B&A, how has your writing style changed over the years?
I don't mean this necessarily just about your own fictitious writings, but even just the style in which you write your answers to things here on y!a, or if you're a blogger, how you write your blogs, or how you write academic essays. I know personally my style of writing has evolved so much from just two years ago. I go back and read some things I wrote years ago that at the time I was impressed with, but from my current perspective, I just think, "What was going on inside my head that I'd ever think that sounded okay?" Some of my characters that I wrote with the purpose of being comic relief, I look at now and think that the supposedly funny things they'd say or do were just stupid. Or some of the questions / answers I posted on y!a that at the time I thought were helpful or clever, I look at now and wonder why a single person would give me a thumbs up or a star. It's just interesting to me to see how my own personality has developed, and it actually makes me glad that I have written and documented so much throughout my teenage years so it's like I can see my own mindset toward life changing through the times. So how about you? In the last couple years, how have you noticed your style has changed? Do you think it's been for the better or for the worse? What do you hope to become more skilled at with your writing, or what technique do you want to master? Bonus Question: Does your style change between the way you write in your stories versus the way you write here on y!a? Is so, how so? Thanks so much! :)
Can reading improve my writing skills?
People will often argue that reading the works of others can increase your writing skill because you can consciously dissect what makes certain things succeed or fail in writing, and this is true to an extent. But then, if it really worked like that, you might expect critics to be the best authors around and although there is a lot of overlap – Charlie Brooker, for instance – this is not necessarily true. Analysis and criticism are a mixture of hard and soft skills, and so is writing in general. So how does reading help you write?In my view, and I would expect there to be some evidence from psychology supporting this but I’ve not checked, a lot of the process of reading and writing is unconscious and intuitive, rather than conscious and analytical, which uses the big, slow, logical cortices at the front of your brain. Reading the works of others imparts a wealth of unconscious and semi-conscious ideas, characters, intuition on good sentence structure (which we experience as natural rhythm) and other aspects that go into crafting text. It’s absorbed to some unknown extent and it informs your muse, away from the conscious part of your mind.We are sensory creatures, and we take in far more information than we are consciously aware of. The reading process will reflect in your writing, almost certainly for the better. It will introduce new ideas, words, phrases, and also add layers of inspiration and finesse to your own percolating ideas.
What is the name of a slanted writing table?
There is not really a particular name for it. Simply put it would be called a writing desk. You can find new ones but the best bet for a nice quality one is an antique. Obviously in the description of the piece it will note if the top is slanted or not. I like the ones where the desk is flat but hinged at the front and can be elevated. You can also find writing desks that you can set on top of any old plain desk that is slanted. You also may want to look at drafting tables, the surfaces can be adjusted to almost any slant. With a nice old one and you with your mighty quill... you can channel the spirit of Bartleby. Melville is as good as any other muse.
When writing on lined paper, are you supposed to write to the very end?
When writing on standard lined paper, I know i'm supposed to start writing at the red or pink line. However, at the end of a line, am I supposed to stop at the very end of the page or at the second red line? The second red line sees-through from the back page. It looks much neater when I stop at the second red line, but am I doing something wrong?