Your Strength(s) As A Writer

While the "Your Flaw(s) As A Writer" thread is funny, eye-opening (Oh, awesome, I'm not the only one who does X!), and a wonderful source of self-deprecating humor, what are your strengths as a writer? Here're mine:

• I know I can write detailed, interesting characters
• I feel comfortable enough to let each have his/her own life that's separate from the main events, or not even related to them
• I can write complex plots that interweave a lot of characters' unrelated personal grievances and make it (relatively) realistic
• I can do good research
• I can actually write pretty well - diction, syntax, sentence variation, the more technical and "style" kinds of things
• I can write chapters out-of-sequence, and still keep things straight (in my head, though I really should try to become more fond of outlines)
• I can explain things well when asked (although I have trouble interpreting what you're asking for, if it's a generic question looking for more, like, taking my least favorite and by far most commonly-encountered for example, "How are you?" - thanks a bunch, brain damage)
• I can write physical sensations well, and sensory data well, in spite of problems with interpreting sensory input and figuring out where my body is in space (relative to other people and objects)
• I can get into my characters' heads easily, and I can gain a pretty good understanding of canon characters - enough so that I know when something I'm writing for them would be unrealistic and come across as Canon Defilement
• I recognize that I will always have room to improve, no matter how good others tell me I am (which I always take with a grain of salt, even in University-level competitions - I hate false praise)
• I always critique a work whenever I review or comment, and I always try to be fair and balanced - I follow the rule of "start with something positive, because that's the first thing they'll hear" [it's a good business rule, also] as well as "don't keep going back to the same problem multiple times unless it's a really big one - it just makes the person feel bad" - this, I don't really know why, seems to get even really popular authors to pick my review out and actually respond to it - seriously, I don't get it.
• I try not to have an ego - try, I'm not perfect; but I know that an overly-inflated ego seems to (even if eventually) correlate to a shift to really crappy writing, even for well-published authors

I don't mean this thread to be any sort of ego-trip, but instead a self-confidence booster. Go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back!

edited 19th Apr '11 7:59:24 AM by punkreader

I have the ability to connect the dots between beginning and end with an almost supernatural flow. Seriously, I can begin a plot and end it following a route that doesn't rely on the Index Machina. It also has details sometimes extending into things like Scenery Porn and more.

Also I'm a big user of Write What You Know and Shown Their Work. Also a massive aversion of Writers Cannot Do Maths.

edited 19th Apr '11 8:10:15 AM by MajorTom

I can write funny, clever dialogue that actually sounds natural, and my style of prose is very evocative. I'm not afraid to spend a lot of time fleshing out characters in my head, so that they come into the novel fully formed, and feel real from the start. If I could plot, or describe what things look like, I'd be perfect.

I can put in things drawn from real-life mythology into my works without making it a massive gusher of details that only mytho/theologists would know.

I like to think I'm pretty good at action scenes and coming up with an overall plot. My main issue is getting bogged down explaining details (I have too much fun Fan Wanking explanations in published series, making my own was just Tempting Fate).

I think I strike a nice balance between Purple and Beige Prose, as well, but it could still probably use some work. At least I got out of my IKEA Erotica phase really early...

I'm proud to say that I have an instinctive grasp of the patterns of sounds and syllable lengths that make sentences pleasant to read. I'm also good at working out all the possible implications of my phlebotinum ("So if artificial powers can't evolve the way Personality Powers can, what happens when someone whose powers have already evolved gets an artificial boost to their original power?"), and I know when it's for the best to let the plot go Off the Rails rather than to try to stick to established cliches.

I've been told by an unreliable source I am good with characterization.

I've been told by a slightly less unreliable source I am good with action scenes.

So yeah.

