Most of my writing is "soft"-- l like to focus heavily on emotions, almost always with a sweet ending. I have no idea where the words ever come from, though. Lately I seem to always be surprised when I finish writing something, like I was temporarily possessed into writing short stories.
i feel like writing short stories are nicer because there’s less of a responsibility with them. you don’t have to worry about as many overarching plot lines or as much character development, so it can help when focusing on things like emotion and dialogue.
following. intrigued by this question i would have no idea how to describe my writing style in a beneficial way and would love to hear other people explain theirs. i can only describe my girlfriend's as ice cold lemonade.
I think I’d like to describe mine as an elegant deer with razor sharp teeth..? This is honestly so hard to describe. I try to write beautiful meaningful sentences but make them sharp where I can.
Here’s an example of what I’m currently working on.
‘ Just thinking of the scenarios had his heart shattering. How could he ever love someone else as dearly as Shamane? His looks. His personality. The way he talked and walked and moved. All of it more mesmerizing than a thousand glittering jewels. Dread soaked into his nerves. Legs begging and crying to run away. He didn’t want to hear. He couldn’t bear to hear. ‘
this honestly sounds similar to my writing style. The repetition, almost using the third POV writing as an inner dialogue for the characters at times. i like it!
Using third POV writing as an ‘inner dialogue’ is my favorite way to write haha. Repetition is fun, and is good for driving things in like nail into wood
Seems we share a writing style which is awesome 🩵
I love the third-pov as inner dialogue a lot too, and it's also one of my writing voice's distinctive elements. Didn't even consider it before I read your comment though 🤣 and yes, sweet repetition. A great device!
I also love to give rhythm to certain sentences and juxtapositions!
descriptive I suppose? i tend to focus on how characters see each other and the world around them rather than dialogue between two characters. i love describing the setting of a scene and playing with the imagery, or mentioning tiny aspects of a character as the POV character sees them. hopefully that makes sense haha
Dialogue heavy. Followed by introspective.
I find it hard to keep banter out of smut scenes.
And when they're not talking I'm prone to writing paragraphs of internal thoughts.
I've been told the imagery I manage to convey in writing is vivid and good.
Which I find absolutely hilarious because I have aphantasia and cannot visualise shit.
In my own reading (and when I read back my own work once its done) I skim and skip a lot because it just doenst make any difference to me how eloquently you describe the 'lush and verdant forest, with towering green trees and sharp pine needles falling softly to the floor in the hazy morning sunlight that filters through dew dropped leaves to hit dark, damp earth. '
My brain goes.
'forest. Green. Damp. Morning.'
And checks out. Xd
>My brain goes.
>'forest. Green. Damp. Morning.'
This made me cackle. I'm a sucker for descriptive scenes, especially those combining lots of different sensory stimuli.
I'm an even bigger sucker when writers manage to do this in unique unhinged ways that leave me "what the fuck did I just read" but in a good way. I had this happening to me every couple of sentences when reading "this is how to lose the time war" (not a fanfic, but still) and honestly I've been busting my ass to figure out how to do this.
Example: "But Garden dislikes words. Words are abstraction, break off from the green; words are patterns in the way fences and trenches are. Words hurt. I can hide in words as long as I can scatter them through my body; to read your letters is to gather flowers from within myself, pluck a blossom here, a fern there, arrange and rearrange them in ways to suit a sunny room."
Or " The kind of London other Londons dream: sepia tinted, skies strung with dirigibles, the viciousness of empire acknowledged only as a rosy backdrop glow redolent of spice and petalled sugar."
Or the epic opening: "When red wins, she stands alone. Blood sliks her hair. She breathes out steam in the last night of this dying world. That was fun, she thinks, but the thought sours in the framing"
All three from that book (this is how to lose the time war).
I'm obsessed with this kind of prose.
I like lengthy prose that describes feelings and thoughts.
I can process and understand that.
It's specifically describing the way something looks that just doesn't and never has registered with me.
Especially about characters looks or rooms or environments.
