I’m unashamedly, yet sneakily, stealing this topic from Teens Can Write Too. They host a monthly blog chain for teen writers. Of which I was one until recently. And now I’m not so they ABANDONED ME TO ADULTHOOD. How cruel, right? I cried a bit, to be honest. I think I shed 3.5 tears and it was painful to behold.*
Last month their prompt was “writing strengths and weaknesses” and I thought, “BUT I WANT TO DO THAT.” So I am. I’m pulling the World Ruler card and doing what I want with no regrets!** HUZZAH.
* TCWT are all actually really nice people and you should go hang out with them if you’re a teen.
** I got asked yesterday if I had “the day off school”, so I’m guessing my baby face could still sneak me around as a teen. Let’s pretend together, shall we? I think I have Peter Pan Syndrome anyway.
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We’ll start off all negative since I’m sure you nosey urchins want to know where your World Ruler fails. This list is basically all lies because I don’t really fail at anything. Pfft. Of course not. Weaknesses are for mortals.
- I’M USELESS AT INVENTING NEW CHARACTERS. Seriously, this bothers me. I’ll come up with a million plots and worlds and histories and cultures…but people?! GEE. My little brain overheats like a windows computer and — BOOM — I end up smoking out of my ears.
- I CANNOT WRITE CONSISTENTLY. I just can’t! I tried once and burnt myself out so badly I didn’t write for the rest of the year. It’s exhausting attempting to write everyday. Although my method of binge-writing is also so exhausting. I often put off even starting books because I know the sheer amount of hours I’ll put in just to finish a draft in, like, 7 days. Ugh. Either method? I can’t win.
- I DON’T DESCRIBE. ANYTHING. This can be a problem. Sure, sparse description is my cup o’ tea, but readers usually like to at least know what the characters look like, right?! NOT IN MY BOOKS. I often wonder if this is because I personally don’t pay attention to what humans look like, aka, my books miss out, too. This is something I need to work on! Especially for scenery and new worlds, too! Yes, I’ll always like just a sniff of description and heavy dialogue…but I gotta improve this.
- I RUSH MY ENDINGS. As a reader, I actually like open endings or everybody dying. But, well. There should be a little balance. I can’t kill everyone ALL the time. I think. I also tend to end books without any “aftermath” chapters. So this could indicate my pacing is off.
- I MISUSE WORDS ALL THE TIME. You’d think, as a writer, I’d be awesome at grammar, right?! WRONG. I usually forget the difference between “than” and “then”. I can’t spell for pomegranates. My sentence structure would make a grammarian roll in their grave. OH. And I constantly leave words out of sentences to which my betas sit there saying, “BUT CAIT, WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU EVEN SAYING? IS ENGLISH YOUR FIRST LANGUAGE???” Maybe it’s not. Maybe Overlordian is my true language and there are no rules when one speaks Overlordian.
Of course I have so many strengths that this post could be TEN KILOMETRES LONG. But I’ll spare you. I’ll just list the basics and you can thank your royal majesty (me) later.
- I’M FREAKISHLY FANTASTIC AT WITTY DIALOGUE. Although this is a bit of a spiky rose bush, because I can’t write witty dialogue if I overthink it. I CAN’T. I have so many un-funny abandoned drafts, it’s mortifying. If I ever die unexpectedly, the minions have been told to burn all my old books least someone find them and laugh and laugh and laugh. AHEM. But I digress. I’m quite funny when I write most of the time. Honest.
- I HAVE MADE MANY READERS CRY. Okay. I’ve made, maybe, 3 of them cry. I also only have 3 readers. BUT SHH. Let’s not let details get in the way of a good story! Let’s just assume EVERYONE who reads my books ends up crying. Sobbing, actually. Begging me for mercy. Your emotions are in my control. Mwhaha hahaha…. Ahem.
- I DON’T SPARE MY CHARACTERS. You know happy endings? Bah. Suspicious little monsters. I like realistic endings and plenty of mortalities. And no mater how much I really really like a character…I will kill my darlings. Speaking of killing darlings…
- I KNOW HOW TO EDIT LIKE A GIRAFFE EATING AN ACACIA TREE. Okay, that doesn’t even make sense. But stay with me now. I’m a really brutal editor. I don’t let scenes get by without hacking them down. I don’t let useless or “pretty” words skulk across my page. BURN THEM ALL. (It can be scary to be around me when I’m editing, to be honest.) Minimalistic writing? I am your queen.
My imagination. literally.
- I’M REALLY RATHER CREATIVE. What? How can we talk about “strengths” without mentioning how awesome my imagination is? (I’m humble and proud of it.) I come up with a lot of plot lines and I’m fond of them all. Although that’s a problem, because you try being fond of 49 books and then having to choose which one to pay attention to. It’s like feeing one piranha and swimming frantically away from the rest.
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I think recognising one’s strengths and weaknesses can be important — but I also don’t always think it’s something to be hung up over. Authors get known for their brilliance in different areas! I love John Green’s books for his characters NOT his plots. I love Sally Green for her writing NOT her originality. I love Maggie Stiefvater for…everything. Ugh. She’s one of those all-round-sickeningly-talented authors, but let’s not get into that now.
We can always improve! YES. But I believe it’s also okay to have specific strengths. I don’t think any part of your writing should be allowed to flob around uselessly — but if you struggle with epic, twisty plots but you’ve got the most fabulous characters ever? I think you can be proud of that and NOT bust your braincells and hope and self-esteem trying to be a perfect plot writer if it’s not your thing.
