Forum: Author Hangout

In my last thread, I pulled something out of an article that talked about description. But after I posted it and went back to the article, I realized there's a lot of good advice in that article about writing so I thought I'd pass along a summary and link to it. I'm copying it word for word, but not going to put it in quotes for readability.

The article is titled: 27 DIFFERENCES IN AMATEUR AND PROFESSIONAL WRITERS (although there are actually only 26) and can be found at https://markdouglasdoran.com/differences-between-amateur-writers-and-professional/. Here are the 26 differences:

1. THEY ONLY WRITE DOWN ONE-TENTH
2. NOT USING ALL 5 SENSES
3. IGNORING GOOD ADVICE
4. SHOW DON'T TELL
5. ALL EDITORS ARE WRONG
6. CHANGING OF GENRES
7. THE FIRST DRAFT IS THEIR ONLY DRAFT
8. WRITING WITH NO ENERGY
9. LEARNING HOW TO WRITE
10. NOT BEING DEDICATED AND FOCUSED
11. NOT HAVING A THEME
12. REWRITING THE BEGINNING
13. THEY WILL PUT OFF WRITING
14. WRITING A WEAK ENDING
15. NOT CHECKING SPELLING OR GRAMMAR
16. NOT READING IT OVER
17. WRITING A LONG NOVEL FOR KIDS
18. TOO MUCH VIOLENCE FOR KIDS
19. NOT HAVING AN ENDING
20. STARTING WITH THE ENDING
21. TOO MANY TALKING HEADS
22. NOT RESPECTING THE READER
23. THERE IS NO WANT OR NEED
24. THERE IS NO INTENT OR CONFLICT
25. CHARACTERS ARE ALL FAKE
26. THE PROTAGONIST IS BORING

4. SHOW DON'T TELL

Amateurs show instead of telling?!

I didn't expect that!

AJ

17. WRITING A LONG NOVEL FOR KIDS
18. TOO MUCH VIOLENCE FOR KIDS

Too subjective, and frankly, kids NEED long novels to help them develop a proper attention span. I read LONG books starting around age eight, including Basil Lidell Hart's Histry of the Second World War and Edward Gibbon's The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.

I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy at ten.

17. WRITING A LONG NOVEL FOR KIDS
18. TOO MUCH VIOLENCE FOR KIDS

That is WAY too subjective.

I read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - the original by Jules Verne - at 6. And I grew up watching Vietnam on TV, with Channel 4 out of Indianapolis playing WWII movies every Sunday morning. Hiding the world from kids is setting them up for failure - or participation trophies.

1. . THEY ONLY WRITE DOWN ONE-TENTH

Without reading the article, I thought perhaps I am writing down Ten Times more than I need to!

I have at least one binder for each story. I keep notes about the motivations, personalities, backgrounds, and physical descriptions of characters. Much of that may not show up directly in the story.

But when I want to have one of the group wisecracking, or a punster, or a cynic, I have a consistent idea of which character is likely to do so. Readers are likely to think, "Jones is a cynic" or "Smith doesn't take things seriously" or maybe they will agree with the characters' statements/actions.

I try to make my characters nuanced, so, the "serious guy" might make an occasional joke, and the "joker" say something motivational, and mean it.

You and I may perceive the same individual differently. My notes help me remember the traits of various characters; hopefully keeping them "consistent" as much as anyone is.

I write down details in my notes that don't have to be written down for the readers. However, I need to keep aware of things in the background that will effect the story.

Such as the characters, and readers, are not likely to know how many enemies retreated. But I need to so that I can plan the counter attack. Combat is confusing, so, readers will only "see" what the characters do. The author knows more, but not all facts need to be in the story.

After reading this piece, I have many thoughts :)

Some of the points are fair, some are not, and some are repetitive rephrases of the same idea.

My quick sarcastic reply is that I'm not sure that I want to take writing advice from someone whose writing skills aren't that strong (So many sentence fragments! So much disorganization! Over-repetition!)