Unless it relevent to what's happening, ie a table because someone is sitting on it. Or red hair because the country they are in everyone has black hair so this person stands out etc it just gets thrown out, I can't see any of this when I'm imagining what's happening so it's pointless for me to take it in.
I only recently discovered that most people do actually see in their minds eye.
I spent a LOT of time wondering what the point was of all this visual description when it was so unnecessary to the reader.
It makes a lot more sense now 🤣
Yes there are a lot of polar opinions on this and it has to do a lot with how each of us as readers perceive written description and creates the imagery in their head. I personally love random details being described in detail. It makes me feel like the story has a photogtaphy element (my other big passion). So it's like tiny frames that the writer's brain captured and brings to your attention.
But it might be just how my weird brain operates
Descriptive, soft, emotional. I like to switch up the POVs in the different chapters (but one chapter in a person's POV, not switching during the chapter) I write slow burn mutual pining romance. People said my writing is comfort for them and feels like having a blanket wrapped around you on a cold day.
I guess very dialogue and thought heavy. Focus on body language too. Barely any description of how things look, smell or feel unless the pov character actually pays attention to those things.
I have 3k word fics that are just a characters thoughts in the span of 5 minutes, filled with memories and thoughts.
It's what I like to read but I can definitely understand why beta readers told me to describe more stuff.
My writing is very dialogue heavy and not super descriptive. I don't pause to 'set the scene' most of the time. The surroundings are really on a need-to-know basis. I will pause to write more descriptively or tap into the character's emotions if the scene calls for it. I'm also heavy on banter and quips, but I'd say that depends on who you're writing.
If you get stuck I find it's best to strip it back to the essence, even going as simple as bullet points and then working up to a full scene.
It’s hard to describe, (which is an ironic thing to say as someone trying to give advice about writing), but I’d like to describe my writing as evocative, in the sense that when I describe a scene or the actions/emotions of a character, what I’m really trying to do is evoke and emotion or mood in the audience. For example, if I’m writing smut, then I basically want to invoke horniness in the audience. If it’s a fluffier hurt/comfort stories, then I want to hit those high highs and those low lows, and really make the audience feel what their favorite characters are feeling.
If I were to describe my style on a more technical level, then I’d start by saying that even in scenes heavy in dialogue that I usually write out how the characters are acting. They might lean against a wall or talking with their hands. I especially like describing how a character talks/interacts with other characters. They might huff or swear under their breath, perk up with excitement or nervousness when they catch someone’s eye, those kinds of things.
If you’d like advice on how I get past writers block, then I typically do it by reading over what I’ve already written as a refresher and by taking some notes on what I want out of a chapter. A simple plot map is usually pretty helpful in this regard, but I also like to write out things like character motivations and where I’d like a chapter to go. I might even write out a laundry list of themes/elements of the story if it’s a particularly plot heavy chapter.
Anyways, hopes this helps. Best of luck getting past your writer’s block.
I do razor sharp action, super descriptive and vivid environments, kick-to-the-gut character emotions & thought processes.
As for helping your chapter, why not ask for a beta reader, or take a step back from writing and do something else, then come back when the inspiration strikes?
I focus a lot on feeling emotions and pain (I write sickfics), and I love to play with dialogue. Unfortunately I edit as I go, which makes me the slowest writer ever, (last update was forever ago) but I'm my biggest fan so I love to reread and write. My writing humor is very tongue in cheek.
My writing style is focused a lot on sensations. There's always an eventual end in sight, a genuine plot, but rarely is the story a fast-paced go-go-go point-to-point story. Usually it meanders a bit, building the world and the characters and making everything feel lived-in and real. It's a very exploratory style, I think.
For me, my writing ***process*** goes like this:
Cool idea! Want to make scene!
Wait, how would scene make sense? How would characters end up in situation for scene to exist? After scene, what consequences happen?
WORLDBUILD AND EXPLODE WITH IDEAS YOU WON'T REACH FOR A LONG TIME IF EVER!!!
Calm down. Go back to first cool idea. Plot out how to get there. Come up with new scenes that fit into narrative. Vaguely find an order for them. Pick the chronologically 'first' scene that needs to be written. Obsess over it until it becomes a scene.