I’m a plot writer. I hope I have spectacular characters who are funny and intriguing and relatable, but I’m pretty sure my forte is in an interesting story line. I’m definitely working on being better at characters though because — hello! They’re literally the LIFE of the party.
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OMG. I have the exact same problem with rushed endings. Look, people are dead, things are sad, the story is over, right? Apparently … nope. I think outlining may help, because I never used to outline and for the WIP I’m currently outlining, I’ve been forced to leave a couple of chapters to tie up loose ends. Well. We’ll see.
I’m probably stronger in character than plot. I cannot think of good plot twists. I just add in premises that rose out of the fog (okay, the steam of my bathroom as I showered excessively long in order to think longer) and as many feels as I can. I have a 2000-word document of incomplete character profiles and my plot is basically “there is a kid in politics and there is murder.” And I write super consistently during my goal-completing time — I’m proudest of the time I rewrote one chapter a day. But I cannot do more than 5K (writing or revising-wise both) a day. My brain just implodes.
P.S.: *raises hand* I volunteer as tribute. I mean … I would read your stuff. And flail all over it.
*whispers* Why CAN’T we just kill everyone and end the book? Why is that bad? LIKE SOMEONE SERIOUSLY TELL ME. Gah. I have at least 3 books that end like that and each time my sister returns them and says, very sternly, “No. Fix this.” So unfair. *stamps foot*
Why are showers so incredible for creating books?! SERIOUSLY. I need to live in the shower when I write or something. That will be an epic writers’ invention, tbh. I like 5K days! They’re a nice, neat number and they make me feel accomplished.
I SHALL CULTIVATE YOU AS TRIBUTE WHEN I NEED HELP, OKAY? YES.
I think it’s so important to self evaluate, in everything we do. Maybe I’m just old and boring but I’ve come to realise that if I don’t self evaluate I won’t improve.
LOL at the day off school!! I had a guy come to my door and ask if my parents were in… “erm, no, this is my house, I’m 30 and married” . Another time, we were out shopping for my wedding dress (I was about 25) there was a tombola thing and I won a MINIATURE bottle of whisky. The woman wouldn’t give it to me and insisted on giving it to my mother-in-law as she didn’t believe I was 18! Honestly though, I should be grateful, I’m not looking forward to the day people think I’m OLDER than I really am. EEK
Anyway, back to strengths and weaknesses. Being aware of them is so important, even for a World Ruler. I can’t wait for the day we get to read your books!! xx
It is true!! Knowing the problems is half the battle to fixing them, right? Or, well 25% of the battle? MAYBE. Idek know what I’m saying half the time. I just roll with whatever rambles escape my brain. ANWYAY.
Omg, that’ll be me when I’m 30. -_- The awkward thing is when I take my preschooling niece nephew out people often call me their mother. I’m sure they’re juding me to be this 16 year old teen parent with two kids. GAHHHHH. People. They are so odd.
I think if we could MERGE BRAINS, that would be cool. Since I’m terrible at plot but pretty good at characters. AND WE’RE BOTH GOOD AT DIALOGUE SO THAT’D BE EVEN BETTER. But yessss I’m so terrible at describing things. I forget that’s even a thing.
PS yes, you are indeed good at making readers cry. Still haven’t forgiven you.
WE SHOULD CO WRITE. COME ON, EMILY. WE’RE CRITIQUE PARTNERS. WE GOT THIS. WHAT’S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN? HMM/?????
THAT IS THE BEST IDEA I’VE HEARD ALL DAY.
Confession time (this is actually the first time I’ve told someone): I’ve actually attempted to start writing a book. However, I struggle to sit down and actually commit to all that writing. So maybe one day – when I’m old and grey – I may actually finish writing a book. I’m good at coming up with ideas, but not good with having to sit down and write a whole book – need a co-writer.
I bet your dialogue is hilarious – your blog posts usually are.
OMG. I AM HONOURED RIGHT NOW. And I call myself a writer and even I struggle to sit down and commit to writing. Especially right now for some reason. gah. I keep saying “Oh I’ll start a new book tomorrow when I have more time.” GAH. NEVER HAPPENS. So yes. I totally understand that feeling. 😉
I’m writing right now. And I have discovered that my weakness is run on sentences. Seriously, I’ll be writing a sentence and it will make me have all these awesome ideas, so I just keep going. My comma button hates me. I have to say that I love your witty writing. I also like to think that I’m good at developing setting, but I could just be deluded. Worldbuilding has to be subtle. Probably characters. I especially like the Russian one, but I teleported the Filipino away (that makes no sense unless you’ve read what I’m writing, which no on is allowed at the moment) I’m also a lazy editor, but I’m trying to change that (because for various reasons I now have to edit other peoples work. Which is much easier) I make spelling mistakes, but I leave them because I know how to fix them. And, fun fact: my little sister has a book which says “seepling book” I laughed SO MUCH when I saw it. Luckily she wasn’t there
AWK. I bet you’re not deluded. I bet you create fantastic settings. I BELIEVE IN YOU. And one day I shall get to read some of your writing and see for myself, right?! *puppy dog eyes*
“Your emotions are in my control” = my goal/the reason I love writing
I wish I could write awesome plots. I’m amazing at characters, but my plots are…well, the less said the better. I worry about my plots being unbelievable or just plain bad – they’re usually supposed to be a bit wacky, but still.
