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-- Writing skills which I sorely, sorely lack

Writing skills which I sorely, sorely lack

This might seem like a broad and pointless thing to ask at first, so please look at this before you consider my question:

quote:

Everyone interested in ideas has surely had the following experience. You become curious about a certain topic. You start with periodicals, read a bit more deeply become engaged more broadly, and start to buy and check out book after book. Pretty soon you have a good-sized library developing. You speak the language. You know the players. You apply the ideas to understanding the world. But there are still gaps, and you dig and dig to fill them. Then one day you run across something completely different: a book that not only incorporates all that you learned so far, but surpasses them all in breadth and depth. You marvel at how much time and energy you might have saved had you run across this earlier. The mind behind the book is so impressive that it makes all the other authors seem like bit players. What's more, the author makes available to you something you sought but could never find and didn't even know existed: a rigorously defended theoretical structure that turns scattered bits of knowledge into a bulletproof edifice of thought. http://www.mises.org/story/2272

The topic I am interested in is Writing. Is there a book for writing equivalent to what I just quoted? A set of books is good too, as long as they cover everything I'd need to know about writing. Money isn't a problem...

My highschool was garbage, I've been deprived of a good English class, and I've suffered as a result. Luckily, I'm fresh out and there's still time for me to learn. I just want to start with an unabridged source, that doesn't require teachers and writing clubs.. (well maybe online clubs, but that's it).

Some would say the bible.
It's chalk full of life's lessons.

...not that I'm bible-thumper; not by a long shot

hey i need the same help but all what you will get from ppl who can help you is critisim. Like PCK will do that and than he makes horrible comments, just horrible.

Well I don't see any reason why I should receive any, unless such a book is a well-guarded secret that nobody wishes to share. Plus I asked as politely as I could without being too demanding.

It'd be quite rude for someone to barge in here and insult me for wanting to be a better writer...

*note: You can't google for something like this without a hundred pages of spam, and false advertising. <--Redundant? *Shrugs*

Before you attack writing skills I suggest you become pro-active in trying to expand your vocabulary.

This can help http://www.thinkmap.com/visualthesaurus.jsp

I get insulted periodically. Consider yourself lucky.

quote:

Originally posted by jdat Before you attack writing skills I suggest you become pro-active in trying to expand your vocabulary. This can help http://www.thinkmap.com/visualthesaurus.jsp

Makes sense, thanks.

Though I'd still like some writing guides to accompany this "Visual Thesaurus" (cool idea).

edit: I think I'll start by finding ten or twenty random words each day, and writing 1/2 a page to a full page using them.

10-20 words is a lot... I don't know if you would be able to use them effectively a month later. I would go for quality over quantity. The purpose is for you to have them stored permanently in your wordbank that you'll be able to use as easily as any other word.

Just don't suffer from verbal diarrhea.
Writing can get to 'wordy' and loose its audience as well.
Be mindful of your audience.

quote:

Originally posted by Akridrot Makes sense, thanks. Though I'd still like some writing guides to accompany this "Visual Thesaurus" (cool idea). edit: I think I'll start by finding ten or twenty random words each day, and writing 1/2 a page to a full page using them.

Also keep in mind that writers learn how to do so by reading books


Lately I have been reading a huge amount of research papers from law schools, listening to college lectures; and sometimes I start talking the same way in every day life .... yeah I have gotten some weird looks


The visual thesaurus is not a learning tool ( at least it isn't designed to be one ). It is used by writers to come up with alternate words.

Do NOT go the route of learning 10 "random" words a day.
It sounds like a terrific idea but it's very ineffective because the results and uses you will get out of the word will seldom correspond to your needs.

If you truly want to learn 10 extra words a day you need some outside guidance.


Verbal Advantage cd collection is a good route to go ( there are ways to get it for free ).

Once again I can't help but emphasize that you must surround yourself with advanced vocabulary in order to better your own knowledge.

Reading some of the national newspapers on a frequent basis ( get the weekend editions for example ) are a good starting point.

akridrot, writing is a skill that cant really be "taught" from books in my experience.

my advice would be to grab some reading material you wish to replicate- novel, political textbook etc, and just read a LOT. i didnt learn a damned thing about how to write whilst i was in school! i learned how to write by reading a lot. nothing beats practice!

you will find that even though authors have different styles, they pretty much obey most of the "rules" of writing. the rules are just something you pick up from reading hundreds of sentences.

good luck

THANKS for the advice guys.

When I think about what was said here, I realize I was going the wrong way. I thought I'd become a great writer by just following what a "Write Better" book told me to do.

But why did I overlook just *reading great literature*? Boy is my face red...

Once again, thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by Akridrot Makes sense, thanks. Though I'd still like some writing guides to accompany this "Visual Thesaurus" (cool idea). edit: I think I'll start by finding ten or twenty random words each day, and writing 1/2 a page to a full page using them.

As others have said, reading writing guides would help you to overview styles of writing. Though the best way to teach yourself to write better, is to write. Write about anything, and as often as you can. PDD can help you with this too, as it opens possibility for a venue to write.

i'm an aspiring writer and the things i've done over the last two years to increase my vocab and writing skills ten fold are:

1. install WordWeb this handy little tool sits in your system tray and whenever you read an internet article or forum post and come across a word you were previously unaware of you just highlight it and bang you get the definition and a list of synonyms - its so useful i can barely live without it anymore!