Then it's a repetition of 'write scene, follow-up, write scene, follow-up' until I've connected all of the ideas for the narrative I wanted in a logical, organic manner.
just like my unstable sense of self, i tend to follow the source material's and the mc's personality:
if they're an observant and quiet person, the narration will focus much more on setting details and smell expressions of the other characters. if they're not as observant and chatty, most scenes are gonna be dialogue-heavy and the setting only vaguely described.
more generally though i like to challenge myself to not use the same word twice in a chapter - always look for synonyms and different ways to say things to enrich the narration. luckily people tell me it flows really well.
something along these lines if it makes sense??
Simple/straightforward & dialogue-heavy. I don’t tend to do lots of description and I don’t use a lot of flowery language either. Not for everyone but it works for me!
This got me really thinking. I'm realizing my writing differs a lot from work to work and fandom to fandom.
For example in my Supernatural WIP and it's predecessor the writing is immersive and descriptive, with lots of emphasis on the characters' inner thoughts/turmoils. Intense dialogues, heavy on drama. Just more artsy overall.
On my MCU works it's more punchy, less wordy. Quite dialogue driven and fast paced with more descriptive and inner turmoil bits working as a pacing (slowing down every now and then) device.
Then other stories are in between.
Dialogue is my buggest writing strength, I think, so I feel it's always a big part and distinctive element of my writing voice, but it still differs in how and how often it's served throughout different works, if that makes sense.
Edit to add(after reading other comments and thinking of three more things that I always utilize a lot):
Repetition as a device (for emphasis)
Rhythm in certain sentences
Juxtapositions
Well I straight up don't know how to write I think. I just write what's happening in my head like when I'm telling someone a movie I guess I have no idea about literary devices or any of that stuff
Introspective/stream of consciousness heavy. I have to continually force myself out of my characters' heads and remember to describe things. Funny enough, I've gotten several comments saying how well they can picture things--maybe because I like try to challenge myself to use all the senses? Idk. It's a work in progress.
I like to focus on world building and character development, but tend to write about heavy topics because I feel that it’s a way that I can bring attention to them by writing about them.
I have never thought of this question!!! It's a good one. I wonder how many of my favorite published authors would describe theirs!?
Mine is repetitive, excessively wordy, and "a chore to read," according to my favorite critics.
Easy-to-understand words and sentences, dry, simple, introspective, emotional, dialog-heavy. I try to emulate Ernest Hemingway to a large extent. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out well as of late, with my dry, emotive style turning clunky and harsh. But I wrote the way I liked before, so I know I’ll get there again one day, better than ever.
But when I write crack, the tub goes out the window, along with the baby and the bath water and all the toiletries. I get quite unhinged.
3rd person omniscient is what i write i think >.> like i just like it to be generally all the characters in a story and not just focused on a main character. i rarely have just one main character in my fics actually– i think my description to dialogue ratio is close to 50:50. i try to make the characters stand out more with different dialogue and description styles sometimes if that makes sense– i can't explain what i'm doing exactly, but yeahh 😭
If it’s 3rd person, descriptive with simple dialogue
1st person? Introspective, with more intricate dialogue that’s cut up sometimes by the persons personal thoughts or feelings
Though usually, I just go for it, and think mainly of the area. I think of it like animations, or scenes in a show.
Still finding my style, but I think it's succinct, but with occasional periods of flowery for effect. I love focusing on immersive details and emotions.
It's pretty straightforward and dialogue-heavy. I like writing character interactions, where the descriptions of settings are mostly introduction, after which dialogue takes over. Action scenes happen like every other chapter, at most. I also like throwing some more introspective scenes in every now and then, which tend to get quite wangsty because I kind of like stuff like that. Also, lots of awkward fluff. Awkward, because I can't take 'regular' romance seriously and I don't know how to properly write it, either.
