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East Gorteau22261 Posts
The problem of repetition is often brought up among TL writers. It's very difficult to write twelve articles in a ten-week period about similar constellations of players, and it can be agonizing to write six articles about Life in three weeks. It sometimes doesn't matter if you care about the subject matter, if you are a fan of the player, or if you're simply very eager to write something good - producing quality articles - particularly in a day where we have done away with recaps almost entirely - in a timely fashion shares many key problems with other avenues of the craft. At some point, I was asked how I keep myself from hating what I write.
I have no snappy, witty answer to that question, but I do have a few tricks that keep me writing, and keep the idea furnace burning - both in the Starcraft-related, and otherwise.
- Think of everything as an exercise.
A problem I find that many trial writers share is a fear of disappointing. Writing an article for the GSL finals, which will inevitably be read (sometimes) and criticized (usually) can seem a daunting task. On one hand they might be eager to try their hand at writing a high-profile preview, on the other they might be pessimistic about their abilities. But there are more finals to come after this one, and convincing yourself that you're not fit to write something good now will not aid improvement. Write it, edit it, take what criticisms you want to heart, and realize that good and bad aren't binary values - there's an entire scale between them, and each piece earnestly written takes you in the right direction.
- Use what you know to write what you don't.
You can't watch everything, and despite what people on the internet would have you believe you also cannot know everything. But you can know something, and you can remember things. You might not remember if SKT or CJ won when they faced in Round 3 last season (although looking it up would be trivial), but you do know that INnoVation only recently beat ByuL in the GSL finals, and that Dream has a history of overperforming when he is counted out. This is useful knowledge, probably more important than remembering who won that match. You can construct a narrative from this, underline Dream's seemingly insignificant chances against Maru and put a little speckle of light at the end of the tunnel.
For me, the same goes for any writing. I don't know what running up a muddy slope in full armor feels like, but I imagine I've been similarly exhausted in the pool. I know what that feels like, so I have a foundation to build upon. Stick on the chafing of metal against shoulders and the clang of iron against iron, and I've written something I don't rightly know much about. Not being familiar with something is no excuse for avoiding it - writing what you don't know is difficult, but using what you know to help you will make it simpler. And eventually, you will know.
- You magnify the flaws.
Well, usually. One TL writer in particular is guilty of this, and most (typically very good) articles are followed by a brief convincing of said writer that aforementioned articles actually aren't horseshit. If they were, I'm convinced they could be fixed regardless. Most things can.
But getting half-way through something and stopping because the sheer badness of it disgusts you... results in something never written. This is the most commonly repeated piece of advice in writing, but it is worth repeating: write. The problem of having good taste is realizing that what you're writing might not be as good as what you're striving for - but Stephen King writes drafts, too, and they're not the ones on your bookshelf that you want to match. Zelazny didn't write Amber in one go, and he certainly went over the entire thing to take out the bad parts. You can, too, and you probably should. But actually working on the finished part, picking out the bits of snot from your otherwise pleasant carbonara is only possible if you finish cooking... err, writing. Don't get caught in an endless cycle of fixing the first word, because I find you'll never be satisfied with what comes after until you have an entirety to work on.
- It doesn't have to be in one go
One TL writer (wow, there really is one for almost everything) often falls into the trap of waiting for inspiration. Notoriously fickle thing, that, and entirely unreliable. A flash of inspiration might see you through an article, or a brief story, or build the first stone, but never a project. Inspiration doesn't write books, inspiration doesn't build a house, inspiration doesn't pick out the fifty terrible aspects of your short story and turn them into something good. Work ethic does that, usually, or at the very least - work. Procrastination is a recurring theme for many writers, because it's going to be a lot easier to write that Proleague article once I know what I want to write about. I had this problem for a while, and the constant put-offing really didn't do much to help me. The turnaround for me, personally - and I think the same holds true for stuchiu - was ridding myself of the waiting stage. Write first, inspiration later (probably never).