You’re actually pretty funny when you write? Never would have guessed, Cait! 😉 Seriously though, is it too much if ALL of your characters are snarky? Mine ALWAYS are. I rock at dialogue. Even my third person narration is pretty snarky…
Exactly. I don’t understand people who write feel-good stuff. IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE TO ME.
Yes, I know, I’m mostly rather dull on this blog. GAH. I should learn how to joke someday. *nods* Pffft. There is no such thing as TOO MUCH SNARK.
One of my weaknesses is actually the complete opposite of yours – characters I can create, but it’s plots I struggle with!
I think I consider my characters my greatest strength. I always, always work really hard to make sure my characters aren’t special. I know that probably sounds ridiculous, but I’ve never been interested in ‘the chosen ones’ or the heirs to the throne. I love to write about ordinary people accomplishing extraordinary things. 🙂
WELL. Clearly I must kidnap your characters for my plots then. 😉 MWHAHAHAHA.
Of course you have no weaknesses—how dare you pretend otherwise! And I am in the same boat as you with grammar and stuff–I love it and I love to edit other people’s books for grammar, but I always find grammatical errors in my own story. I think there’s a tiny little passive aggressive mouse living in my brain, and it likes to mess up my grammar and my punctuation just to spite me. Originally I would have said I was better at plot than at characters, but on my current book, I feel like my plot is as appealing as a moldy pumpkin, and the only thing keeping me from hurling my laptop out my window is that I like the characters. I also tend to use too many descriptive words in my initial drafts–but I like concise writing, so I’m always stuck winnowing things down for ages. And I hate all-around awesome writers–they shouldn’t be published because they make all the normal, human writers cry.
Naturally. I’m just perfect, OBVIOUSLY. *struts*
Ah but at least we have editing for cutting down waffly writing, right?! My first-drafts are littered with awful adverbs and really horrific descriptions. EDITING IS MY FRIEND, even though I whine about it a lot. 😉
Yes. Down with the sickeningly talented authors. How dare they exist.
Me and you with the Peter Pan syndrome, Cait. I’m a highschool freshman and people regularly assume me to be three or four years younger than I really am.
Creating new characters is also pretty difficult for me because even though I’m a more character-oriented writer, I do find myself leaning towards favorite personality types, so I really have to consciously make sure my new MCs are unique and different from each other. It’s also difficult for me to write consistently. I try to juggle so many things, but when I do so, I get burnt out really quickly and my energy drains, so it’s difficult for me to write everyday. I’m so looking forward to the summer, though. I fully plan to write everyday then.
As for your strengths, I agree that you are FABULOUS at writing witty dialogue. I was laughing at pretty much everything you wrote (in a good way, of course), when I was reading The Dead Boy and the Paper Cut. You are seriously way too skilled at humor. 🙂 Like you, I consider myself to be very creative, both in my goals and my storylines, and honestly, that’s carried me through a lot of the ups and downs of this business.
People keep telling me looking younger is a good thing. BUT GAWSH. My little sister has started looking older than me and this is a problem. *growls softly*
Me too!! i feel like I have a handful of character “outlines” and I just keep reworking them ever so slightly…and I’m worried that my characters aren’t different enough from book to book. GAH. This is the problem with writing too many weird books. >_>
AFJDKLSA THANK YOU. Not all my books are like Paper Cut but seriously that has some of my FAVOURITE dialogue ever. I’m so proud of that book, heheheehehe. Usually I overthink my dialogue and it dies, but that one it just flowed for once. MY LUCKY DAY. Ahem. *HI FIVE FOR CREATIVE GENIUSES LIKE US*
Oh my gosh you just made me realize I can’t participate in the TCWT blog chain anymore. *sobs* I still think I’m a teen in my head.
I think one of my strengths is that I’m a character writer, so the opposite of you. I find that the people who read my stories tend to enjoy the characters a lot more than the plot. Apparently I’m excellent at making memorable characters. My plots, on the other hand, suck. I feel like I’m not good at connecting things and keeping it interesting for extended periods of time. Also, I have terrible grammar too! And I skip the little words. It’s a good thing beta readers exist, otherwise I’d be screwed.
I STILL THINK I’M A TEEN IN MY HEAD TOO. I often refer to myself as 18 and then realise that was like… 3 years ago. #awkward But seriously, the day I turned 21 and had to start leaving all my teen writers groups was a really sad time. I DIDN’T SIGN UP TO BE AN ADULT. SOMEONE TAKE IT BACK *sobs*
Anyway. YES. Clearly we should collaborate. MWAHAHAHHA. XD Beta readers are writers little angelic life savers.
Characters over plot usually. That suits ok with a play once I have a basic idea but not so much for fiction… I did however outline before starting my current fiction project and holy cow it’s so much easier.
Outlining saves my life, tbh. I usually do a small outline, but for this book I’m planning now I have a VERY detailed outline. xD It makes me happy!
I used to be a total pantser (probably because I put off preparing for Nano or whatever) but now I have seen the light… hahaha. The outline for my current project started off pretty bare but now it’s pretty detailed… haha.
