What I mean by this is what do you think is the worst thing about your own writing? That one issue that keeps coming up that you have to work hard on to correct?
I do not believe in perfect authors or books. Every author has something in their writing that they do not like, a flaw so to speak. I think knowing what our flaws are helps us avoid them, correct them, and improve our level of the written word. What is your flaw, if you don't mind sharing?
Personally, my major writing flaw would be lazy writing. I like for my novels to be the absolute best they can be. This is one reason why I have not searched for representation yet, my book is not yet ready...soon though! But I hate it when I fall into the trends of lazy writing, where I go back and read it and it's just sloppy, with many errors, and the scene just doesn't flow well. It sort of drifts off into a complacent writing style. I like for my novels and short stories to be clear, precise, and well written. This is something I have to work on in order for my novels to be up to par. And might I add that I'm glad I have this flaw, it keeps me on my own toes, and it, in a way, forces me to be a better writer. It makes me better because I really do care about how well my writing is.
Anonymous2010-08-04T14:38:42Z
Favorite Answer
Boy am I wordy.
My greatest flaw is feeling obligated to use every word I've ever learned. I already love description as it is but I'm a huge grammar fan. I'm amazed with the smooth adjectives like "glutinous" and "magnificent"- So much, I end up constructing sentences around words instead of WITH words. I've read and adored the workings of Edgar Allan Poe for so long, his wordy style has rubbed off. In these modern times, it's considered flooding your work with adjectives. I realize adjectives can be a great resource and a terrible addition at the same time. When I write, I often go back every few pages to reread what I've just written. I find many run-on sentences that look like lengthy monologues of a witty poet. It's sad really and I'm trying to catch up with these mistakes as I make them. Words being something I love, it's hard to point them out as I'm admiring their placement.
Bottom line, I'm too darn wordy and I bet my above rant has concluded this. =P
Other than that, I'm a perfectionist so I have multiple rewrites and end up destroying things that were just fine because they left a hung-up feeling in my mind. Things are never "finished" or "good enough" to me and it can really take its toll on me and my work.
My hugest flaw is my perfectionism and the fact that I critique my work worse than anyone else. I have this one book that I've been working on for years. I never get further than the first chapter, though, because every time I go back to re-read what I wrote, I find minor errors, or think of a better was to get to the point, and I have to rewrite the whole thing. It is beyond frustrating!
I also usually don't know when to end one paragraph, and start another. I have gotten better at that, but I still get fairly confused sometimes.
Another problem is that I get writers block. A lot. It is so irritating trying to figure out where a story should go, and not being able to see past what is already written.
However, with all of these flaws and more, I have found, by reading past works of mine, that my writing has grown and matured. I actually use quotations, unlike in my beginning works, where all the dialog looked like the rest of the story. And the detail is better. So I am hoping that as my writing progresses, I will learn to better my flaws and become the amazing writer I want to be!
Best of luck to everyone else in your works, and many hopes of great success to you all!!! ~Jae
I'm an illustrator naturally not a writer but i'm planning on doing a web comic and have started a 'script' which is taking the form of a novel because it's easier for me as i read sooooo much.
I find punctuation hard as i'm not a writer. I'm finding making my work flow and sound good easy but trying to find the right places for punctuation with only up to year 11 english lessons is difficult. as i'm reading now i'm starting to note where the author uses puctuation, which i haven't done before.
I guess i'm finding the details pretty difficult too. I like character development so all the characters have relationships and problems to deal with as well as the main plot. i'm struggling to find the right places to add the details that are key without making them all come at the reader at once or too soon or too late in the plot. Putting the two together is difficult.
I also tend to write like the author of whatever book i'm reading. for example if i'm reading the bartimeaus trilogy my writing get very detailed but if i'm reading something like the demons lexicon my writing gets much less so. I didn't know this before i started so i'm finding it funny rather than annoying.
I guess i've just got to sort this writing stuff out as i go through.
PS. reading through chapters for mistakes gets really annoying, especially now i now have about 20 plus pages on word. which is nothing really is it compared to what the finished version will be.
I have two that I can think of off the top of my head. One, I have trouble finishing things, even though I'm a perfectionist. I can sit there for ten minutes trying to find the exact word I want, but I can't finish some of the ideas I want to write. I might have the plot in my head, but it doesn't materialize, usually due to the fact that I'm on the first chapter, and my mind is already in the climax, and I find it hard to connect parts of a story rather than just writing from beginning to end, as the transition is awkward and sometimes I don't even want that part anymore.
The second would have to be my writing style, as it changes. I look back on stories I've written when I was in grade school or early junior high and I can't fix what I've written without destroying it, and I don't want all that time to go to waste. But the ones that are more recent are easier to fix.
I would say my greatest flaw is that my sentences are too long. Many people have mentioned this to me (my English teacher for example). I just find it hard to break things up so I cram everything into one block. Hopefully the more I write I'll improve at this.
Also, sometimes I find that my scenes don't flow, and I think that this one is more annoying that the long sentence one because I don't know how to fix it! I'm not a GREAT writer at this point, so I don't know how to make it better, but I love writing so none of these flaws will ever put me off writing xxx