Writing

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Good evening,

I was wondering if any of you write?

I'm a great lover of English; 2020 and 2021 saw me studying English Language and English Literature (& Drama) for A-Level, and I have gone on to begin my first year of BA Journalism and Communications at University. In my spare time, I enjoy writing - my first novel is currently on 45,000 words and I find working on it to be very therapeutic. I also enjoy writing somewhat blunt opinion articles for local newspapers. Since a very young age, I have enjoyed writing.

Are any of you working on any writing projects? Perhaps you've attempted to write a book also, or have done work in the journalism industry or as an author? I'd be fascinated to know.

TT-ONR-NRN

 

[Gloster]

I have worked as a freelance journalist and I was lucky enough to have some work on subjects that interested me, but that wasn’t enough to earn a living. The rest of the time you are chasing up subjects that might sell, wasting time on projects that come to nothing, desperately dashing off work for editors (“2,000 words by four o’clock yesterday”) and then trying to get the unprintables to pay you. I just about kept my head above water, but as a full time job, unless you can get into a staff job on a periodical covering an area of interest (and there are plenty of media studies graduates trying to do that) it is not really a way to make a living.

I have tried writing novels, but I just cannot write dialogue. I can plot and write good descriptive or background narrative, but as soon as the characters open their mouths it goes downhill.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I have tried writing novels, but I just cannot write dialogue. I can plot and write good descriptive or background narrative, but as soon as the characters open their mouths it goes downhill.

That's very interesting, as I certainly find it challenging to write dialogue in the voice of my characters. Sometimes I read what I have written and know immediately it's something I would say, said how I would say it. I have to try hard to detach myself from my writing.

 

[Bevan Price]

Good evening,

I was wondering if any of you write?

I'm a great lover of English; 2020 and 2021 saw me studying English Language and English Literature (& Drama) for A-Level, and I have gone on to begin my first year of BA Journalism and Communications at University. In my spare time, I enjoy writing - my first novel is currently on 45,000 words and I find working on it to be very therapeutic. I also enjoy writing somewhat blunt opinion articles for local newspapers. Since a very young age, I have enjoyed writing.

Are any of you working on any writing projects? Perhaps you've attempted to write a book also, or have done work in the journalism industry or as an author? I'd be fascinated to know.

TT-ONR-NRN

Good luck with your novel - and don't give up if early attempts to find a publisher are not successful.

As for me - my writing is limited to occasional brief articles for a railway society magazine, and prior to that, scientific reports for my workplace, plus a rather long thesis at Uni.

I don't have sufficient imagination to write convincing fiction.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

I used to write technical books for a living - which is probably not quite the same thing as you're thinking of

Every so often I start writing bits of blogs but they never seem to reach a completed enough state for me to actually put them up.

And there's this website called RailUKforums, where I keep posting all sorts of mutterings, usually on political topics. You may have stumbled across it at some point...

I have tried writing novels, but I just cannot write dialogue. I can plot and write good descriptive or background narrative, but as soon as the characters open their mouths it goes downhill.

One of my favourite sci-fi/fantasy authors is Piers Anthony. I love his books because the plots and the imaginary worlds he creates are so intricate and imaginative. But he also can't write good dialogue - his characters invariably come across to me as wooden, and the dialogs seem to be just rather mechanical exchanges of facts, with little personality and no resemblance to how people would talk in real life. Nevertheless he's managed to be incredibly successful as an author, which I assume is because of the clever plots.

I'm sure good dialog is something you can learn, so if you want to write novels but feel that's your weak area, don't be discouraged - go work on it! Study tv programs and films to see how the dialog in them works, and there are doubtless books around that will teach how to write dialogue too. IMO Buffy the Vampire Slayer was one of the best shows in terms of having really good dialogue that complemented the plots and showed up each character as having his/her own distinctive personality. I sometimes think I would like to try my hand at fiction too - and if I ever do, that's one show I'll be re-watching specifically in order to understand how the dialogues work.

 

[LOL The Irony]

Are any of you working on any writing projects? Perhaps you've attempted to write a book also, or have done work in the journalism industry or as an author? I'd be fascinated to know.