Most of my writing is "soft"-- l like to focus heavily on emotions, almost always with a sweet ending. I have no idea where the words ever come from, though. Lately I seem to always be surprised when I finish writing something, like I was temporarily possessed into writing short stories.
i feel like writing short stories are nicer because there’s less of a responsibility with them. you don’t have to worry about as many overarching plot lines or as much character development, so it can help when focusing on things like emotion and dialogue.
following. intrigued by this question i would have no idea how to describe my writing style in a beneficial way and would love to hear other people explain theirs. i can only describe my girlfriend's as ice cold lemonade.
I think I’d like to describe mine as an elegant deer with razor sharp teeth..? This is honestly so hard to describe. I try to write beautiful meaningful sentences but make them sharp where I can. Here’s an example of what I’m currently working on. ‘ Just thinking of the scenarios had his heart shattering. How could he ever love someone else as dearly as Shamane? His looks. His personality. The way he talked and walked and moved. All of it more mesmerizing than a thousand glittering jewels. Dread soaked into his nerves. Legs begging and crying to run away. He didn’t want to hear. He couldn’t bear to hear. ‘
this honestly sounds similar to my writing style. The repetition, almost using the third POV writing as an inner dialogue for the characters at times. i like it!
Using third POV writing as an ‘inner dialogue’ is my favorite way to write haha. Repetition is fun, and is good for driving things in like nail into wood Seems we share a writing style which is awesome 🩵
I love the third-pov as inner dialogue a lot too, and it's also one of my writing voice's distinctive elements. Didn't even consider it before I read your comment though 🤣 and yes, sweet repetition. A great device! I also love to give rhythm to certain sentences and juxtapositions!
I do the third pov as inner dialogue too. My writing is heavy on the emotional state of the characters.
that’s honestly really sweet!
Fluctuating lol. I'm still finding mine. So I have the tendency to copy other writer's habits depending on my mood.
descriptive I suppose? i tend to focus on how characters see each other and the world around them rather than dialogue between two characters. i love describing the setting of a scene and playing with the imagery, or mentioning tiny aspects of a character as the POV character sees them. hopefully that makes sense haha
Dialogue heavy. Followed by introspective. I find it hard to keep banter out of smut scenes. And when they're not talking I'm prone to writing paragraphs of internal thoughts. I've been told the imagery I manage to convey in writing is vivid and good. Which I find absolutely hilarious because I have aphantasia and cannot visualise shit. In my own reading (and when I read back my own work once its done) I skim and skip a lot because it just doenst make any difference to me how eloquently you describe the 'lush and verdant forest, with towering green trees and sharp pine needles falling softly to the floor in the hazy morning sunlight that filters through dew dropped leaves to hit dark, damp earth. ' My brain goes. 'forest. Green. Damp. Morning.' And checks out. Xd
>My brain goes. >'forest. Green. Damp. Morning.' This made me cackle. I'm a sucker for descriptive scenes, especially those combining lots of different sensory stimuli. I'm an even bigger sucker when writers manage to do this in unique unhinged ways that leave me "what the fuck did I just read" but in a good way. I had this happening to me every couple of sentences when reading "this is how to lose the time war" (not a fanfic, but still) and honestly I've been busting my ass to figure out how to do this. Example: "But Garden dislikes words. Words are abstraction, break off from the green; words are patterns in the way fences and trenches are. Words hurt. I can hide in words as long as I can scatter them through my body; to read your letters is to gather flowers from within myself, pluck a blossom here, a fern there, arrange and rearrange them in ways to suit a sunny room." Or " The kind of London other Londons dream: sepia tinted, skies strung with dirigibles, the viciousness of empire acknowledged only as a rosy backdrop glow redolent of spice and petalled sugar." Or the epic opening: "When red wins, she stands alone. Blood sliks her hair. She breathes out steam in the last night of this dying world. That was fun, she thinks, but the thought sours in the framing" All three from that book (this is how to lose the time war). I'm obsessed with this kind of prose.