Here are couple of specific points I find amusing:

NOT READING IT OVER

16/ An amateur will not read over their novel after they finished writing it. They will type "the end" and quickly send it off to an agent the same day. Whereas a professional will know that's when the real work will begin. They will have others read it and take notes, they will rewrite it countless times if needed. They will not send it unless it's truly ready.

This one amuses me because it's a direct contradiction of Heinlein's Rules. Rule 3 states "You must refrain from rewriting except to editorial order." The problem with Mr. Doran's advice here is that it puts the author in rewrite hell. If they've never published anything, how do they know it's 'truly ready?' If they polish it until it's absolutely perfect, how does one expect them to then happily accept the advice of editors to rewrite and change it? By definition, if editors are asking for changes, it wasn't 'truly ready,' was it?

Yes, he mentions having 'others' read it, but who are these 'others?' Do they have editing skills? Are they good critics? Do they know what people respond to? Or is it a self-reinforcing echo chamber?

TOO MUCH VIOLENCE FOR KIDS

18/ Amateurs will write for young adults but fill it with sex, swearing, and violence. A professional will know you can't put such things in a book meant for young kids. They'll see the bigger picture and know what to leave out.

Super-sloppy definition work here. 'Kids' in the headline, 'young adults' in the first sentence, 'young kids' in the second.

Anyone who has had kids or knows anything about under-18 literature knows there are many categories. 'Kids' is broad. 'Young kids' is probably picture books, chapter books, easy readers, etc. 'Young adults' is the opposite end of the spectrum.

'Sex, swearing, and violence' per se have place in writing for 'young kids,' pretty much - but age-appropriate coverage of relationships does, as does age-appropriate coverage of what to do when violence happens (to them, to someone they know, or in the world).

But by YA writing, all three are fully in place. Most teenagers aren't going to engage with a book that pretends the world is full of people who never have sex or swear and never have to think about or engage in violence.

I recently tried to answer a person who had some serious OCD about my writing style, and my lack of concern for perfection.

This is as close to "baring myself to the world" as I am willing to go.. but it is also accurate as possible.

****
I'm happy for you, but our goals are not the same.
Maybe I'll read some of your work. But don't hold your breath for criticism from me... I know the value of "FREE".

Yes, I write 'simple' and 'rough'.
I just use the 'basic' spell check on my Open Office, then I re-read it myself.

After that, I have to fight the SOL software to keep my preferred and intended formatting and page structure when i post or it will smash all my double spaces and completely fucks up the rhythm of my writing style.

Finally... I print the entire book on paper and let several 'live human beings' read it over. (Markers in hand)

Then I add my cover, preface, ect..
And the final version, (with the extra effort) gets SOLD, for money, to pay me for my time (and the 'favors' of my proofreaders).

Then, at a later date, after the book is published, IF there are other problems I missed, I will do a 'Revision 2' and fix those as well. Cause I'm not perfect.

But here is the part you need to let penetrate through your 'fog' and try to understand....

I. AM. NOT. A. PROFESSIONAL. AUTHOR.

The 'pen' is not my 'sword'.

I am just an everyday guy with nothing more than an A.A.S. in Paramedic Technology, who also happens to drive a big red truck around trying to help people.

And to make enough money so I can eat more than once a day, my 'side hustle' is pimping my skills as a 'Hired Gun' to those who need more safety and security than the police can afford them.
(And YES, I mean that literally. I really am paid to be a 'man with a gun' that stands between the innocent and the evildoers.)

I write FOR ME. To vent off the stress and pressures of life. I write for ME, not others.

Not because I think I am the world's next Faulkner, Clemmons, or Grisham.
And that means I don't really care for perfection, and I am just sharing my work as a FREE GIFT to anyone who CHOOSES to read it on SOL.

None of your individual concerns matter to me because my writing is not for any one person, and I'm satisfied as long as somebody... anybody... reads it.
In fact, I'm amazed and truly thankful when they DO read.

And if they quit reading, I'll quit bothering them by sharing. That simple. No harm. No foul. No hard feelings.