I'm attempting to write a book series at present. The world building part took over a year before I started writing and still only 1% of it is on paper as of yet. It's all sort of stuck in my head as to what I want to happen. I need to spend some time just getting it all down.

Journalism is something I may go into in the future, but it's not a medium term goal.

I have tried writing novels, but I just cannot write dialogue. I can plot and write good descriptive or background narrative, but as soon as the characters open their mouths it goes downhill.

That's very interesting, as I certainly find it challenging to write dialogue in the voice of my characters. Sometimes I read what I have written and know immediately it's something I would say, said how I would say it. I have to try hard to detach myself from my writing.

I always write dialogue heavy works, which I have been pulled up on before but I use my characters kind of like vehicles to story progression.

Anyways, I wish you all good luck in your future endeavors.

 

[Bayum]

Once I get into something like this, I really enjoy it. Whether it’s writing up the curriculum statements and plans for my school/academy chain or my dissertation - it’s having the free time and ability to work with no interruptions that’s the issue.

 

[telstarbox]

I've been paid to write technical reports for the last decade.

While it's a different style from creative fiction, there is still a skill and satisfaction in writing concisely and clearly. And there is always more to learn from reading others' writing!

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

I write, but only for myself, for example Star Trek stories that could never be published due to copyright.

 

[70014IronDuke]

I have worked as a freelance journalist and I was lucky enough to have some work on subjects that interested me, but that wasn’t enough to earn a living. The rest of the time you are chasing up subjects that might sell, wasting time on projects that come to nothing, desperately dashing off work for editors (“2,000 words by four o’clock yesterday”) and then trying to get the unprintables to pay you. I just about kept my head above water, but as a full time job, unless you can get into a staff job on a periodical covering an area of interest (and there are plenty of media studies graduates trying to do that) it is not really a way to make a living.

All this above, in spades and with buckets and bells on.
And, from what I gather - this in particular these days: and there are plenty of media studies graduates trying to do that

I have worked freelance for getting on for 40 years, mostly abroad as a foreign correspondent. I did ok financially in the 90s, but with the age of the internet, and everyone expecting free news, it's been getting tougher and tougher. And pay rates have not only not risen, they've acually gone down in in many cases in nominal terms, let alone absolute terms.

Put simply, you won't be ordering a battered old Mercedes, and certainly not a new one, for quite a while purely from freelance journalism.

As my daughter said about 15 years ago considering her career choice: "One thing I know I don't want to go into is journalism. I see how hard you work, dad!"

To work in journalism without being a regular staffer, I think you need at least three legs, and I wouldn't advise studying journalism personally.

Far better to do almost anything else - agriculture, chemistry, medicine, engineering - anything that makes you more aware of another field than the average journo. And it helps to be fluent in another language, especially a major language like Chinese or Russian or Arabic. But that's a tough nut to crack from zero, even in the 'easy' languages like French or Spanish.

Of course, you need to be good at English - that includes even writing for tabloids (that's a special skill that I haven't got). But I don't know if it ultimately can be taught - some people have a feel for lively language - some don't. (I've been teaching a writing articles class for undergrads, almost all non-native English speakers in recent years - some will just never get out of cardboard writing. But I think it applies to native speakers too.)

I have tried writing novels, but I just cannot write dialogue. I can plot and write good descriptive or background narrative, but as soon as the characters open their mouths it goes downhill.

A friend of mine, a retired Reuters buro chief, reckons good journos don't do well as fiction writers because their brains must have a different ethos. A (genuinely good - not fake news) reporter has to keep his thoughts 'on the ground' ie fact based.

Fiction writing is something else. Maybe some can do both, I'm not sure I can. I've always tried to report accurately, without exaggeration, even as a kid (and a trainspotter - I'm sure everyone has their funny stories and adventures - and on the way we've all met people who've come up with tales that just don't sound quite accurate). The best stories are true ones for me, and you only have to be found out once making stuff up and your credibility is gone. What's more, there are plenty of true ones out there - no need to start using the imagination. At least, that's how I've always worked.

Anyway, good luck to the OP, but as @Gloster wrote earlier - there are an awful lot of folks who fancy seeing their name under blockbuster articles - but I think and awful lot end up on the dark side, ie in PR or marketing when reality hits home regarding the financial returns.