I think it’s great that you’re confident enough to share your weaknesses Cait, especially after saying the other day about rejections and such, it takes a lot of strength, and I’m proud of you for doing that! I don’t think all your weaknesses are bad things though – being detailed isn’t always a must. If it’s contemporary, then nope, other bigger genres with other worlds and different species, maybe, but that’s just a preference. I love your writing, I love your charcater speech and the personality you give to them, they make me smile and I just lap up your work. I love this post, and I’m sure others do and will too!<3
N’awww, AMANDA. YOU ARE SO NICE. I feel like it’s easier talking about sucky weaknesses than strengths actually. hehe. It’s less like I’m tooting my own horn. NO WAIt. I MEAN. I HAVE NO WEAKNESSES. I’M INFALLIBLE. *tosses hair*
I’m sparse with my descriptions too. I once got extra credit on a college assignment because by some fluke, I never got the updated assignment prompt that had the expected page length. I thought we were just supposed to make it as long/short as we wanted! Turns out it was supposed to be 5 pages…mine was 1 page. My soul was only spared because the professor thought it was funny that I managed to complete all the requirements in so little space. Usually though, this just gets me in trouble. When I write the opening blurbs for my blog posts, I still have to make lists of all the information that HAS to be included, so I don’t leave it out.
However, I’m told my writing voice is the same as my speaking voice, so I’ve got that going for me, which is nice.
DUDE. Clearly you rock. I think less is more, always, when it comes to writing. Why rabble on when you can get in and just SAY IT?!
1) Ooooh, I’m opposite you — I can come up with characters all the time (I love writing their entire back stories and figuring out all their quirks and stuff), but I really have to exert energy when it comes to creating original worlds. And I find plotting hard. Outlining a plot is the absolute worst for me — I’m the “pantser” type of writer, although I actually wish I weren’t. I guess I’m more of a character-driven story writer than a plot-driven story writer.
2) I cannot write consistently, either! I go through spurts every couple months where I write write write and then I get unmotivated when I think about how I’ll never be as good as my favorite authors and agh I should just give up and save myself the embarrassment.
3) I’m freakishly terrible at witty dialogue.
4) I literally LOLed at “I know how to edit like a giraffe eating an acacia tree.” I’m all right at editing. I like it sometimes, I dislike it at others.
WELL. Clearly your characters need to trot into my plots and together we can be the next Best Author Ever. *nods because plan is solid* Ohh, but you don’t outline? I love to outline. I don’t go crazy (well, actually, I have for my lastest book) but I like to have a clear idea of where the book is going or I get lost. xD
*hi fives for binge-writing*
Aw, this sounds like SUCH. A. GOOD. PROMPT. You sneaky, you. As a budding writer, I have the same problem of not finishing a book once I start writing it! So much imagination, and excitement and love, and then in between I just zone out and go watch a few thousand seasons of One Tree Hill. And God, Cait. Weaknesses? :O You’re planning to obliterate us all aren’t you?
LIKE I SAID. THEY’RE NOT REAL WEAKNESSES. They’re pretend. I am not weak. I am perfect. *struts*
But isn’t it such a good prompt?!! YAYYYYY. I like to steal these excellent things with no regrets.
Oh no! I can relate to a lot of this. I’m most definitely a plot writer, too, which is awful because I have always said the most important thing in a book is the CHARACTERS! It’s so awful, I’m ashamed. My biggest weakness recently has been that I wrote from the first person view, and I’ve realized the main character is NEVER consistent! She’s basically how I’d feel in any given situation, except that her personality totally changed with my moods. Some days she was strong, some days she was fragile, some days she was stubborn. Hot mess! Eventually I got to 90,000 (Ninety THOUSAND! Yes! It’s horrible!) words and then realized I didn’t like ANY of it. Even though I like my plot, I hate everything about the way I portrayed it. D:
It’s awful. I cried.
Omg, I understand! I DO. But seriously, editing can fix. And rewrites. They can do wonders for fixing up characters who can’t settling in their personality. But gahhhh, I have had bad things like this happen. I wrote a 50K book with NO PLOT. I’m not even kidding! I was written for a challenge so I just kind of blurted this book out with no planning and it. was. awful. Even to this day I don’t know if I’ll go back to it although FOR ONCE I got the characters okay but with a bad plot. I CANNOT WIN. *headdesk*
Noooo THAT’S HORRIBLE! Sometimes these things make me feel I can’t do anything right D:
But you shouldn’t feel that way! Your blog, at the very least, will always be written fantastically.
I love this post! It’s awesome that you clearly know your strengths and weaknesses, because knowing them is also a huge strength. I don’t exactly know well about my skills in creative writing, as I’ve never tried to analyse my weaknesses or strengths before. But I do think, my strength relies on my world building and writing style. But I am horrible at dialogue. I can go on describing things, but making characters talk is my toughest task!:)
Talking is hard to get a hang of! I UNDERSTAND THAT STRUGGLE. XD And yes, you’re totally right…analysing yourself is kind of handy, because at least I know where I need to improve, right?!
I’m sitting here picturing you writing a book with no characters. If anyone could pull it off, I think it’d be you.
I always used to envy my friend’s ability to read so quickly, but she finally admitted that she skips past any and all descriptions. 😀
Witty dialogue is my favorite. Unless your name is Maggie Stiefvater, I think it’s impossible to be good at everything. The important part is that you keep doing it, and unless you’re completely inept at writing (which you aren’t) it will inevitably get better.
I’m so glad I’m not a writer. I could never handle the pressure, haha.
I could populate my books with cake and worlds of dragons where they burn everything and roast cakes rotisserie style. It’ll happen. JUST YOU WAIT AND SEE. *whispers* I skip boring descriptions too. SHHH. DON’T LET MY SECRETS OUT NOW. I want to be Maggie Stiefvater when I grow up.