I'm a very good listener, and my family is large and gregarious enough that I get a lot of different people telling me their life stories. Everything from retired monsters to Orthodox rabbis. Hell, I did a checklist over lunch: I've met someone from every category of the Sliding Scale Of Anti Heroes. It's a lot of excellent material, and helps me build complex, believable characters.

edited 19th Apr '11 11:13:20 AM by KillerClowns

Hmm...now this should be interesting:

• My creativity in general. I have a large pool to draw from.
• My age. Considering not a lot of people at my age don't carry around a writing folder or even try writing stories for leisure, I have a large head-start.
  • By extension, since I want to write for a Young Adult audience, and I am a teenager, I belong to the audience I want to write too.
• I been reading from a young age (due to my hyperlexia), so I'm an avid reader who can imagine a book as a movie from age eight or so. A good writer is a good reader.
• I can deduct what is right and wrong. For example, I know if something would be unrealistic or not.
• I'm devoted to writing.

Let me think of more.

You just reminded me of something I forgot. I'm a total bookworm - I read in whatever spare time I can snatch, even ignoring homework to curl up with a good book (not good for my grades, though. ) I've had a post-college-level vocabulary and reading level since fifth grade (according to tests), and I'm always dying to tromp to the library and check out another book. And then there's the Internet...where I lose hours upon hours of sleep reading any and everything.

I'm good at dialogue. I can structure sentences to like a mo' fo'. I have a pretty keen sense of when my writing works and when it doesn't, so I can usually edit until I get a scene working the way I want it. I'm fairly good at writing humour, both in dialogue and description. I am thorough in my scene building— I make sure the pacing works with what's happening, be it quick and actiony or slow and dramatic.

My biggest strength is the ability to cut lines, paragraphs, chapters and entire characters from the story if I think they aren't working. It really hurts, but there you go. *

Well, one doesn't like to toot one's own horn...

...Aww, who am I kidding? Of course I do!

• Characterization. I'm pretty good at writing characters, who they are, and how they act, making them distinct. This extends to things like dialogue—I'm pretty good at making my characters not all sound alike, which I find pretty awesome. I do have the occasional characters who fight me (I'm currently battling with a character named Angeline, who does not seem to always understand that she's an Extreme Doormat), but for the most part, I think I'm good at it.
• Showing instead of telling. This is something I've developed recently, which is good because it shows I'm still growing. And yay growth! Unfortunately, I think I might be too subtle sometimes, and people sometimes miss things I think are obvious. I blame this on the fact that my prose slides toward purple if I'm not careful.
• I am, apparently, just generally good at making things sound good. I'm less inclined to speak on this one, because it's hard to judge the "sound" of your own writing (at least to me). But when multiple people tell you "You're excellent," well, you tend to start to believe them...
• I can write consistently, and I'm pretty good at avoiding procrastination so long as I pace myself correctly.
• Apparently, going purely off heresy here (as I am obviously not in a position to judge this for myself), I am great at pulling off HSQ.

So, I am suddenly tempted to go to each of the posters her (including myself) and set out to prove them wrong. Mostly because of the Dunning-Kruger effect.

For Science!.

edited 19th Apr '11 3:11:02 PM by MrAHR

I come up with KICKASS ideas.

I'm very, very good at worldbuilding, and at doing the research for that worldbuilding. Since my style of storytelling involves letting the plot come from the world, this also means I'm pretty good at being able to construct plots that avoid the need for the Index Ball to progress - I can just have things go Off the Rails instead, and use my setting to take it in a new direction from there.

Heresy? If you say so, but I'd find mainstream sects a more reliable source of criticism, myself.

In other words, it's spelled "hearsay".

"So, I am suddenly tempted to go to each of the posters her (including myself) and set out to prove them wrong. Mostly because of the Dunning-Kruger effect."

Mmh, have fun! I know I make mistakes. Might not always catch them right away, but I have the metacognitive awareness to acknowledge them. But the Dunning-Kruger effect still applies to me, I know. As far as I'm concerned, it applies to everyone.

Aside from that, here, fodder: http://fan-fi.blogspot.com/2007_11_14_archive.html (It's my old Hauffenweise Sheisse.)

