I want to write a book but I'm too stupid. I can come up with cool ideas, but I suck at writing good prose. All of my sentences and descriptions sound too awkward, like I'm an ESL or something. I'm literally too dumb.
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I want to write a book but I'm too stupid. I can come up with cool ideas, but I suck at writing good prose.
Same here, fren. I have the best idea, but when I write I see how bad it is and it's frustrating and quit.
I feel like I type like a robot. I read someone like Terry Pratchett, and just the way he phrases things will always convey an emotional state that's intended.
For me it's like I'm writing nothing but descriptors.
"The dog saw the red ball. The dog chased after the red ball. The returned the red ball to the owner. The dog was tired."
I'm one chapter into a book I'm writing, and I just don't know how to convey tension. It's like I have the exact opposite of purple prose.
>The returned the red ball to the owner
He*
Frick me, I swear I'm not ESL
Do what everyone else does. Just say you’re inspired by Hemingway.
Practice makes perfect, OP. I don't know how long you've been writing but any sort of new creative skill you try to pick up will always feel like shit in the beginning, unless you're a prodigy.
I'm not saying I'm an authority on this by any means, but two things helped me a lot:
1. Write your favorite passages down word by word. For me, it sort of gave me an insight into the structure and how the author was writing it, what pacing he was using, what descriptions he used, words, etc. It was really very helpful.
2. Don't be afraid to be a bit verbose in order to paint a vivid picture. You can always trim it down in the editing stage. In the example you used here
you could write instead: "The dog saw the red ball roll across the green yard. He began to chase the red ball, the smell of the wet grass wafting up to him as he padded across joyfully. He went back towards his owner, who was now cheering him on with encouraging words. The dog dropped the ball at the owner's feet, tired but satisfied of the good work he had done."
This isn't genius stuff by any means but imo it's a bit more vivid and gives a bit of more life to the scene. Going into the dog's perspective at least gives it some character, I think. I mean, I dunno. I haven't sold any books but from the prose I've studied from my favorite authors, this is what I got. Maybe some anons can add more feedback to my suggestions
Ideas are almost never as important as execution, especially if you desire to make something emotionally impactful. My suggestion is to read and identify authors who incite an emotional response, and then practice the techniques they use while taking care not to copy their writing styles.
For example, Gatsby uses visual imagery to a great extent, while Woolf subsumes the reader into a character through long stream-of-consciousness passages where dialogue is both spoken and received from a single character's perspective.
Every individual has an inner world where the distinction between emotion and thought becomes amorphous, and it is your duty, as a human and artist, to vindicate it with a coherence and skill that is distinctly your own. Do not fear failure, it is far better to die screaming than silent.
how would you describe a tired dog, without using the word tired? what features of a tired dog do you consider important enough to list?
His nipples secreted a milky sweat
A droopy-eyed mutt with sagging ears, dragging itself to its corner as if each paw weighed a ton.
incredibly common in new writers, we can't help you, you just need to keep reading, writing and rewriting.
You say something?
> i am too lazy to learn and do the work, so i come here to complain and gain sympathy from anonymous morons
Yes
There is nothing we can do, it's over (and it never really began).
unironically try novelai
The only way forward is to write, write, write. Write about anything that you feel writing about, even if you feel it wouldn't be interesting to read. Just, keep writing
Read more prose
Your first book doesn't need to be good just make sure mom doesn't see
I can write prose but have no ideas. Let's team up.
Try dictating it to a transcriber app, and then go back an edit. Talking uses a different part of your brain than writing.
Threads like these bother me lol. You're coming at things I feel but from another direction. Truth is you're probably just boring IRL. Not like me.
anyone can come up with ideas. the real core of writing is doing it enough so that you are skilled at it. you gotta experiment and play around along with deliberate serious work. you gotta live it. you gotta write so much you can't imagine life without it. if you do this then you'll find a balance and be satisfied with your work.
People say my writing is obtuse. I couldn’t care less. Meh.