I think we all want to be Maggie Stiefvater when we grow up.
I think that being an “all-around-awesome” is impossible. I can’t think of one author that is like that.
I wish I could make my readers cry. I kill off a lot of characters, but I guess I don’t pump enough emotion into their death scenes or something.
And that is something only a writer would say.
It would be nice to be all-round-awesome though…*sighs wistfully* BUT TRUE. I hardly think anyone can write the “perfect” book, since reading is so subjective!
WRITER AND PROUD, MY FRIEND.
I sadly haven’t written anything in a while, but I’m hoping to start up again this summer! Anyway, I don’t think writers have to be all-around awesome, but a good book definitely needs to be all-around awesome to be great.
I like to think that I’m pretty creative, too, and good at coming up with story ideas. But I epically SUCK at just sitting down and writing *sigh* I wish I could speed write like you, Cait. What’s your secret?
And not only Windows computers heat up >.>
*whispers* My old mac used to get super hot, but since I got a new one it’s been a perfect little angel. :’) But AGREED. Most computers heat up.
Aaaanyway. I hope you get back into writing again soon, too!! I’m going to start writing again, FIRST TIME ALL YEAR. Probably tomorrow actually. I just keep getting distracted by shiny things like House of Hades and Daredevil comics. ZOMG SOMEONE BAN ME FROM THE LIBRARY.
Pssht. The only secret to writing fast is sitting down and not leaving until you hammer out 5,000 + words per day. IT’S PAIN BUT THAT’S HOW YOU DO IT.
I’m not a very forgiving reader. If I really love a book, it’ll be because it has everything: interesting plot, stellar characters, and solid writing. Two out of the three… I might like it, but with some caveats. One out of the three… I’ll probably come away from the book feeling annoyed.
I got the whole “Do you have a day off school?” thing well into my 20s. And a few months ago, someone asked me if I was in school… and I just said “no” and probably looked pretty confused. I guess I could be a mature student at university, but that’s still not a question you expect to get asked at 37!
Woah, that’s pretty insane though! I guess it’s a compliment the older one gets? That’s what my mum told me anyway. -_- But right now my little sister looks older than me and pretty soon I guess random people will be thinking she’s the older one. GAHHHHHH. I quietly will myself to grow and look mature, but bah. Not working.
I’ve always kind of accepted that /most/ authors (*glares at Pierce Brown and Neal Shusterman) have a strength or two that makes them amazing and definitely some weaknesses, and I’m okay with this, although of course there’s those freakishly talented ones with too much skill who make everyone else look silly. xD
Ughhhh description is a weakness of mine too. I JUST WANT TO GET TO THE FUN STUFF. I’m trying to work on it, though, I really am. I also struggle with plot holes (allll the plot holes) and skimming over stuff I don’t necessarily want to write even in editing. *le sigh*
But! I’m a killer at developing characters and having them be unique, I think. And I like to think my writing isn’t too flowery.
The freakishly talented ones are the WORST. ERK. So disgusting of them. I mean, they could just write something sucky to make the rest of us feel better right?
(HAHAHAH NO. THEY’D BETTER KEEP BEING AWESOME OR ELSE. XXD Plus I’m pretty sure Neal Shusterman cannot be sucky if he tried.)
Character development is insanely important. I think characters are my FAVOURITE parts of reading, tbh. And non flowery writing? You are my favourite.
This. I feel this post so much (is that even a correct way to say it? I don’t know). I recently wrote a novel in a week and pretty much my feelings with it is “meh”. It was sh*t…the characters were bland, the writing boring. For a few hours it made me wonder if I should even be writing at all. But then I read this post and yeah I have a lot of things to work on, but there are some things that I write well. I hadn’t written an entire novel in a year, I’m a bit out of practice. But short stories, I can write some pretty fricken awesome short stories. I just need to keep learning.
Thanks for cheering me up.
Also I approve (not that you need it) of not sparing the characters. It’s one of my biggest pet peeves in YA books today, they don’t kill off enough people. lol Here’s some cookies for you. 😉
It sounds good to me. ^_^ And CONGRATS for writing a novel in a week, too, by the way! BECAUSE THAT IS EPIC. Fast writing FTW, I say. Ahem. But yes, I hear ya on the characters…it’s a constant struggle for me. I feel like I’ve got a few really solid characters that I love, but then for all my books, I feel like I’m repeating those set amount of characters. :O It’s a problem.
*gobbles all the cookies*
Obviously writers can’t be good at everything! You’ve got some pretty sweet strengths:) When can we read your book?
fajsdlkjl I’m blushing. XD I have some stuff up on wattpad, but an actual book? NOT YET. MAYBE ONE DAY SOON.
I…honestly I have a hard time understanding how plot and characters are separate…like, the plot would go a completely different direction if I took out a character or changed his personality. Really though I focus more on the characters, and hope that I figure out a plot eventually. XD
THAT SOUNDS LIKE AN EXCELLENT LIFE PLAN. I feel like characters are the most important. 😉
I love this post Cat. It made me chuckle out loud IN THE LIBRARY. Now you are getting me into trouble, you evil one you.
I have lots of weaknesses. For example, it took me a long time to accept the fact that proper punctuation and capitalization are actually kinda important. I still haven’t quite mastered the art of the comma.
However(,?) I’ve got lots of great story ideas (from years of dancing in my backyard forest. Yaay for homeschooled life!). And people often (okay, sometimes) tell me that I have the ability to transport them to another world.
