher up on trees to sleep at night. The typical threat posture is open-mouth gape, revealing the bright red lining of the oral cavity. This species is also known to feign death when picked up. Its diet comprises essentially of earthworms and also arthropods, including termites, butterflies, and moths. It is also known to feed on young shoots and buds.

photo credits: Kalyanvarma


Tags
Loading...
End of content
No more pages to load
  • alt--er--love
    alt--er--love liked this · 2 weeks ago
  • sirzenithknight9
    sirzenithknight9 reblogged this · 3 weeks ago
  • meloonihuora
    meloonihuora liked this · 1 month ago
  • coolname2
    coolname2 reblogged this · 1 month ago
  • sunkain
    sunkain liked this · 1 month ago
  • lunatickitty25
    lunatickitty25 liked this · 1 month ago
  • varietyoflol
    varietyoflol liked this · 1 month ago
  • newdawnhorizon
    newdawnhorizon reblogged this · 2 months ago
  • felclip
    felclip liked this · 2 months ago
  • writeshine
    writeshine reblogged this · 2 months ago
  • keulixeutin
    keulixeutin reblogged this · 2 months ago
  • pyrojirah
    pyrojirah liked this · 2 months ago
  • linde121
    linde121 liked this · 3 months ago
  • sanssavoirpourquoi
    sanssavoirpourquoi liked this · 3 months ago
  • fablecatory
    fablecatory liked this · 3 months ago
  • dreamvomitao3
    dreamvomitao3 reblogged this · 3 months ago
  • heckcareoxytwit
    heckcareoxytwit liked this · 3 months ago
  • xavilly
    xavilly liked this · 4 months ago
  • chiamidolover
    chiamidolover reblogged this · 4 months ago
  • makaroni-and-chez
    makaroni-and-chez liked this · 4 months ago
  • heckcareoxytwit
    heckcareoxytwit reblogged this · 4 months ago
  • zimshan
    zimshan reblogged this · 4 months ago
  • wynters-writings
    wynters-writings liked this · 5 months ago
  • det-cupcake
    det-cupcake liked this · 5 months ago
  • kasmie
    kasmie liked this · 5 months ago
  • the-hero-in-you
    the-hero-in-you liked this · 5 months ago
  • roselyn-writing
    roselyn-writing liked this · 5 months ago
  • survivintothrivin
    survivintothrivin liked this · 5 months ago
  • lexskxtches
    lexskxtches reblogged this · 5 months ago
  • fiction-addictionn
    fiction-addictionn reblogged this · 5 months ago
  • spr1n6tim30nionzzz
    spr1n6tim30nionzzz liked this · 6 months ago
  • goddessofcoloredpencils
    goddessofcoloredpencils liked this · 7 months ago
  • dr3am-caf3
    dr3am-caf3 liked this · 7 months ago
  • elementscrap
    elementscrap liked this · 7 months ago
  • leahnardo-da-veggie
    leahnardo-da-veggie liked this · 7 months ago
  • wyked-ao3
    wyked-ao3 liked this · 7 months ago
  • ocalaghan
    ocalaghan liked this · 7 months ago
  • angelicandainty
    angelicandainty liked this · 8 months ago
  • restlessdinosaur
    restlessdinosaur liked this · 8 months ago
  • simplyhanji
    simplyhanji reblogged this · 8 months ago
  • izuwumidoriya
    izuwumidoriya liked this · 8 months ago
  • everlovingdeer
    everlovingdeer reblogged this · 8 months ago
  • blooranje
    blooranje liked this · 9 months ago
  • asayyun14
    asayyun14 liked this · 9 months ago
  • ratsfisher
    ratsfisher liked this · 9 months ago
gatortavern - Archosaur's Abode
Archosaur's Abode

A Cozy Cabana for Crocodiles, Alligators and their ancestors. -fan of the webcomic Paranatural, Pokemon, Hideo Kojima titles -updates/posts infrequently

237 posts

Explore Tumblr Blog
Search Through Tumblr Tags