I thought it would be a good idea to have a thread where we could talk about what we are good and bad at in terms of writing. I think it helps with some self-realization being able to identify these, and being able to discus it with others is a way to find ways around your/mine problems. Not to mention learning/trying to emphasize what you’re good at.
Since I started the thread, I’ll go first. (See how that works?)
After I’d watched my third book fall flat on its face, I was at first a little depressed and decided to take a break from writing for a few weeks. It ended up being a few months. After the months had passed, I looked at the outline I had for my next story—I’d written it during my third book. I, naturally, wanted my fourth book to be better then the last three. So I took a painful amount of time to read over my other books to try and identify what was my biggest problem. It took no longer then a few pages of each story to tell me the answer: internal dialog.
In those first three books I’d used so much internal dialog that it deemphasized the external dialog, and made it sound redundant.
(For those of you who’ve read the chapter I’d submitted, the first page is a great representative of this problem.)
I am still looking for the answer for this problem. It sounds simple enough to jus cut back on internal dialog, but it’s hard for me. Especially when I don’t talk so much, and the majority of what I say is scaled down bits of dialog that goes on inside my head.
In terms of strengths, I would like to think that characters are my strength, but that’s just my ego talking. I think my real strength lies in descriptions. I have a knack for, if I take the time, making a scene vivid and feel real. As good as that may be, too much description takes away from the rest of the story. I’ve yet to find a balance for this “skill” either.
I’d like to hear from all of you about this as well.