WELL THIS PRACTICALLY JUST MADE MY DAY. I’D SAY SORRY, BUT I’M NOT EVEN SORRY. *dances with evil glee*
Ah, yes, the comma. GEE. Who needs a comma tbh? Being accused of transporting readers into other worlds is a WONDERFUL thing. I can’t wait till someone says that to me. XD
I’m like you. I am terrible at coming up with characters. I don’t know what it is, but all my characters just end up being the same. And I can’t describe things either. It doesn’t have to be in writing, it can just be me talking, and trying to explain things and ugh I’m the worst.
I like to think I’m somewhat creative though. (Yay for positives)
Also, those GIFs are great. I love them! 🙂
OHHH YAY. Sounds like we have the same strengths and weaknesses then. 😉 *hi fives for plots strengths*
Oh I’m crappy at plots – but spectacular at characters. I could make fifty new, well-rounded characters everyday. But I just have no stories to put them in. Scenes? – yes. Plots? – no.
Look – If we put our writing together we could be Maggie-Stiefvater-fantastic:
You’ve got the plotting, witty dialogue, and reader-crying-abilities.
I have the deep characters, nice descriptions, and good grammar/spelling.
Bingo.
But seriously, I think I’m going to steal this post idea and write one of my own. And possibly join up with the Teens Can Write Too deal for my last eight months of teenager-dom. 🙂
THAT’S IT. I’M KIDNAPPING 2 OR 78 OF YOUR CHARACTERS THEN, BECAUSE MY PLOTS ARE SO LONELY BY THEMSELVES. We shall call ourselves. Sophait…not wait. Caiophia. That’s better, me first. *nods* It’ll be epic. We’ll be famous and definitely rich.
I approve of Caiophia. We’ll totally be famous.
I definitely feel like I have more weaknesses than strengths at this point. I haven’t worked on any of my stories in a really long time; though I have random notes on my phone for when I finally get around to writing them.
I think my biggest weakness is that I change tenses when I write. Part of my problem is that I take so long between writing sessions that the mindset I’m in changes. Sometimes the character narration comes to me as a present tense, other times its the past. So then I end up rewriting stuff, thus delaying the process yet again.
When it comes to authors, I think everyone has their areas of expertise that they are known for. However, I think that the books I give the highest ratings to have authors that excel in multiple areas. They have great character development, strong plot lines and originality–three aspects that are hard to excel at without the others suffering and that takes a lot of talent. Of course, even the most talent author has their hits and misses and I think at the end of the say, the writing quality isn’t as important to me as enjoying the story is.
Too true, *nods sagely* I think I tend to love the all-round-authors better, too, although, WELL. Usually I love authors for their characters and don’t notice so much if the plot is great or not *facepalm* A good character can distract me from a LOT of faults. heh. I agree with you though! A story can be GOOD without ticking all the “perfect writing advice” boxes.
Haha, I’m guilty of being character blind too–especially when I am reading New Adult reads or books that focus more on the romantic side of things 😛
I haven’t written that much, but I like creating stories in my free time. I usually mainly write out the scenes and endings LOL I’m good at making plots too but I suck at characters, mine seem a bit one dimensional. I defo. agree about your creative imagination, it shows through your posts! Made me laugh though, wonderful post 🙂
AH WE ARE THE SAME IN THIS THEN, BENISH. I don’t feel so alone. :’) Characters are just hard! I mean, yeah “everyone is different” but…mine all sound the same somehow.
PETER PAN SYNDROME FOREVERRR. *raises fist in air* (I am also in my 20s and get mistaken for a baby all the time, so I feel ya, girl.)
Weaknesses? What nonsense. Of course our World Ruler does not have weaknesses. That’s absurd.
What’s hilarious is if you switched your lists it’d almost fit my writing. Your weaknesses are some of my strengths and your strengths are definitely weaknesses on my part. XD
I think my strong point is making characters (although I make too many of the unruly little things). I’ve been told my characters are deep and loveable which gives me fuzzyful feelings. It’s the best feeling when someone loves your charrie as much as you. Unruly children or not, I loveth meh babies! *squishes them*
And I describe things TOO much. Minimalistic writing? Noooo. I’m thrilled if a story ends at 100k words. That’s SHORT for most of my stories. They’re all so loooong. *collapses under all the words* It’s such a problem! I wish I had your editing skills!
But I am 100% with you on the grammar thing. Everyone assumes writers have like PhDs in the Practice of Grammar. Hahaha! My grammar is atrocious. Seriously, it’s embarrassing.
I agree completely that it’s perfectly acceptable for each author to have their niche, even if they’re a little weak in other areas. One fantastic element can make a book after all.
*hi fives for baby faces* Are you short too? I am short. I don’t think that helps me AT ALL when I’m like a minuscular size. SOMEHOW I FORGOT TO GROW. DARNIT.
*nods* Though you are entirely correct. All these “weaknesses” listed are just jokes. NOT REAL. Because I’m practically perfect in every way. Or is that Mary Poppins? NOPE. IT’S GOTTA BE ME.
Aww, those are the BEST compliments regarding characters!! GO YOU. 🙂 I think I’d rather be good at characters than plot, tbh, because I think characters really convey the heart of a story whereas bad plots can be forgiven. HAHAHA. AHEM.
I totally get the character dilemma! There’s so much you can do to create exciting, new, UNIQUE worlds and plots, but no matter what you do to a character, there’s a huge chance that this character will just have another character out there who’s strikingly similar. It’s tough to come up with a character with a different personality from what’d be classified as “stereotypical.”