I can take tiny little ideas or random occurrences, or pretty much any story idea that comes to mind, and expand it and expand it and keep on expanding it into a full-blown, multi-novel/game epic. Although, when I'm just writing a little short story for practice it gets kind of annoying.

I have a tendency to fill in the holes when I see them, including for extremely unlikely situations (hel-lo, Crack Pairings) and undefined rulesets and such, and I generally don't stop until I have a good, solid explanation in my mind for why this works this way, or how would Magic A work in this out-of-the-norm situation; stuff like that.

I love messing around with character dynamics and fleshing out minor/bit characters. In my experience, at least half of what makes a character is how they respond to and interact with other characters. This is why my stories tend to focus on large groups of characters, many of whom didn't know each other at all before the events of the story.

While by no means perfect, especially with the phrasing and syntax aspect, I'm pretty fastidious about using proper grammar and spelling where I can. If I don't know how something is supposed to be written or spelled, then I'll look it up. I generally make the effort to keep the grammar as good as possible, and the major exception is when I simply don't know that I'm doing something wrong.

Ah - what am I good at?

Characters. Rounded, whole people, with flaws and idiocies and sheer bloody author-amazing genius sometimes. They take up residence in my head and won't shut up.

Dialog, when I put some effort into it. It's not easy, but if I put time into working on it and getting it to work right, it's pretty good.

Rhythm and flow and beauty. Of course, the latter is subjective, but when I've written something I like I don't just like it. I love it.

Ideas: OK, i freely admit, I'm an unrepentant thief and magpie about it. But it's a good thing. I view it as a challenge 'Hey, this obscure book is public domain, i'll try and rework it to make it mine', 'hey, what if you interpret it in a completely different way', 'hey, that character's clearly more interesting, i'll make them the protagonist, and retell the story' Nothing wrong with that

Source material: I read widely. Very widely. I mix and match mythological bits, take a piece from here, a piece from there, and then I've got something 'original' I'm pretty sure no one's ever had the Teumessian fox and Potemkin villages in the same story (just assume I'm short a few bricks)

Banality of evil: I can make evil really innocuous. One of my short stories had an 'alternative meats' supplie as the protagonist. Think Philip Marlowe crossed with 'A Modest Proposal', and you get a hint of the tone and content of the story, and what goes on in the big bad city

I'm sure I have other strengths

I think the only strength I have is that my writing flows well and is easy to read.

I plan on posting to the critique thread soon, so this one you'll actually be able to decide for yourself.

I write what I know at least.

I can write short stories with a passable degree of competency.

Yet for whatever reason I'm trying a novel, and suddenly being raped in the face by pacing (ohhhh crapppp I'm used to short and sweet), the increased number of characters (shit! how do I develop them all?!), etc.

I have the inverse problem: I have fun building worlds and introducing characters, so I can't really write short stories. Most of the short storied I did for school were actually first chapters of bigger projects.

Here are few told to me by other people:

• I have a serious knack for imagery, in particular the small but important details that our minds only subconsciously process in a scene: Tiny facial tics, small changes in temperature between objects, the perception of negative space, and so forth.
• I am able to—and do—write interesting, complex, and identifiable characters with distinct personalities and motives.
  • I also seem to be able to make even a Complete Monster sympathetic, albeit not so much as to give them an excuse for their behaviour or derail the character entirely.
• I can retain an ungodly amount of plot and character detail without even writing it down in more than cursory form.
• I possess a very large and varied vocabulary, though I choose precision over grandiloquence. If a simpler word can be used, it will; if something more exact or exotic is in order, then so be it.
• I rarely fall victim to sweeping clichés, though I am not afraid to play with any number of tropes so long as they serve my purposes.
• I am a perfectionist, but also know the difference between self-improvement—which is always helpful—and self-deprecation—which, while often helpful, can be detrimental in excess.

Once I get focused, I will not stop until I complete it.