Hi!
Let's get in the mindset of being a writer!
Welcome back to Flourish and Books.
I'm Angelina.
So, I know you're waiting patiently for me to get through these introductory videos.
And this week I'll try and get two of them uploaded – I'm doing my best!
But I'm still hoping for a couple more people to join us, and it would be amazing if you
could spread the word that we're doing this!
That we're writing our books together here!
Now, I would like to get you in the right mindset to start working on our books.
Because we're writers, we should always be trying to improve our work, because, unfortunately,
writing isn't something that you learn and master once the lesson comes to a close, or
you close the book on writing, or video.
Because writing is actually something that can't be taught.
Not in a regular get-information-apply-knowledge-and-succeed kind of way.
Story structure on the other hand, yes, it can be taught.
Because it is a structure, it has rules that you learn and apply.
Although it can vary depending on the medium you're telling the story in, as well.
For example: I apply a three-act-structure to my videos.
I start by stating the problem, which is the set-up – or Act I.
Then follows Act II, where I give all the information, which in my opinion is the solution
to the problem stated before, and at the end I give a conclusion or pay-off, which is Act
III.
This is simple story-telling structure.
I applied it to all my recent videos, and it's basically non-fiction structure.
But what no one has given me a plan for, is the content, the information that I want to
convey in my videos.
I come up with that on my own, and yes, I fail in places.
Like in the beginning of my video on the benefits of outlining, when I gave a list of examples of the different
ways to create an outline.
If you watched it, maybe you noticed that the list was way too long before I started
talking about what was actually important!
And I didn't realize this until I had already uploaded the video.
What I'm saying is, that even when you know how to apply story-structure, it's no guarantee
that your story will be flawless.
In lot of cases it's not only the structure which you tell a story in that makes a story
appealing, but mostly the manner / the voice that you apply to convey what you want to
say.
These things you have to learn by making mistakes – like me with that long list of examples
– and some things you learn by trying them out and watching the effect they have, but
in short, what I want to say, is that we need to practice.
So now that I've stated the problem - Act I -, here's my transition to Act II: My
idea of a solution.
Number 1: One of the most important ways to get a feeling not only for story-telling,
but also for the difference in writing voices, is by reading.
A lot!
And not only in your preferred genre and category, but also in genres you wouldn't usually
pick up.
Because, for example, let's say you prefer reading romance novels.
But by reading a mystery novel or a thriller, you might pick up on ways how to include mystry-like
subplots in your own story later.
For example if you want to include a secret, that a love interest shouldn't learn about,
you might be able to create tension in ways you've read about in a thriller.
And it also works the other way around.
Because romantic subplots in all other genres are very popular, because, let's be real,
everyone cares about love.
But you can also learn about different kinds of characters.
you might pick up on different ways to create atmosphere, because the atmospheres in all
genres differ immensely.
Also, I think it was Karl Iglesias, the author of "Writing for Emotional Impact".
He said that he liked to read the sports pages in the newspaper, because they are full of
dynamic, high-energy, and active verbs.
I think it was him.
Don't take my word for it though!
But by reading the sports section, you might learn how to use these active verbs.
So you can learn from not only different genres, but also from different types of writing.
In short, let me now quote Stephen King here: "If you don't have the time to read, you
don't have the time (or the tools) to write.
Simple as that."
So get yourself some books… and newspapers.
The next thing I recommend doing is keep reading about the craft of writing.
There are so many different books about writing, and every single one is different, and you
learn something new from every single one of them.
And you don't want to only pick up books about novel writing, but also about screenwriting,
because they're still all story-tellers and deal with the same overall topic.
This also goes for game-play-writers, by the way.
Anyway, I'm going to make a recommendation video of my favorite books on the craft, but
I'm also going to give some random recommendations throughout my videos.
So for starters, since I've already mentioned Stephen King, I'm recommending his book
"On Writing" today.
He gives some great advice for beginners while telling us about his life as a writer.
It's so insightful.
