for the novice writer...

[Taka]

How did you get started writing? What helped you develop as a writer? What did you think would help but just got in the way? Do you only write when you feel like it or schedule it into your day?

I have alot of ideas floating around in my head, but I'd like to hear from some more experienced writers about their writing experiences.

[SnoringFrog]

I go tstarted writing because of creative writing in the 5th grade, then in 6th it kind of died out until I found a message board with lots of stories on it. After reading those, I wanted to post my own and follow in thier footsteps, so I started writing again.

Reading other peoples works(both books and fics posted online) helped, as did just writing and having people review my work to give me pointers. On the site where I posted my work, I was able to find a few people that were very good at reviewing, and they helped me alot in inmproving my writing.

I've tried to schedule writing sometimes, but it doesn't always work. Sometimes forcing yourself to sit down and write helps alot, but oftentimes when you don't feel like writing, your work isn't as good as it could be.

[Kaori]

How did you get started writing?

As a college student, most of the writing that I do on a regular basis is for class. The creative writing that I do comes from a somewhat obsessive desire for expression (In my junior high and high school days, I wrote quite a bit of poetry]What helped you develop as a writer?[/quote]
Teachers and professors. It is always helpful to have someone critique your work who is an expert in the field and can point out your weaknesses.

Also, I work for my college’s writing center, reading other students’ assignments and giving them feedback. I believe that this experience has been helpful to me; because I analyze other people’s writing regularly and try to help them improve, I can apply some of the same analytical skills to my own writing.

What did you think would help but just got in the way?

I attempted at one point to come up with a systematic way of naming characters so that the names of each people group would have a distinct flavor, but I haven’t had much success with this yet.

I have also found that the critiques I am given are of mixed value. Some advice that I have received has been good, and some of it has not]Do you only write when you feel like it or schedule it into your day? [/quote]
If I only wrote when I felt like it, I would never finish anything, excepting perhaps an occasional short poem or vignette. On the other hand, I don’t actually have a specific time set aside for writing. My main difficulty is being able to continue working on the project at hand when difficulties arise (as they inevitably do) instead of switching to some other story. I have several unfinished stories and some finished things that need more revision, so my options are always varied if I do choose to switch to a different task.

[Anna Mae]

How did you get started writing?

Before I even entered school my mom read to me A LOT. Soon I was making up stories in my head and acting them out with my dolls. As soon as I learned to write, I began recording my stories, songs, and poems.

What helped you develop as a writer?

Teachers in school, friends who were willing to critique my work, and an awesome older brother.

What did you think would help but just got in the way? Do you only write when you feel like it or schedule it into your day?

For me, these two are connected. I generally do better if I just write whenever inspiration hits. Yes, there are times that I don't want to write, and as Kaori pointed out, if I didn't make myself do it sometimes, I wouldn't have many finished works!

[uc pseudonym]

How did you get started writing?

Though creative writing assignments were required all throughout grades one to four, I cannot say these really contributed. I would have stopped writing if not for the continual requirements. However, this was part of the general growth of my imagination.

It was in fifth grade that I began to write stories because I really wanted to, though they still fulfilled class requirements. Not long after this, I created something for the first time that I could not possibly use for a class: fanfiction. Because this creative writing was a good experience for me, I quickly branched out into original works as well.

In the end, I guess you could say that I became a writer because I have many ideas and the urge to record them was never supressed.

What helped you develop as a writer?

This will surprise no one, but: reading. Generally, the more one reads (especially of the genre that one wants to write) the better any given person will become. However, I would make two qualifiers for this: try to read good writing, and try to think about how the author is creating the story unstead of being wholly caught up in it. Some people find rereading is helpful in this aspect, but I have not.

Also, simply writing and then reviewing my work has been helpful. The experience has some worth, and I find that in retrospect you will notice things about your writing style that you may have missed before.

That, however, has its limits, so I find that reader feedback has also been helpful. This can be as simple as people telling you their thoughts and feelings (thus giving you impressions about how effectively you are writing or how certain techniques affect readers) or as complex as another analyzing everything in detail. I have found this very helpful, but I definitely recommend getting a variety of opinions instead of focusing on one person. Sometimes you will be given contradictory advice, at which time you need to decide for yourself what is best.

Do you only write when you feel like it or schedule it into your day?

I find that I write easiest when I feel like it, but obviously that is insufficient to finish anything. However, for me there are two different manners in which I do not wish to write. Sometimes if I can make myself begin (having even a few sentences for a scene helps tremendously) I will quickly begin to enjoy writing (or, barring that, at least write material I feel is good). Other times what I create will be subpar and much more difficult to produce. The trick is determining the difference between the latter two, something I have not yet mastered.

I have alot of ideas floating around in my head, but I'd like to hear from some more experienced writers about their writing experiences.

Having a lot of ideas is a good start, actually. No amount of determination or skill will save an unimaginative piece of work, but if an author has a brilliant idea and merely states it poorly most people will still appreciate it.