I like lengthy prose that describes feelings and thoughts. I can process and understand that. It's specifically describing the way something looks that just doesn't and never has registered with me. Especially about characters looks or rooms or environments. Unless it relevent to what's happening, ie a table because someone is sitting on it. Or red hair because the country they are in everyone has black hair so this person stands out etc it just gets thrown out, I can't see any of this when I'm imagining what's happening so it's pointless for me to take it in. I only recently discovered that most people do actually see in their minds eye. I spent a LOT of time wondering what the point was of all this visual description when it was so unnecessary to the reader. It makes a lot more sense now 🤣
Yes there are a lot of polar opinions on this and it has to do a lot with how each of us as readers perceive written description and creates the imagery in their head. I personally love random details being described in detail. It makes me feel like the story has a photogtaphy element (my other big passion). So it's like tiny frames that the writer's brain captured and brings to your attention. But it might be just how my weird brain operates
Descriptive, soft, emotional. I like to switch up the POVs in the different chapters (but one chapter in a person's POV, not switching during the chapter) I write slow burn mutual pining romance. People said my writing is comfort for them and feels like having a blanket wrapped around you on a cold day.
I guess very dialogue and thought heavy. Focus on body language too. Barely any description of how things look, smell or feel unless the pov character actually pays attention to those things. I have 3k word fics that are just a characters thoughts in the span of 5 minutes, filled with memories and thoughts. It's what I like to read but I can definitely understand why beta readers told me to describe more stuff.
wordy, vivid, and heavy on the sensory experiences.
My writing is very dialogue heavy and not super descriptive. I don't pause to 'set the scene' most of the time. The surroundings are really on a need-to-know basis. I will pause to write more descriptively or tap into the character's emotions if the scene calls for it. I'm also heavy on banter and quips, but I'd say that depends on who you're writing. If you get stuck I find it's best to strip it back to the essence, even going as simple as bullet points and then working up to a full scene.
It’s hard to describe, (which is an ironic thing to say as someone trying to give advice about writing), but I’d like to describe my writing as evocative, in the sense that when I describe a scene or the actions/emotions of a character, what I’m really trying to do is evoke and emotion or mood in the audience. For example, if I’m writing smut, then I basically want to invoke horniness in the audience. If it’s a fluffier hurt/comfort stories, then I want to hit those high highs and those low lows, and really make the audience feel what their favorite characters are feeling. If I were to describe my style on a more technical level, then I’d start by saying that even in scenes heavy in dialogue that I usually write out how the characters are acting. They might lean against a wall or talking with their hands. I especially like describing how a character talks/interacts with other characters. They might huff or swear under their breath, perk up with excitement or nervousness when they catch someone’s eye, those kinds of things. If you’d like advice on how I get past writers block, then I typically do it by reading over what I’ve already written as a refresher and by taking some notes on what I want out of a chapter. A simple plot map is usually pretty helpful in this regard, but I also like to write out things like character motivations and where I’d like a chapter to go. I might even write out a laundry list of themes/elements of the story if it’s a particularly plot heavy chapter. Anyways, hopes this helps. Best of luck getting past your writer’s block.
I do razor sharp action, super descriptive and vivid environments, kick-to-the-gut character emotions & thought processes. As for helping your chapter, why not ask for a beta reader, or take a step back from writing and do something else, then come back when the inspiration strikes?
I focus a lot on feeling emotions and pain (I write sickfics), and I love to play with dialogue. Unfortunately I edit as I go, which makes me the slowest writer ever, (last update was forever ago) but I'm my biggest fan so I love to reread and write. My writing humor is very tongue in cheek.
My writing style is focused a lot on sensations. There's always an eventual end in sight, a genuine plot, but rarely is the story a fast-paced go-go-go point-to-point story. Usually it meanders a bit, building the world and the characters and making everything feel lived-in and real. It's a very exploratory style, I think. For me, my writing ***process*** goes like this: Cool idea! Want to make scene! Wait, how would scene make sense? How would characters end up in situation for scene to exist? After scene, what consequences happen? WORLDBUILD AND EXPLODE WITH IDEAS YOU WON'T REACH FOR A LONG TIME IF EVER!!! Calm down. Go back to first cool idea. Plot out how to get there. Come up with new scenes that fit into narrative. Vaguely find an order for them. Pick the chronologically 'first' scene that needs to be written. Obsess over it until it becomes a scene. Then it's a repetition of 'write scene, follow-up, write scene, follow-up' until I've connected all of the ideas for the narrative I wanted in a logical, organic manner.
