#instant improvement

[the-wip-project]

SloMo WriNo: Instantly Improve Your Writing With One Simple Trick

Want to make your writing instantly better?

Don’t we all?

Promising instant improvement is an easy way to hook eyes, (I’m sort of sorry for click-baiting you— but not too much.) so a lot of writing advice is framed that way.

But is it actually possible?

Generally the advice on those types of posts isn’t anything revolutionary. You’re told to eliminate adverbs/filter words/telling. Or perhaps the advice is additive. You should start using all 5 (or even 6?) senses in every description, do or don’t use certain tenses or povs, change up sentence lengths, use more paragraph breaks, and so it goes.

It’s (usually) all useful advice, especially when applied in moderation. (No one will come and shoot you for occasionally using suddenly or summarizing a scene instead of showing every detail.)

The issues is that a lot of writers (especially beginner writers) are seeking some sort of magic bullet. That one trick that will change everything and magically make you good. (never mind that ‘good’ is far more nebulous and subjective than anyone wants to admit.)

Sadly, once you get beyond learning things like punctuation and when to insert paragraph breaks, there’s not really any single technique that you can quickly apply and immediately lift the quality of your writing.

For the rest, it really takes time. Even if the advice is good, you need to learn when and how to apply it.

As such, there’s only one technique that will definitely make your writing better.

Practice.

Yeah. So boring. The least sexy piece of writing advice. Write more.

But it’s also the simplest. (Not always the easiest, but definitely the simplest!) Writing is not mystic or singular. It’s just like any other art or craft. The only way you get good is by spending time at it. And just like anything else, you’re going to be bad before you can start to get good.

You would never expect to become an accomplished guitarist by spending lots of time listening to and thinking about music, while almost never picking up your instrument to practice. And you will not become a good writer without practicing the action of writing.

It’s a comforting idea that gets bandied around at times, that writing isn’t just fingers on the keys or pen on paper. That it’s thinking and daydreaming and making mood boards etc. While those writing adjacent things are fun and undoubtedly can help you write, they are not writing. They are not practice.

Spending your time doing those things instead of writing do not make you a better writer, and obviously they don’t finish your novel or writing project.

Which is my goal here. To help you finish your project. As such I spend very little time on dispensing advice on plot or prose, and focus mostly on the process of writing.

That’s not to say that I don’t think you should spend time on learning how to write better prose, or how to create compelling characters and plot, those things are important! But if attempting to learn that stuff gets in the way of practice, then it’s counterproductive.

So don’t let the writing advice become the focus of your writing. Apply advice slowly, and don’t overwhelm yourself with trying to fix all your perceived faults at once. (I still have a difficult relationship with punctuation, but I’m learning. Slowly.) If you can, focus on techniques that interest you. Keep things low pressure— fun even?

Yes you want your work to be as good as possible, but also, you’re doing this writing thing because you enjoy it, right? So don’t allow the pressure to be good to stop you from having fun. If trying to apply a certain piece of writing advice is making you miserable, toss it aside. It’s either bad advice, or it’s not the right time for you to worry about it. Above all, avoid anything that kills your joy and makes writing a miserable chore.

So I guess this is my one piece of advice that will improve your writing (process) instantly.

Enjoy yourself, and ditch anything that ruins that joy. You’ll get better at your own pace, as long as you keep writing.

—Maree

Subscribe to my substack to make sure you don't miss a post, chat with me on the WIP Project discord, and tag any posts you make about the challenge with #slomowrino if you want me to see them!

[krafterwrites]

Just drank a lot of milk because I heard it had electrolytes in it and ooooohhhhh I know why they call them electrolytes now. Doctor fucking Frankenstein just pulled that lever and zapped my weak body back to life

[paradoxical-machine]

Pretty sure I've said this before but vrchat is gender affirming care

[tstwitterupdates]

more from instagram.

TS tweet february 3, 2023 :

I don’t know how one of my characters has become one of my style icons, but I’m not angry.

[more pictures]

[a-loose-collection-of-ants]

[batsylabs]

lil bat ooooooouh soft lil bat in the hand ohh soft lil tiny bitty bat gripping him ooooh oh holidng the small lil soft lil bat oooh lil soft tiny bat ooh so soft look at little bat ooh itty bitty bat oooooouuh oh so holdable in your hand ohh soft bat ohhh so soft sweet lil bat ohh grab the lil tiny lil bat oohh look hes so small in the hand lil bat ooooouhhh tiny bat

[wolfsbane-if]

Did you ever think about using AIs like GPT, Claude, Gemini (all free) to help you in writing your book? They could help you in writing a scene, for example.

No, never. And I never will.

Even if I could somehow guarantee the training data used by the program was sourced ethically, the whole point of writing is that I'm telling my story. I may be taking forever to finish it, but I can at least stand by the fact that this is wholly my work and every element has been carefully crafted with artistic vision and intent - something computers lack. I think that to do otherwise would be a disservice to both myself and the overall work.

[secretsstash]

I love thick... books 🤭

[milkiie]

saying "i wish X" is a super natural way of manifesting for me.

i wish it. i do not see it in the 3d, and i do not force myself to look past the fact its not yet there. i wish it

but i know all my wishes are granted. so i know its coming.

wishing is powerful

your wishes are always granted if you speak them with the knowledge they will be

try it

[shi0n]

listen to uragoi hanabi right now. song of the year

[huellitaa]

[irenespring]

Due to so many people's lovely comments on "Experiment," I am tentatively planning on writing House's parents' visit, featuring Wilson plotting war (and having no idea how to be aggressive after years of being a people-pleaser and endlessly patient) and House being in love with Wilson + letting his father see it, culminating in Scary Immunology Intern's party, and the (targeted) armageddon she plans to unleash.

Once again, I am intending for it to be shorter than previous projects (hahaha I have no control over how long it will be, The Fic will decide).

Once again, I can't make any promises regarding timeline of writing because the semester starting and the trials and tribulations of being on the spectrum mean my ability to write daily may vary.

Also I would like to reiterate how grateful I am to the people who left comments either on AO3 or in the reblogs of the Tumblr post. It really makes my week and is an extremely powerful motivator to write! I am still struggling with how to not sound stilted and overly formal online but thank you all so much. And please continue if you feel like you can/you liked the story!

[lunarharp]

“sorry i dont always get it” (from april) & “sorry i dont always understand” the sequel 🍷🍓

[geneticcatalyst]

,

[loadreams]

Hi babes, I’m starting this self confidence and law of assumption acc on tiktok! Follow me for more🩷

@myworldmadelaine is the name

@wishfulfilled @reverieaa @realifebarbie @iivenusii @itsravenbitch @princessofangiemania @arabella111 @stxr-kill @sirensplayhouse @sparklingself @starnightlover @sutheworld @godofmanifesting @gorgeouslypink @lavender--fairy @littlemissprettyprincess @cinefairy @celestial-heartbeat @voidsuccessarchive @venchyl @voidsuccess @vesora @blushydior @neobora @nakedbibi333 @mysticbewitched

[delicatelypearl]

some hump day affirmations for you🩷✨