I'm looking to improve my writing, I've not RP'd heavily in a long while. So, I'm not particularly fast at writing RP posts right now, I'd like to try making my posts/threads more descriptive and interesting - without my character doing a whole lot of action (if you understand my meaning). I just find my brain is sluggish and I end up repeating myself or finding it too hard to post :/
I just wondered if anyone has any hints or tips on how I could improve. I'm going to try finding some time to read again for at least 30 minutes a day, I'm hoping it will refresh my memory on words and vocabulary.
Maybe I'll tyr to find a random word generator (if there's such a thing), and select a few new words to add to my vocabulary each week possibly - just to remind myself and expand it.
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Tamme |
I really fall into a pit of using the same words over and over and not shaking up my sentence structure. What I have been doing is trying to read old, difficult literature (like Lovecraft, Shelley, Poe, Goethe, etc) and analyzing their sentence structure and words. It REALLY helps to read a paragraph of classical literature and then write your post.
Also, I have thesaurus.com up, and whenever I feel like I am using a word too much, I go find a synonym :)
Webster has a "word of the day" http://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/ which is cool. This one is also nifty because you can generate random words: http://www.wordgenerator.net/random-word-generator.php !
Another thing that really helps is to write down your character's likes, dislikes, passions, hatreds, flaws, faults and strengths. If you have them all written down, you run into less mary-sue instances where your character flops on their personality to fit the situation. :)
I am working on this too, so if you come up with anything cool, let me know!
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Oh that's really helpful, thank you!
I actually don't think I've read any old or difficult literature, I'm going to have to try that one. And I'll try filling out Niska's personality a bit more, on her profile or something, so I can refer back to it easier - I really need to develop her more >_<
And if I do find anything extra I'll be sure to post it here :D
Mauja the Frozen Light Posts: 1,392
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12-02-2014, 03:18 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-02-2014, 03:19 PM by Mauja.)
I just.. write. I've gone from writing solid 3 paragraph posts to something that just feels like a very long, unstructured ramble. I'm a bit too tired to say something useful but my main tips is actually this: just write. Don't try to make a style, or have a style, or try to craft artful sentences. Just write. You can practice it on about anything, just writing, finding a flow, some way to give it structure without hamstringing it- and once you find that flow, you can tap into thoughts, memories, reactions and emotions. But I think that if you think too much, try too hard, it will only become more difficult.
Though of course when you've written "path" 45 times in the same post, thesaurus is incredibly helpful. I use it a lot if I need a synonym or a better word/I've forgotten the word but I know what it means so I go synonym hunting.
Anyway. We all write differently- some are a lot more "scientific" about it, and I'm more intuitive. I just write, and I have a very hard time editing what I have written post-writing, because it seriously mauls the flow I have. So it's also about finding what way works the best for you, but in my opinion, the harder you try the worse it actually gets... But maybe that's just me.
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Writing is a lot like drawing... To improve, you've just got keep doing it. Something I'd recommend is having writer's reference. It has got some nifty pointers on grammar and such, as well as academic papers(which may not help too much with RP posts). As well, reading does help broaden vocabulary and writing style. Classics really can help with words like Tamme said. Also reading other people's posts has taught me all kinds of new words and sentence styles. Thesaurus never hurts either, but, don't go over board.
On the subject of thesaurus, don't go out of your way to evade using said. This may sound weird as said can seem like an overused word, but, readers don't really notice it. What they will notice is alternating words for said. I've heard it phrased before if you absolutely have to have a descriptive word for you dialogue it can just mean you have weak dialogue.
Write World on tumblr is a great blog as well. Don't have a link to it at the moment as my internet is terrible here at my college. May edit it and add it once I've got some better wifi.
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