smw: A woman sits at a typewriter, pages flying, a plug in the back of her awesomely big-curly hair. (Default)
SMW ([personal profile] smw) wrote in [community profile] writerslounge 2011-06-28 07:47 pm (UTC)

When a writer is beginning to find their voice, the less said the better.

Funny; I'd say quite the opposite. Certainly there needs to be room left over for personal style, but the basic fact is that you have to learn the rules before you break them. I didn't make any serious bounds forward as a writer until someone was willing to sit me down and say, "This, this, and this? They don't work and they're ugly." Of course, that same critique came with "That over there is brilliant and beautiful and you should pursue it". So I got twofold directions: pushed away from my bad habits and towards my good ones.

As I've progressed as a writer, I've gotten a better idea of what I do and don't like in fiction, and I've adjusted my style independently; but I question if I would be so able to change if not for that first push.

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