Describing is also a challenge for me. I ESPECIALLY can’t describe things without being completely info-dump-y and boring. How do you describe things excitingly??
I need to year your books now. Humor AND tears? Hurry up and publish your stuff already, woman!
OMG YOU UNDERSTAND ME, AIMEE. THANK YOU. I know “everyone is different” but sometimes it’s really hard to convey that in books, you know?! Describing is paaaain. I tend to skim description in books anyway, so I guess, when I write, I just want to skip everything I, personally, would skim. IT CAN BE A PROBLEM THO.
I have trouble describing characters as well. I think it’s partially because I don’t enjoy reading descriptions so I just “forget” to put them into my own writing. This became a problem in my short story class when readers thought the love interest was an old lady. lol
I don’t have many strengths when it comes to writing yet. I think I can write realistic dialogue… but my biggest strength (and also probably my curse) is that I know what’s wrong with my story and how much I need to edit. Unfortunately this is a never ending process that ends with me dropping the story because I absolutely hate it! Hopefully as I develop more as I writer I can keep the editing skills without the hating part.
ME TOOOOO. I really am not a fan of descriptions in books. They can be so dry. I think descriptions need to be like 1 sentence at a time. Maximum. *nods* I’ve asked my sister to tell me what she thought my characters looked like an wooooah, it was SO WRONG. XD So I definitely need to work on this.
GAH! That’s a weakness I forgot! I NEVER get around to second drafts. >_>
Gahhh, DUDE, this was the best! I swear, I’m totally with you on speaking Overlordian– BEATS ENGLISH EVERY TIME. Every time.
Idk, I think my strength is probably dialog. As a person I’m one of those types that like talks a LOT and people look at me like -_- “shuddupppp pleaseeee” so naturally I like making characters talk and have conversations. My weakness is that I can be too long-winded. xD
*hi fives* WE SHALL SPEAK OVERLORDIAN UNABASHED.
At least too-long can be edited. Gah, I usually write too short and am sitting there going, “But what the heck can I add in here.” XD
People totally always think I’m younger WHICH IS FINE WITH ME (mostly) BECAUSE I WANNA STILL BE A TEEN ANYWAY. I’m 20 but people CONSTANTLY think I’m 16. (Also a couple years ago, somebody thought I was 13 and I was just like… no, that is too ridiculous puh-LEASE. -_-) And one time I was at a homeschool alumni get together thing at lunch, and we were sharing ages and I said I was 19 and the boy across the table from me choked and went “do what?” And I suspiciously asked him how old he thought I was and he said “no comment”. XD BUT I DIGRESS.
I looove seeing this list of your strengths and weaknesses! One of my weaknesses is… I can’t analyze my own strengths and weaknesses. THAT SOUNDS WEIRD RIGHT I KNOW. But I can’t. I don’t even know. O_O It’s kind of bad. XD I just kind of flail around and do writing things (once in the occasional blue moon, which is probably a weakness) and hope that it will turn out okay. But BECAUSE I can’t analyze myself, I second-guess EVERYTHING about myself and am constantly certain that all of my writing is positive JUNK. Meh. It’s exhausting. 😛
I think you only miss words because you write so stinkin’ FAST you amazing little word magician. *flails like a pineapple at your inhuman writing pace*
OMG I UNDERSTAND THAT SO WELL. I SHALL JUST HUG YOU AND WE’LL COMMISERATE OUR BABY FACES. Like, seriously, people never think I’m out of highschool. And I did graduate early so it’s like, “I haven’t been in higschool for 5 years.” -_- And AWKWARDNESS ENSUES. Gah. I’ve always been friends with younger people too, so I guess that didn’t help everyone’s confusion. 😉
Erk, I hate to analyse myself, actually. I’m always so biased. I just automatically assume I’m AWFUL until someone tells me I wrote something good. Gahhh. IT IS EXHAUSTING.
There are many days I’m like, “How do I grammar?” I leave fragments everywhere or have mile long run-on sentences. I always forget words. For some reason, “what” and “want” are interchangeable. And the secret to my spelling skills lies in spell check and the dictionary.
Also I’m a terrible typist. I either backspace within every sentence or I forget it and think, “That’s what second drafts are for!” In the latter case, I have difficulty making sense of the first draft.
I tend to better with characters than plot. I used to be terrible at plot. I’d have all this awesome characters with nothing to do. I might be better now. . . eh, but it’s a work in progress. *cough* I am the same way with dialogue though. In the moment, everything just flows natural and I wish I could have witty comebacks like that in reality. But out of the moment, my dialogue is like my reality, “What is talking?”
When reading, I usually have to have good characters, or at least characters I can connect with. But sometimes, the plot is just so fabulous that I can excuse the characters. I love all around amazingness from authors (who doesn’t?), but those guys are kind of mind-blowing and few. Having a specialty you’re known for is way more realistic, and pretty awesome. If I’m in the mood for something specific (say humor) I know who to read.
My life is how do I grammar. Gah. It’s a bit embarrassing, to be honest, because I SHOULD know this stuff and I just don’t.
Ugh, my dialogue does. not. work if I force it. Which really sucks, because some days are better for writing than others, you know?! I can always tell an “off day” when I’m rereading a draft. lol YAY FOR SECOND DRAFTS. THEY SAVE LIVES.