So I highly recommend this one, if you haven't picked it up yet.
The next thing you can do to improve as a writer, can be to figure out who your favorite
authors are.
If you like their writing-style, then maybe you want to write in a similar style.
Therefore I suggest trying to simply imitate them.
For example my favorite authors are J.K.
Rowling and V.E.
Schwab.
But I think J.K.
Rowling is one of V.E.
Schwab's favorite authors, too, because they have a very similar writing style.
And I bet J.K.
Rowling sounds a lot like whoever her favorite authors are.
So you see the trend, right?
Anyway, I recommend studying, and imitating, the styles of your favorite authors for practice,
because that's what most good writers do.
The next thing you can do to exercise your writing muscles is to write poetry.
I know not everyone is a fan of poetry, and I have another suggestion for people who think
poetry may be a little old-school.
But poetry can really help your writing style.
Because, if you look at a definition, you see, first of all, what a lot of people don't
know, that poems don't have to rhyme.
What poems do is talk mostly about a SINGLE moment of revelation, or discovery, and the
reaction of the lead character, or narrator, depending on the point of view.
They are short forms of conveying a moment of change in a person.
And they often include a variety of stylistic devices like metaphors, similes, contrasts,
rhymes etc etc.
But if you think this is too old-school, you can try Twitter instead.
Tweets are limited to 140 characters, although I've been seeing talk about them wanting
to change that to 280 characters, I think.
Is that true?
Let me know in the comments!
Anyway, it's still short.
So trying to convey moments of change in a tweet forces you to cut the prose to its essence,
and like that you learn to convey a message in the shortest form possible.
Which really helps you later because you learn not to ramble on or meander when writing your
own story.
And while you're trying to write like your favorite authors, in the shortest forms possible,
you might want to try to keep a journal, too.
I'm not saying that you should write in it every single day – it's not a diary
– although it does give you practice – but my point is that it should help you write
true stories.
When you write about your day, or important moments from your past, you obviously learn
how to write in a most direct, and honest way.
And obviously you're not sharing it with anyone, because it's private, so it doesn't
matter how bad it might turn out.
But people want stories to sound true.
How often have you heard people say, "Well, this seems unlikely" or "That story was
sooo Hollywood"?
Not that I want to stab at Hollywood – they've created some brilliant movies!
But they're simply famous for being story-tellers.
So what I meant was that people think some stories are obviously invented, because they
did not sound true.
And this goes for fantasy, science fiction, and children's stories, as well, because
think for example of the Lord of The Rings, or Harry Potter.
They SOUND like true stories.
We know they're not.
But the authors made them sound as if.
How many people are still saying they're waiting for their Hogwarts letters??
It doesn't have much to do with story-structure – that's just part of the skeleton of
the story.
It's mostly because of the writing-voice in a novel or a script…
The writing voice made it all sound so genuine, that we – the readers – wanted to believe it.
How true can you make your story sound?
So to get back to my point – What we can do, is practice by writing about true events
from our own past, in a journal.
And later that writing voice – YOUR HONEST voice – will hopefully come through while
writing your invented stories as well.
So, let's recap – this is Act III, the conclusion, by the way.
Number 1: Read more widely.
Number 2: Study the craft of writing.
Number 3: Imitate the writing voice of your favorite authors.
Number 4: Use Twitter, or write poetry to share true moments.
And number 5: Keep a journal and develop your own honest writing voice…
These are the 5 tips that I wanted to share with you today.
I'm not saying that you have to do these things, but they can help you improve your
writing style.
I myself, only write in my journal around 3 times per month, because I simply forget
about it.
Sometimes I only use writing prompts and do some free-writing whenever I get a chance.
But I definitely read a lot, I write poetry at least once a week, and I keep studying
the craft of writing.
I've been studying it thoroughly for almost three years now, but which is why I feel comfortable
sharing all of this with you now.
And I really hope it helps you!
With that being said, I hope to see you in my next video.
Make sure to stick around for that.
Until then have a great week!
Bye!
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