Inspiration can be great - it can kickstart that essay you've been putting off or lay the building blocks of a future bestselling trilogy (I guess?), but it's not something to rely on. This goes back to 2 above - start writing, and write from a position of familiarity if you have to - talk about your favorite player, write about music, start the short story with you falling out of bed like you always do. But don't put it off indefinitely. More likely than not you'll need to force the words onto the page when inspiration doesn't come, and for people who rely on inspiration writing without it can be painful.
- Write now... For a bit.
If you suffer from the aforementioned problem of procrastination, try this:
- Set a timer to 5 minutes.
- Open Word (or whichever program you use for writing.)
- Start the timer, and write.
- While you write, you don't switch tabs. You don't look at your phone or glance out through the window. It's five minutes. Don't care about what you write, as long as you're writing what you're supposed to be writing. Quality be damned.
- When the time is up, either keep writing or check whatever you're itching to check. Go grab a cookie.
It's easy to put off writing an article or finishing an essay because it will take so long, and checking Teamliquid is much more entertaining. Those five minutes, therefore, will get you rolling. Either you keep going from those five minutes, or you don't - if you don't, you can always start the timer again later, and repeat.
I find that those five minutes of uninhibited writing can help a lot. Having written something makes writing something else much easier. After all, you've already done it once (twice, thrice...) today. Learning to write in short bursts without interruptions is a first step to writing for longer periods, and before you know it you can write that article without pausing to say something witty on Skype every 90 seconds. In my experience, finishing one task at a time leaves much more free time for that shit afterwards. Funny how that works.
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East Gorteau22261 Posts
On October 13 2015 21:47 Ej_ wrote:
Blizzcon preview when?
Expect it to begin after sunday
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1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL22272 Posts
On October 13 2015 19:30 Zealously wrote:
It's very difficult to write twelve articles in a ten-week period
lol
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East Gorteau22261 Posts
On October 13 2015 22:32 lichter wrote:Show nested quote +On October 13 2015 19:30 Zealously wrote:
It's very difficult to write twelve articles in a ten-week period lol
Remind me why we did themed previews again
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1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL22272 Posts
On October 13 2015 22:57 Zealously wrote:Show nested quote +On October 13 2015 22:32 lichter wrote:On October 13 2015 19:30 Zealously wrote:
It's very difficult to write twelve articles in a ten-week period lol Remind me why we did themed previews again
13 articles in one week, never forget
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ALLEYCAT BLUES51706 Posts
honestly if your trial writers are feeling daunted by their task, just link them the SSL11 previews I did, I write like butt and people didn't seem to mind.
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A few questions for the TL writers.
What did you study, if at all. Journalism? English? ... ?
How much do you actually write? And how much is in TL themed?
Is there any original aspect in your work that makes your articles (for example) stand apart from other authors, whether it is usage of vocabulary, grammar, ... ?
Which do you prefer, the body (general story), or the prozaic element? (This answer is probably both, which is kind of obvious, but if one would have to vastly outweigh the other, which would it be?)
Also, mad respect for writers. I'm trying to dabble a bit myself and I'm just completely dumbfounded by the amount of work it takes. People like Stephen King are just literary gods.
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1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL22272 Posts
On October 13 2015 23:26 Uldridge wrote:
A few questions for the TL writers.
What did you study, if at all. Journalism? English? ... ?
How much do you actually write? And how much is in TL themed?
Is there any original aspect in your work that makes your articles (for example) stand apart from other authors, whether it is usage of vocabulary, grammar, ... ?
Which do you prefer, the body (general story), or the prozaic element? (This answer is probably both, which is kind of obvious, but if one would have to vastly outweigh the other, which would it be?)
Also, mad respect for writers. I'm trying to dabble a bit myself and I'm just completely dumbfounded by the amount of work it takes. People like Stephen King are just literary gods.
operations research/business
i only write for TL
i am the best at the funnies and the insults and the THEMES
i like writing characters as pirates
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ALLEYCAT BLUES51706 Posts
lichter is an arms dealer.
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1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL22272 Posts
that's why i love pirates/cowboys/weaponized dinosaurs
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ALLEYCAT BLUES51706 Posts
why not dinosaurized weapons?
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I've thrown away stuff that was not up to par before. I would rather not produce a guide or something with incomplete information as that could lead to being entirely wrong thus discreditting the reputation of the article.