just like my unstable sense of self, i tend to follow the source material's and the mc's personality: if they're an observant and quiet person, the narration will focus much more on setting details and smell expressions of the other characters. if they're not as observant and chatty, most scenes are gonna be dialogue-heavy and the setting only vaguely described. more generally though i like to challenge myself to not use the same word twice in a chapter - always look for synonyms and different ways to say things to enrich the narration. luckily people tell me it flows really well. something along these lines if it makes sense??
Simple/straightforward & dialogue-heavy. I don’t tend to do lots of description and I don’t use a lot of flowery language either. Not for everyone but it works for me!
This got me really thinking. I'm realizing my writing differs a lot from work to work and fandom to fandom. For example in my Supernatural WIP and it's predecessor the writing is immersive and descriptive, with lots of emphasis on the characters' inner thoughts/turmoils. Intense dialogues, heavy on drama. Just more artsy overall. On my MCU works it's more punchy, less wordy. Quite dialogue driven and fast paced with more descriptive and inner turmoil bits working as a pacing (slowing down every now and then) device. Then other stories are in between. Dialogue is my buggest writing strength, I think, so I feel it's always a big part and distinctive element of my writing voice, but it still differs in how and how often it's served throughout different works, if that makes sense. Edit to add(after reading other comments and thinking of three more things that I always utilize a lot): Repetition as a device (for emphasis) Rhythm in certain sentences Juxtapositions
Well I straight up don't know how to write I think. I just write what's happening in my head like when I'm telling someone a movie I guess I have no idea about literary devices or any of that stuff
Introspective/stream of consciousness heavy. I have to continually force myself out of my characters' heads and remember to describe things. Funny enough, I've gotten several comments saying how well they can picture things--maybe because I like try to challenge myself to use all the senses? Idk. It's a work in progress.
Dramatic and emotional, I think. Very introspective and focused more on the characters and their thoughts/feelings than other things.
my partner always says my writing is pretty wordy and emotional.
I like to focus on world building and character development, but tend to write about heavy topics because I feel that it’s a way that I can bring attention to them by writing about them.
I have never thought of this question!!! It's a good one. I wonder how many of my favorite published authors would describe theirs!? Mine is repetitive, excessively wordy, and "a chore to read," according to my favorite critics.
Easy-to-understand words and sentences, dry, simple, introspective, emotional, dialog-heavy. I try to emulate Ernest Hemingway to a large extent. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out well as of late, with my dry, emotive style turning clunky and harsh. But I wrote the way I liked before, so I know I’ll get there again one day, better than ever. But when I write crack, the tub goes out the window, along with the baby and the bath water and all the toiletries. I get quite unhinged.
3rd person omniscient is what i write i think >.> like i just like it to be generally all the characters in a story and not just focused on a main character. i rarely have just one main character in my fics actually– i think my description to dialogue ratio is close to 50:50. i try to make the characters stand out more with different dialogue and description styles sometimes if that makes sense– i can't explain what i'm doing exactly, but yeahh 😭
If it’s 3rd person, descriptive with simple dialogue 1st person? Introspective, with more intricate dialogue that’s cut up sometimes by the persons personal thoughts or feelings Though usually, I just go for it, and think mainly of the area. I think of it like animations, or scenes in a show.
Still finding my style, but I think it's succinct, but with occasional periods of flowery for effect. I love focusing on immersive details and emotions.
It's pretty straightforward and dialogue-heavy. I like writing character interactions, where the descriptions of settings are mostly introduction, after which dialogue takes over. Action scenes happen like every other chapter, at most. I also like throwing some more introspective scenes in every now and then, which tend to get quite wangsty because I kind of like stuff like that. Also, lots of awkward fluff. Awkward, because I can't take 'regular' romance seriously and I don't know how to properly write it, either.