Your Flaw(s) as a Writer

My biggest flaw as a writer is that, quite simply, I think I write a little too matter-of-factly. I can make it work pretty well for descriptions, but when it comes to dialogue, it annoys me to no end; I've stopped writing scenes because the dialogue was not at all how I wanted it to come out.

Jesus, where do I start.

Procrastination is a big one, as well as personal insecurities over writing ability (intense fear of character derailment, perfectionism, etc). Dialogue flow is a tough one as well.

Procrastination and sometimes, not being able to title chapters. There is a whole story I've written so far that has yet to be titled.

edited 4th Sep '11 9:01:44 PM by Misuki

You don't have to worry about the latter. Depending on the tone of the book, "Chapter One" and "Chapter Two" is suffice.

I have (at least) two flaws that are somewhat related. I can't reliably do pacing and I tend towards massive infodumps not entirely related to the point at hand. I mean like I could be the illegitimate offspring of Hideo Kojima the infodumps are so bad.

Another thing I've noticed looking at the "why you write" thread - I'm not really that passionate about writing. I think, compared to some of the people here, I'm a dabbler, not an artist. I do care a lot about my works from a technical perspective, but I don't really consider things like Emotional Torque, and I don't think that my works will ever be in any way meaningful.

This doesn't bother me that much, as I only really aim to entertain myself - while I do write my works as if for an audience (based mainly on my ethical objection to self-Wish-Fulfillment), I don't ever intend to get published or even, likely, to put them up online. But in terms of actual writing skill, I would certainly consider this a flaw.

edited 4th Sep '11 9:33:49 PM by nrjxll

I am terrible at titling things sometimes. See my liveblog for proof.

I think that the biggest flaw that I've noticed recently is that I have a habit to make my sentences a bit too passive by flipping around the sentence structure. An example from a paper I was writing: From "I took a moment to consider this, once I calmed down from the platforming sections that continued to annoy me." to "Once I calmed down from the platforming sections, which continued to annoy me, I took a moment to consider this." (This was a paper on Eversion, if you're curious.)

My mom, who was proofreading it, mentioned that I have a tendency to flip my sentences around, thereby making them passive. I hadn't noticed until she pointed it out not just there, but at least two other places in the (one-page, double-spaced) paper.

Coming up with a complex plot.

I'm not terribly passionate about writing either. But "writing is the holy chore".

Coming up with Original Characters. The problem never comes up in Comedies, but in drama, I manage to write my Captain Ersatz well enough to turn them into an expy. But when I have a visual image of the character, I still imagine him like so.

In other words, Creative Sterility, if I wasn't playing with tropes. Heck, the only reason why I write is that I'm wasting plot material on Daydreams.

edited 7th Sep '11 10:08:56 AM by MadManX

Lack of motivation/inspiration. I've got loads of ideas and I can use words pretty well, but I don't have any really important message to send and I'm happy enough with my ideas floating around in my head, entertaining me, that I never actually get anything written. One of these days...

Procrastination, and possibly a lack of emotion. I don't describe what the characters do that much, and all the feelings end up in the actual words.

I procrastinate but I also have trouble with words abd description.

I procrastinate way too much.

I don't like to fictionalize locations

• Procrastination.
• I often have trouble coming up with a premise for a story in the first place.
• When I do have a story in mind, I find it difficult to flesh out and plan the exact events that will take place.
• I struggle with describing events in prose in a way that flows well and sounds nice.
• My dialogue is occasionally stilted but I have an easier time with it than the above.

My writing usually suffers from Featureless Plane of Disembodied Dialogue, Burly Detective Syndrome, and Said Bookisms. My characters tend to be sarcastic, unfairly attractive (though unaware of it), and Expies of a few basic characters.

My Character Types:

The Alexander/Sarcastic Conniving Smart Guy: like I said, all my characters are sarcastic, but this guy takes it to the next level. He's emotional, thinks his way out of problems, is well loved by everyone, and though he may seem unassuming and mild-mannered, he's actually the most dangerous character in the story.