2. subscribe to dictionary.com's "word of the day" they email you a new word every day ranging from the interesting to the obscure. words that i like the sound of or know that i may end up using in the future are copied into a word document (which has become quite large over the last few years, along with the document where i've copied great quotes and passages i've read in books, and poems that i love)

3. Read! Read! Read! And don't limit yourself to any one genre; the classics of literature are a great place to start as each and every books' style differs greatly; reading translated novels written by authors who've grown up in cultures far different from your own is also a great idea; the unique German classic Patrick Suskind - Perfume opened my eyes at the power of the written word, entire chapters of this book are devoted to the antihero's sense of smell which he uses to perceive reality (It is about a serial killer who murders young virgins to create the perfect perfume, its farking wierd ) great works of Science Fiction like 'Robert Heinleins - A Stranger in a Strange Land' and 'Frank Herberts' - Dune' make great use of artificially constructed idiomatic language and Steinbeck - Grapes of Wrath depicts some of the most realistic colloquial language i've read (the way characters talk in books isn't how they would talk in real life) also don't look past articles / books on Science, Philosophy, Culture, Art, et al.

4. I've almost finished my Teach English as a Foreign Language course which has required me to learn the banal rules of hardcore English Grammar (I barely learnt a thing at school, probably because i spent more time on the Soccer field than in the classroom and consequently failed English - no regrets! ) I would focus more on the other three points than the rules of English though, many people do writing courses and follow that particular school of thought so rigidly that their writing loses any flare it may once have had and just comes accross as boring and insipid

"as the spirit wanes, the form appears." - Bukowski

5. oh and Practice, Practice, Practice!

quote:

Originally posted by josh4 As others have said, reading writing guides would help you to overview styles of writing. Though the best way to teach yourself to write better, is to write. Write about anything, and as often as you can. PDD can help you with this too, as it opens possibility for a venue to write.

Yeah, I think this is the key. Reading is important so that you can learn to discern between what constitutes good writing and what constitutes bad writing, but it's only by writing lots for yourself that you're likely to improve. As Josh said, just posting in the PDD (and other forums) has helped my ability to write immensely.

Just a couple of general tips from my own experience:

• Have a good idea about what you're going to write about before you start. You don't have to plan it in great detail, but at least make sure you know what points you want to get across before you start otherwise you're likely to just start waffling directionlessly (a problem that I've always had).
  
• In my opinion, developing a good flow to your writing is more important than writing with a large vocabulary. It's not an easy thing to learn, but the words should flow smoothly and with an innate rhythym. Fluidity of prose, more than vocabulary, is the difference between a work of great literature and a work by Dan Brown in my opinion.
  
• Eschew magniloquent loquacity: using big words when a smaller one will do will make you look smarter, but remember that the goal of the author is to be understood, not admired. It's all very well throwing a lot of impressive words into your writing, but - apart from interrupting the flow of the writing - it's likely to mean that people won't know what the hell you're talking about, which kind of defeats the purpose.

quote:

Originally posted by tathi i'm an aspiring writer and the things i've done over the last two years to increase my vocab and writing skills ten fold are: 1. install WordWeb this handy little tool sits in your system tray and whenever you read an internet article or forum post and come across a word you were previously unaware of you just highlight it and bang you get the definition and a list of synonyms - its so useful i can barely live without it anymore! 2. subscribe to dictionary.com's "word of the day" they email you a new word every day ranging from the interesting to the obscure. words that i like the sound of or know that i may end up using in the future are copied into a word document (which has become quite large over the last few years, along with the document where i've copied great quotes and passages i've read in books, and poems that i love) 3. Read! Read! Read! And don't limit yourself to any one genre; the classics of literature are a great place to start as each and every books' style differs greatly; reading translated novels written by authors who've grown up in cultures far different from your own is also a great idea; the unique German classic Patrick Suskind - Perfume opened my eyes at the power of the written word, entire chapters of this book are devoted to the antihero's sense of smell which he uses to perceive reality (It is about a serial killer who murders young virgins to create the perfect perfume, its farking wierd ) great works of Science Fiction like 'Robert Heinleins - A Stranger in a Strange Land' and 'Frank Herberts' - Dune' make great use of artificially constructed idiomatic language and Steinbeck - Grapes of Wrath depicts some of the most realistic colloquial language i've read (the way characters talk in books isn't how they would talk in real life) also don't look past articles / books on Science, Philosophy, Culture, Art, et al. 4. I've almost finished my Teach English as a Foreign Language course which has required me to learn the banal rules of hardcore English Grammar (I barely learnt a thing at school, probably because i spent more time on the Soccer field than in the classroom and consequently failed English - no regrets! ) I would focus more on the other three points than the rules of English though, many people do writing courses and follow that particular school of thought so rigidly that their writing loses any flare it may once have had and just comes accross as boring and insipid "as the spirit wanes, the form appears." - Bukowski 5. oh and Practice, Practice, Practice!

those are some good tips there

quote:

Originally posted by metalgearsolid I get insulted periodically. Consider yourself lucky.

Well you are hardly Mr Polite and Considerate yourself.

quote:

Originally posted by Wicked Neo Well you are hardly Mr Polite and Considerate yourself.

I know. But its different when I do something. Im special youre not + Ive changed somewhat........





...oh shit I hope he doesn't suspend me or anything....

quote:

Originally posted by metalgearsolid I know. But its different when I do something. Im special youre not + Ive changed somewhat........ ...oh shit I hope he doesn't suspend me or anything....

you've changed somewhat ? its a very subtle change then

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