Nathan Bransford - The Forums

writersink wrote:

Mira wrote: and I think I can be very funny sometimes. Which is nice, because I make myself laugh and laugh. Maybe no one else finds me funny, but I'm having a great time.

I crack myself up too. I'll be sitting in the corner of a cafe and I'll write a scene I find funny and then I'll sit there for about 10 minutes laughing to myself. People look at me as though I'm crazy but who cares as long as I'm happy? I don't know if I make other people laugh as much but a couple of CPs have said I've made them chuckle. =)

I rarely make myself laugh in my writing (I'm just not good at writing comedy, or even witty remarks) but I was writing a scene on Tuesday that made me cry. I don't write sad stories, but this particular section just brought me right to tears. It seriously distressed my cat - she was trying to cuddle with me and comfort me and figure out why I was suddenly sad.

I've been told that I create intriguing villains, and develop my characters well Thanks for posting this! It is nice once and a while to be reminded that even though we are always learning, we do have some things that are already good in our mss.

I'd like to think I do plotting well. I'd like to think I do it better every time. Years ago, my writing teachers said I did dialog well.

Definitely dialogue for me too. Which is good because i love to write it.
Now, just need to work on my descriptions...

This question has killed me for days. I'm a firm believer that we should be able to come up with things we do well in multiple areas of our lives. But when it comes to writing, I'm STUMPED.

What do I do well?
I have no idea.

I'm not saying "Nothing! I suck at writing!". What I am saying is I truly don't know. My descriptions are average. I think I can drop some plot points in through dialogue, but I'm by no means crafty or witty about it. I think we're all here because we have a story in our hearts, so saying "I can tell a story" feels somewhat redundant...

So I'm stumped. I guess I'll say I have a decent sense of grammar and the english language. By NO MEANS am I perfect, but I feel like that's something I have going for me. Maybe...

This is hard. I was much better with the things I DON'T do well thread...

trixie wrote:This question has killed me for days. I'm a firm believer that we should be able to come up with things we do well in multiple areas of our lives. But when it comes to writing, I'm STUMPED.

I had a hard time too. I think it's harder to point out what you suck at rather than what you're good at. While trying to come up with something, I was like "what if my crit partners read it and say, "no, you totally suck at that.'"

trixie wrote:This question has killed me for days. I'm a firm believer that we should be able to come up with things we do well in multiple areas of our lives. But when it comes to writing, I'm STUMPED.

What do I do well?
I have no idea.

maybe it just means that you're generally competent across the board? That would be kind of awesome

Falen wrote:

trixie wrote:This question has killed me for days. I'm a firm believer that we should be able to come up with things we do well in multiple areas of our lives. But when it comes to writing, I'm STUMPED.

What do I do well?
I have no idea.

maybe it just means that you're generally competent across the board? That would be kind of awesome

All in favor of this explanation?

Aye.

MattLarkin wrote:

Falen wrote:

trixie wrote:This question has killed me for days. I'm a firm believer that we should be able to come up with things we do well in multiple areas of our lives. But when it comes to writing, I'm STUMPED.

What do I do well?
I have no idea.

maybe it just means that you're generally competent across the board? That would be kind of awesome

All in favor of this explanation?

Aye.

I've never read any of your work, trixie, but you're my friend, so AYE!

I like dialogue and depicting violent action the best. Within the context of fiction/fantasy of course.

trixie wrote:This question has killed me for days. I'm a firm believer that we should be able to come up with things we do well in multiple areas of our lives. But when it comes to writing, I'm STUMPED.

What do I do well?
I have no idea.

Well, how about you're really good at seeing the areas you are growing in? That's a skill! Not everyone can see areas that need improvement.

Also, you're dedicated, persevering through hardship, intent on reaching a high level of skill!

All of those are wonderful qualities. And I'd bet they are just the tip of the iceberg. You don't need to be PERFECT in something to consider it a strength.

I bet you have lots of writing strengths, Trixie!

writersink wrote:

Mira wrote: and I think I can be very funny sometimes. Which is nice, because I m ake myself laugh and laugh. Maybe no one else finds me funny, but I'm having a great time.

I crack myself up too. I'll be sitting in the corner of a cafe and I'll write a scene I find funny and then I'll sit there for about 10 minutes laughing to myself. People look at me as though I'm crazy but who cares as long as I'm happy? =)

I know! I've had to stop writing during breaks at work, because people start asking questions and want to know what's so funny. I love that I can amuse myself endlessly.

I like to think I do internal monologue well. I like trying to get inside character's heads and seeing how they think about a situation.

I also do pretty good narrative summaries at the beginning of some scenes. And I hope I am getting better at using commas; my high school English teacher also lamented my varied use of them!!!!

Falen wrote:maybe it just means that you're generally competent across the board? That would be kind of awesome

Ha! You guys are the best. I am going to find a way to work "generally competent across the board" in my next performance eval. It will be amazing.

And Cookie--I thought the SAME thing. How am I supposed to list something when my crit peeps are here? What if they disagreed!

Mira, you say dedicated, I say stubborn. Either way, we're both right.

Sticking with it.

Till everyone says they feel ignored, neglected and mad at me.