The Jason/Emotionally Distant Tough Guy: The Alexander's polar opposite, the Jason is emotionally distant enough to appear cold but really is a nice guy on the inside. He remains cool and level-headed at all times, but is always ready to act.

The Clarissa/The Nice Girl: She's usually small, cute, smart, and friendly. Her kindness isn't superficial, she really is that nice. She's unsure of herself but she'll come through in the end. Hurting the Clarissa is a definite Berserk Button for either the Jason or the Alexander - no, on second thought, for everyone' else in the story. Usually paired with the Jason.

The Beck/The Dangerous Girl: While the Clarissa is small and cute, the Beck is intense, intimidating and Badass. She's beautiful, but you couldn't call her cute. She's audacious, tenacious, stubborn, self-confident, and hotheaded but has a sensitive side. Usually paired with the Alexander.

My male characters seem to take Kirk and Spock and flip them around - the emotional characters are the ones who reason their way out of a problem, while the cold/distant characters are the ones who are more likely to resort to brute force. Is that an interesting subversion or just unrealistic? I don't know.

My Writing Style:

I write in bursts, but I'm not sure that's a flaw until it becomes procrastination. I also tend to hate what I've written after reviewing it later, after which I delete it forever and immediately regret that decision, wishing I could salvage something about it. I don't particularly like people reading my writing until it's finished...which is a problem, because I rarely finish anything.

When it comes to fanfiction that doesn't only feature OC's, almost everything I write is happy and fluffy and features ridiculous ships. Most of my fanfics have yet to be written, but they're still flawed in my opinion because they're too fluffy and ridiculous. I love ships like Sheldon/Penny, Sam/Daniel, Trip/Hoshi, Parker/Eliot, Crichton/Chiana...and then there's the really strange ships that I haven't actually tried to write, like Jimmy Olsen/Wonder Woman or Jimmy Olsen/Lois Lane and... *sighs*...*whispers/mumbles*...Catwoman/Nightwing...

I spend half my time feeling ridiculous about those ships, and the other half not caring at all what people think of them.

I find it interesting to see that procrastination seems to be the most common 'flaw' among us. I'm not alone!

Now, what are my strengths? Well...um...uh...well, I'm actually pretty good at dialogue, even though it's usually disembodied. I tend to make my characters walk somewhere during their conversations to avoid that, but then I just end up with a lot of random walking scenes.

edited 8th Sep '11 5:38:42 PM by LoganLocksley

How is this a flaw?

On-topic, it's becoming clear that I really do have a problem with parentheses. I have to constantly remind myself not to use them.

Well, if he wants to use a real-life location, or any setting in general, not being able to show it clearly can be a problem, immersion-wise.

Also, I had the parenthesis problem too (at least one pair per page), but I out-grew it in time. It sort of faded away, and now I only use a pair once every few chapters.

Just came to mind that these are all just the flaws we're aware of. We probably are barely scratchin' the surface, since there's lots more flaws we repeat, not realizing that they're flaws & all.

Well, that goes (or should go, at least) without saying.

R Taco: Of course, then it gets all fuzzy. I know people who think my flaw is "I think too little of myself." I also know people who think my flaw is "I am a horrible writer."

@R Taco...you know what, you're right. Thanks a lot. I feel much better now. Not. :)

@Mr. AHR...that's pretty harsh and not particularly helpful. If someone asked me "You know what your problem is?" I'd at least hope for something specific.

"No, what's my problem?" "Simple. You suck!" "Uh...I'll try to work on that."

Well, I never asked them, it was just implied. By two separate people. Or something.

Maybe I'm just paranoid.

—dons googly eyes—

edited 10th Sep '11 3:31:12 PM by MrAHR

Hey, just because we're paranoid doesn't mean the whole world doesn't want to kill us. The voices tell me it does, and I believe the voices. Except when it comes to their fashion sense.