Story Lab: Advice to Writers

The most valuable piece I found was about how writing is all about selection. You begin your writing by selecting words. Then you select sentences and paragraphs. The power rests with the writer. If something is interesting to the writer, then it goes in the story. If not, then it goes out. Writing is all about selection. I found this an interesting thought to consider. Another valuable piece of advice was to forget yourself. You should look more closely at the world around you and gain inspiration from that rather than yourself. I think this will be a big help in my writing in the future. I am always trying to come up with stories that I can personally relate to. I need to work on breaking out of my comfort zone and writing about stuff as I see it rather than as I personally experience it.

Advice to Writers

Writing 

Story Lab: Advice to Writers

I explored the advice to writers website. The first piece of advice that I found helpful is that nothing can break the mood like a bad dialogue.  This is helpful for me to keep in mind as I craft dialogue. I need to do better at making sure that the dialogue is smooth and flowing. I do not want it to interrupt the flow of the story, and it must be useful. In fact, it should build suspense and add to the story rather than take away from it.

The other piece of advice I found helpful was from C.S. Lewis. The advice is to practice, practice, and practice some more. This states that it really doesn't matter what you write, as long as you spend time writing. I found this to be helpful. I need to spend more time with my writing practice in order to turn out better stories. Even if it seems pointless, just the practice of writing can prove to be beneficial when it matters.

Writing 

Story Lab: Writers Write

I used this assignment to explore the Writers Write website, and I found many helpful articles. The most helpful, however, was the article titled 10 Good Reasons to Read More Books. The first tip I found for writing is to read more fiction. This article said that it is important to read fiction in order to learn how to craft good stories. This is a key for me. I know that I need to read more fiction. As a science major, I often get stuck in the rut of reading nothing but dense, non-fiction science textbooks. This makes storytelling seem almost foreign to me as I am not used to creatively writing.

I also enjoyed reading the article titled 3 Simple Ways to Kick-Start Your Writing.  The first tip, Suess it up, sounds fun and engaging to warm up before creatively writing. Overall, the takeaway from this article is to find a way to get the creative juices warmed up before writing. I think this will prove to be helpful for me, and I look forward trying it out.

Writing