I think my strength is definitely characters! I can come up with all sorts, some are so complicated or weird that it gets confusing! But then they sort of hang around and wonder what to do because what happened to the plot, man??? That’s where I struggle! I think it kinda reflects my personality a bit. I struggle to walk just one path, I want to do EVERYTHING, so I guess I’m making my fictional characters equally indecisive and confused, poor things!
♥.•*¨ Amanda Says ¨*•.♥
LUCKY YOU. I feel like characters are more important than plot. XD I’m always forgiving, when I’m reading, of a wonky plot if the characters are heart meltingly wonderful. xD
Commenting as a reader rather than a writer – I don’t write.
I am a big fan of characters… and plot. I love a good plot, and if you have fantastic characters, too, awesome! I discovered my love of reading in character-driven high fantasy – Eddings, Feist, and a few others I didn’t really like – so I looove a lot of fantastic characters. And Good Vs Evil plots are awesome. I’m a sucker for them. Espeically if there’s this incredibly imaginative magicy stuff going on with a wholeload of history and politics. I am in heaaaaven!
Out of high fantasy, I really like characters, I think. Yeah.
But look at you with all those amazing writing strengths! When can we read your books, already?! You torture us with talk of your books, but no books to read! 🙁 I want to shelve them in my book, please! 🙂
FASDLJKASD YOU MAKE ME SMILE SO MUCH. ZOMG, THANK YOU JO. I really reeeally hope one day you’ll get to read my books?! I’ve got a bit of writing up on wattpad but DARNIT I WANT TO BE PUBLISHED QUITE BADLY. *pretends to wait patiently*
Anyway. Yay for good plots AND good characters. I have to admit, personally, I like characters more than plot, which bugs me because I write them so horrifically. hehe. Okay, not horrifically, but I’VE GOT PROBLEMS, MY FRIEND. 😉
I’m reasonably certain that I am first and foremost a character-driven writer. And I don’t mean that in that I don’t have plots and just let my character runs through different scenarios – I just mean that character come much more easily and quickly than plots do. Heck, I even plotted my latest outline using a set of character arc instructions as my guide and not a basic story-structure thing. I can do plots though. Just, probably quite simple plots. I think I’ve maybe come up with one twist that I really felt quite evil about, and I don’t think I have a single subplot. Which could be a problem. Well, maybe I do, but I don’t recognize them. I’ll ask my betas when I get to that stage.
I relate to the minimalist writer label. I do have some description, but it’s only just barely enough to set the mood of a scene and give a basic feel of a character. The majority of my drafts are taken up with action and dialogue (which I’ve been told is of excellent quality, though I doubt it is very witty at all). Last thought: I envy your editing. I hate editing. Every time I write a draft, I do all the planning, worldbuilding, outlining, character stuff, etc, pound out the entire first draft during a NaNoWriMo, and then stop cold. Editing is the roadblock in my entire writing process. 😛
WELL LUCKY YOU. I envy your deliciously fleshed out characters. 😉
I think minimalistic writing can actually be a strength…I guess we just have to know how much to cut and where to add in, right?! I once asked my sister to tell me what she thought my characters looked like from my sparse description, and BAH, she got like 90% of it wrong. >_< After that I really do try to add in just a teeny tiny bit more. EDITING DOES SUCK. I mean, I think it's rewarding, but the pressure of making stuff perfect rather petrifies me sometimes. :O
I’m the opposite of you with characters; weekly I am coming up with names of characters and I’m like, “I must write about them!” but then I realize I have no clue what happens to them. But I am so completely with you on the description. I took a fiction writing class in college and I was shocked when I was told I was good at description, and we talked it out and it turned out it was because I was actually trying with it (whereas I didn’t with dialogue and it suffered, even though I found it way easier).
I am definitely a character writer. I ALWAYS get compliments on my characters when people read my writing.
I think my writing strength is abandoning writing. I’m very, very good at it. *leaves post now because I like maintaining my air of mystery* (That’s a lie. I just don’t know what else to say because my writing is blogging, period.)
I completely agree. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses and learning to exploit the priors and work a lot on the latters hones your craft such a great deal! I would daresay it’s one of the most important lessons on writing.
For instance, I know I have the same problem as you with not being able to write consistently. That’s so arduous. I mean, I love writing and it is my life in all honesty. (I literally don’t know what I would do without it. I’d probably be a sobbing mess of emotions. ><) And generally, small ideas come to me on a daily basis for the most part. But these are 500-word mini stories or maybe even just characters. If I push the issue too badly, I likely, just as you, get burned out very quickly.
Also, I get so scared of dialogues. It makes absolutely no sense, though it might have something to do with my complete inability to make conversation IRL. And high-fives for us *cough* sadists *cough*. It's such luck they don't charge people with fictional homicide…
And of course, I can always lean on my creativity. I used to question it tons. I was so afraid of being too…boring I guess. But I've literally just written a mini-story on a squirrel apocalypse so…
P.S.: Awesome article. You rule. (See what I did there? I am a faithful minion. XD)
I’ve been told that my characters are amazing (although all of them seem to have a knack for sarcasm and snark, heh) and I like to think I’m rather good at creating witty dialogue. As for my weaknesses, like you, I’m useless with consistent writing as well as descriptions. I’m not a visual reader so I don’t visualise things when I’m reading books. It’s difficult for me to write stuff like that. D:
We have the exact opposite weakness/strength. I can come up with characters all day long but ask me to put them in a plot… I’d rather spend my time learning to speak Overlordian.