Im So Jealous Of Storytellers Writers And Authors

How do you know if you are a good writer or if your story is a good idea?

There are four equally valid and mutually exclusive answers to this question:1) Other people will tell you.  When you are a beautiful writer, others will let you know. Some will express it in their hate and envy, others with their fan letters. A few will give you honest critique to help you improve. The ones who actually know more than you, keep! Good crit partners are more valuable than rubies. 2) You have to tell yourself. No one will tell you. No one tells you when you cross the line between sucking and not sucking.  It's somewhere between your 750,000 and millionth word of fiction--if you're lucky! You have to validate yourself as a "real writer." No one else will validate you. Certainly not your spouse and never your mother. 3) You will sell stuff. If you are good and brave enough to put yourself out there. Plus very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very lucky, you will sell your work. Selling your work and "getting published" isn't proof positive that you are good, but money is nice and in the end, when the car payment is paid and the lights are on, it doesn't matter if you suck or not. Getting paid feels good. 4) You will never actually know. Some work considered brilliant in its time is disparaged today. Work thought unimpressive in its time is celebrated today. Some works are timeless (Read Oliver Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield, for timeless, 250 years old and still hysterical.) Forty years ago, Stephen King was thought a wordy hack. Now, his On Writing is a must read for every aspiring writer. (I've not read it. Not a King fan--yes, the only one.) History will judge. Chances are, we are all ephemeral, obscure, lacking in talent, import, and quality. We are candles in the wind.But who knows, you might be the next Oliver Goldsmith.

What makes you buy a book of a debutant or 'not so famous' author?

when you venture into the world of books. its really rare for someone to start with a book by a new author. Most of the time it is either a classic like Sherlock, gone with the wind, to kill a mockingbird, Kane and Abel etc (the books mentioned are good books if you are a beginner but list doesn't stop there) when you get accustomed an author his or her story grows on you and that is what makes them famous intern.then what actually made me read books by a debutante or not so famous author is the need for new and innovative stories. for example if you read Jeffrey archer books you shall see lot of emotional drama and last minute twists but it really gets to you when you are reading his works continuously in chronological manner. its the same with any other famous author they a very good at storytelling but they too have a flaw and that is they all follow their own set of patterns.when you are in search of new adventure and your mind is hungry for more its the nature’s call telling you to try something new someone new and not so famous.as the human psychology it self says we humans tend to support underdogs this is a classic example.‘not so famous authors’ are some time the result of poor publisity or bat press but trust me every idea worth sharing is worth writing and every new idea written is worth reading.one of the x factor that that come into effect here in “what if this books that i am reading is not good? “ well i have an answer for you let it pass it was not written by your favorite author anyway………:)never forget its the risk that you take makes you different from the rest.

How can I overcome discouragement as an author?

Thanks for the A2A. :)All authors deal with this problem. In fact, one of the more difficult things about writing is that the better you get, and the more successful you get, the more obstacles you face! When posting stories on the internet, you're just dealing with readers' reactions. But if you submit stories to publications, you'll deal with rejection and criticism from editors before the story even reaches an audience. Once you land an agent, you may be asked to revise, revise and revise again before your agent even shows the book to editors! Then, if you publish a book, you'll probably have to deal with negative reviews! In short, it can be discouraging and can seem like an uphill battle with few rewards along the way. There are some great answers here already, so I thought I'd mention something no one else has yet. One absurd technique I've been trying lately to keep motivated when writing seems pointless is detailed in Jane McGonigal's book SUPERBETTER. What you do is try to "gamify" your work in order to stay motivated. The popularity of video games shows us that people are willing to do all sorts of pointless things for abstract or uncertain rewards ...and that, dear friend, is a writing career in a nutshell! To get really good at anything -- writing included -- you need to put in a certain number of hours with no immediate reward. So you trick your brain to see rewards in the little things, and to see obstacles as challenges to be overcome. This technique, while admittedly it's a little weird, seems to work for me. Good work habits (writing every day) and minor rewards (you sell a story, you get a fan letter) are like "Power-ups" that give you a boost to help you reach your goals. Obstacles are tackled right away, without question or negative feelings. And the fact that you get more negative feedback as you reach a wider audience isn't discouraging because it just means you "leveled up." Of course things are harder at the higher level! Big, giant rewards like finishing a novel manuscript, landing an agent or getting a book deal are "Epic Wins" that you have to work years for, but that's just the way the game is set up. Hope this helps, and good luck! :)

How do I read in a way that helps me while I am writing?

The below given suggestions are for writers wanting to learn the writing style of a book, not the plot style.Read subjectively : Because you want to find an ideal wiring style for yourself, you need to mind the kind of books you read. You may marvel, while reading “ does this book that I'm reading has a style that I wish to inculcate in my writing? ” or “Is this book’s style worth taking up as my own ?” Read something that makes you feel jealous of the writer.Observe with care: When I read books of a writer whome I'm jealous of, i get so much swayed by the words that i fail to notice how he has tried to structure the sentences to suit the current situation in the book. So if you want to catch the style, i suggest you to look carefully and find out what it really is that the writer is doing that makes you like the writing so much, (or even the plot). Like, is he using sentences like “ she searches under the ocean of lies, and she loses her away” and if you find it poetic, then you will want to sweeten your writing with bombarded phrases too.Copy without pity, copy without shame: Till the time that you're clueless about your own voice on paper, i think it is helpful that you copy from your favourite writers. Now, copy means that you follow their manner of revealing things, their manner of creating characters, manner of beginning a chapter, but mostly, the sentence formation. Most writers copy. But the great ones do it without letting it show.Does your writer use a lot of visual imagery? What are the type of things he talks in between the main storyline?“Many years later, as he faced the tiring squad, he was to remember the afternoon his father took him to discover ice. ” what is your writer's style of peaking into time ? Does he move to the future and then talk about the past?Your writer may describe each character as if it were the protagonist. Each character has his own life, his own purpose, and you need to make him complete that.When i sit to write, i open a random page from a ggm book, read the first lines of a sentence which looks good, and start my own writing with it. Together with being a prompt, it is an incentive to write the particular writer.My suggestions on this topic are purely personal, informal and not professional in the least. But a writer who needs an idea about what to look up in a book for growing as a writer might find my suggestions useful.