Bloggers are not writers

Writers ask me this: “Why was my work rejected, all my blog buddies loved it!”. So, what? Just because you blog doesn’t mean you can write. Being a blogger does not make you a writer. Being a blogger make you a blogger. Same with RPG. RPGers hack out a few phrases of fan-fiction dialouge for a single character and it goes to their head and they go off telling every one they are a writer. Like hell they are. Bloggers and RPGers fan themselves with vain praises than bitch and moan when editor after editor throws the work back in their face and tells them it’s no good. They can’t understand why. Why? I’ll tell you why. The differance between a writer and a blogger/RPGer is the same as the differance between a tiny stream and the Grand Caynon.

This guy sums it up nicely. According to Zoltan, the writing squirrel:

The Rules- If you write, they must be followed.

Here are the rules I believe in, and that I use when I write and critique:

 

1- Please use proper grammar. If you dont care enough about your work to take the time to polish it and make it right, then I dont care enough to read it.

2- Please use proper punctuation. Same as above.

3- Please dont tell me its my fault that I “Didn’t get it.” Its the writers responsibility to make me understand, and to make me feel pleased as a reader. Period.

4- Please know how to write. You must understand exposition, good dialogue, pacing, plot and all of the other elements that are mandatory for a good story.

5- Edit before you post.

6- Show me, dont tell me.

7- Please avoid first person, at all costs, unless your writing skills are excellent. “I said…” “I feel that…” “I walked along…” When done poorly, first person seems like a list of actions, or at best, a live journal entry. Use third person, please

 

Once the above rules have been met, the more serious and constructive criticism comes into play:

8- Take your time. Make each sentence say something, and further more, mean something to the next sentence, to the paragraph, to the next paragraph, to the page, to the chapter, and to the whole story.

9- You must edit your work. Read it aloud to yourself. Surprisingly, that points out a lot of mistakes that only reading it wont do. Go paragraph by paragraph. Does it make sense? Did you contradict something you said or established earlier? Is it necessary?

10- Dont drag something out. Describe a setting, give us a mental picture, and move on. Find a happy medium between over-description and over-simplification, and stay there.

11- Write honest dialogue. You should never write something that you cant picture saying. I dont mean content wise, im talking about form:

-”Would thee accompany me to thine own home?” That makes me cringe.

-”Can I walk you home?” “Would you care for an escort home?” those are much better.

Also, dont write in slang. Its sloppy, and no one wants to read it.

12- Write good characters. Who am I investing my emotions in? Why should I do so? Who can I identify with? One sided, stereotypical cardboard characters are far too common. Give people personality; humanize them; and above all, make them evoke some sort of emotional response from me, the reader. Action and words should tell us all we need to know about them, not by the writer describing the words or actions.

Show different sides of your characters. Good guys do bad things, and bad guys usually have one or two decent qualities. Show us exactly that, and make it seem more real to us. We need to identify with everyone you write, even if its in some small way.

13- Avoid clichÃ?. Tempting bar wench’s; Silent, brooding men at arms; Young farm boys that hold the key to everything; The wise old wizard who helps a clueless groups of would be hero’s along; The evil tyrant, who lives only to do evil deeds…Sure, you have to tread on familiar ground sometimes, but be original. Write it in your own way.

14- Establish a setting. Can we feel the world youre creating? Are we drawn in by it, or are you simply telling us about it?

15- What is the point of the story? You dont have to say that right away, but foreshadowing is good. A hint of what is to come. Does everything you have written, serve the story as a whole? You can always go back and add some foreshadowing that will serve a purpose later.

16- Dont lose focus. Know what youre writing, where youre heading, and have a reasonable idea about where you will end up. Then, spend the length of your story taking us there. Not too fast as to miss things, or make them seem trivial, but not too slow as to bet anxious or bored.

17- Please be subtle. Dont tell us everything straight out. Dont be blatant about things. Let us discover things on our own, even if we draw the wrong conclusion. Dont make things over obvious if youre waiting to give them away or explain them down the road. Write it, then let it breathe.

18-Know your story. Why is Tom angry? Where did Alanna get her name? “Where did Krieger get his sword? Nothing just happens. You dont have to tell us everything, and in some cases you flat out shouldnt, but you should always know and from that knowledge, you will write a better story. Keep us guessing and wondering at the little things. Dont spoon feed us everything. Its like a musician explaining his song; In the same way that what he knows about its origin made it what it is, while the way I interpreted it made it my own.

19-Make sure you are consistent throughout your work. Dont jump back and forth between tenses; dont insert plot devices simply to give the characters something to do;

20- Be mindful of the POV (Point of view) in which youre writing. When writing from different characters POV’s, make sure that what they are thinking is true to them. Make them have their own personalities. Each person should have their own views, rationale, and way of thinking. Your main character should be the POV you use the most, although switching to others is good from time to time. It keeps things fresh, and can add mystery, especially if you show a POV from a less than favorable character or a villain.

21- Stay true to the genre youre writing in. Dont be clichÃ? and unoriginal, just be reasonable and give the reader something in the ballpark of what they expect. Dont add a robot into a fantasy story. For the most part, stick with convention.

22- Themes. All good stories will represent how you view things, and how you feel about the world around you. What is the theme of your story? Does the tone lend itself to the theme? As a reader, if I identify with the theme or message, I will surely want to read on, and will most likely enjoy doing so.

23- Plot. Is there conflict? Is there tension? Do the characters actually serve a purpose? the structure should look like this: A conflict arises, things go right, things go wrong, the characters react, things conclude, then you wrap it all up. That is obviously a loose structure, but basically it holds true. The fun part is fleshing those parts out, and adding your personal touches in between them.

24- End your chapters in a dynamic way. Whether with an event, a revelation, or a dramatic sentence or two, make me say “Ok, ill read just one more chapter.” Thatâs just a thing I like to do, and further more, that I like to read.

 

A strong theme, an engrossing plot, proper structure and form, identifiable and human characters, a familiar setting, and an attractive style; these are all needed with no exception.

 

While most of these are concrete rules of writing, some of them arenât, and all of them are my opinions. My opinions may not be shared by all. Then again, if someone doesnât think that the above needs to be followed, they most likely should be writing in the first place.

12:37 PM – 4 Comments – 4 Kudos – Add Comment

He doesn’t say if he was the creator of this list or not, but I’m assuming that he is. I’ve been telling writers this same thing for years. Glad to see others have a head on their shoulders.

Are bloggers writers? Yes writers can be bloggers, but think of it this way:

How many blogs did  you take home from the library last week?

~~EK