It's important to distinguish as well that it is the article's reputation and not mine as well because without searching for my name specifically I doubt that the readership particularly cares who wrote it. As such the piece stands on its own merit.
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United States4883 Posts
Thanks a lot for this. I'm starting to write pretty seriously for Heroes of the Storm, and sometimes I fall into the trap of sucking and not writing, so this was a nice reminder of all the things in the back of my head that I already know but sometimes forget.
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Cricketer12
United States14003 Posts
Really awesome stuff Zeal, super informative and helpful!
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If only I could actually learn to apply some of this  thanks Zealously xD
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United States15275 Posts
On October 13 2015 23:26 Uldridge wrote:
A few questions for the TL writers.
What did you study, if at all. Journalism? English? ... ?
How much do you actually write? And how much is in TL themed?
Is there any original aspect in your work that makes your articles (for example) stand apart from other authors, whether it is usage of vocabulary, grammar, ... ?
Which do you prefer, the body (general story), or the prosaic element? (This answer is probably both, which is kind of obvious, but if one would have to vastly outweigh the other, which would it be?)
Also, mad respect for writers. I'm trying to dabble a bit myself and I'm just completely dumbfounded by the amount of work it takes. People like Stephen King are just literary gods.
- Self-taught
- I write for TL and I'm currently writing a novel.
- For TL articles, I try to write poetically to capture a mood/tone I don't want to explicitly bring up.
- The prosaic element. A story is nothing without the right words.
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Canada8160 Posts
On October 14 2015 02:55 SC2John wrote:
Thanks a lot for this. I'm starting to write pretty seriously for Heroes of the Storm, and sometimes I fall into the trap of sucking and not writing, so this was a nice reminder of all the things in the back of my head that I already know but sometimes forget.
SO THAT'S WHERE YOU WENT
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Fiddler's Green42661 Posts
On October 13 2015 23:26 Uldridge wrote:
A few questions for the TL writers.
What did you study, if at all. Journalism? English? ... ?
How much do you actually write? And how much is in TL themed?
Is there any original aspect in your work that makes your articles (for example) stand apart from other authors, whether it is usage of vocabulary, grammar, ... ?
Which do you prefer, the body (general story), or the prozaic element? (This answer is probably both, which is kind of obvious, but if one would have to vastly outweigh the other, which would it be?)
Also, mad respect for writers. I'm trying to dabble a bit myself and I'm just completely dumbfounded by the amount of work it takes. People like Stephen King are just literary gods.
I studied whatever interests me at the time.
Only TL stuff. I might write a book or something if I get bored.
I write like I talk half the time, so original drafts often have really weird formatting problems since you're essentially following my thoughts through an article or person.
Depends what I'm writing.
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4713 Posts
On October 13 2015 23:26 Uldridge wrote:
A few questions for the TL writers.
What did you study, if at all. Journalism? English? ... ?
How much do you actually write? And how much is in TL themed?
Is there any original aspect in your work that makes your articles (for example) stand apart from other authors, whether it is usage of vocabulary, grammar, ... ?
Which do you prefer, the body (general story), or the prozaic element? (This answer is probably both, which is kind of obvious, but if one would have to vastly outweigh the other, which would it be?)
Also, mad respect for writers. I'm trying to dabble a bit myself and I'm just completely dumbfounded by the amount of work it takes. People like Stephen King are just literary gods.
I never studied writing related disciplines, in fact I come from an IT background ^^
However I loved reading Asimov and J.R.R Tolkien's novels and when I write I just try to mix in as much emotion and drama into it. In a way I try to feel what it would be like to be part of the story. In terms of journalism though, TL taught me all I know.
I only write for TL, I've debated writing a novel but I don't consider that I have enough life experience to capture the scope of human emotions necessary to write something good.
I haven't really thought of it, maybe my love for epic and dramatic, perhaps my humor and passion for the ridiculous.
I haven't paid much mind to this either, but I guess its a bit of both, I'm a sucker for good words and I try to do it justice by conveying it with as much passion as possible.
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EPT
