Writer's Experience

[SaintlyShinigami89]

Swofty

I started writing little stories when I was younger then sort of quit for a bit. Then I got into fanfiction and now I write my own stories. Haven't touched fanfiction in almost 3-4 years now.

I guess my reading as helped me. I read loads which I got from my mom. Not taken writing classes as most of the stuff I've learnt as come from high school english classes and working through myself.

I haven't really finished a story before though, it's mostly been short stories and prompts. I've got a series in my head and I'm really hoping I can actually finish it this time.

[N u c l e a r Deathbat]

I've been writing stories for a long time. I don't remember exactly when I started but it was sometime when I was in elementary school. The only writing class I guess I'd count is the creative writing class I took last year. I actually did learn some stuff about writing from it, but that's also because the teacher was such a good teacher. I've been reading for I don't know how long, so obviously when I started writing, I took stuff from the books I read and built off of that. I read fiction, but I also read non-fiction, as long it's about a musician or GLBT related. Reading anything helps with my writing, not just fiction/non-fiction.

[SkyMessenger]

About a decade now, since the day my 2nd grade when I first learned to write a story.

I learned about writing through reading and practicing (I used to create comic books in 4th grade, 32 books in one series). I took a creative writing course in middle and high school but neither were what I wanted (creative was a big fat lie...) and too amateur. I did try newswriting last year but failed miserably. So I'm on my own as to learning more.

[TottWriter]

I've been writing stories of some sort since I was six. That would be...eighteen years now. (Damn) I've been writing "seriously" for eleven, going on twelve years, so since I was thirteen.

Obviously, when I was thirteen, I was crap. The fact that I considered writing to be the thing I wanted to do had no bearing on my ability at the time. I wrote a novel, and looking back at it, DEAR GOD. There are hints in there of the writer I am now (still with a long way to go), but most of it is just plain bad. You learn by screwing up though. I think I was actually pretty lucky to have got through that stage on my own, without being able to share my stuff with people on the internet, because I was sheltered enough that I never doubted myself, and I always had the confidence to carry on, which meant I improved.

I was also a pretty well-read child. This is not a boast, it's something that tends to be true of writers. I love reading, and while for a long time I stuck mostly to children's fantasy, from 11 or twelve onwards I was also reading adult books, such as The Day of the Triffids, and classics like Pride and Prejudice. I also carried on reading - a lot - throughout my teenage years and into adulthood. I still read a lot, and I try to read things from lots of different genres, so that I experience a wide range of different writing styles and techniques. Often, there's a lot to learn even from books you don't enjoy. Sometimes you can learn a lot from "bad" books too, as long as you go in there and learn to critique them and work out what it is that makes them "bad", and therefore what sort of things you should avoid doing.

[Ping of Death]

Except for my writing for media classes, I don't have any formal training. Reading books inspired me to write, although I'm not like most of you guys here who write stories. I write essays from time to time.

[Rennie`]

I have been writing for eight years. If you compared a work I did back then to something I'm doing now you wouldn't believe they were written by the same person. One of my flaws back then were tenses, one minute I would be talking in past tense, then jump to present. It frustrated me beyond belief but now I have been able to overcome that, by practising.

When I was at school I got two poems published, but I don't like writing poems...... OK, I was made to do it by my teacher, but I prefer novels.

I have never been to a writing class, the only skills I've picked up are from reading other works, school (even though I didn't do well, surprisingly) and years of writing. I might consider going to a class but I work full time and with a flat to maintain the spare time I get I devote to my partner, friends and writing.

Recently I have become a blog writer. The main reason for this is to get used to having my work seen by the critical public.

[Tarnish On Your Tongue]

I write, but I rarely show my works to people.
I've been writing for about... four years? Probably less.
I'm sixteen (way too goddamn young >:T), and I love to read,which translated into a silly little habit of turning everything into a song or a poem.
Now I want to write something a bit more serious than usual, an actual story...
but, of course, it is currently full of suck.

I'll probably run around like a fool looking for a critique when the first chapter is done... I hope it's not too awful. xDD

I attribute my literacy (or sometimes lack thereof, depending on how much sleep I've gotten) to the massive number of books I have consumed in my short life.
It takes me two days with school and other social obligations to finish a 400+ page book. I think my record was 500+ pages in nine hours.

Wow, I'm rambling... again. =___=;;
I should just stop typing now.
Yeah, right now.
Riiiiiiight.... now.