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I think studies in motivation have shown that for creative activities, things like 5 minutes of x or do x repetitions is really not effective. So it is very weird that there are so many blogs on the internet that give exactly this type of advice, by bloggers talking about how hard it is to write.
Why not just legit brainstorm? You're halfway there with this fake first draft. Take away all the syntax and just think about the points that would be interesting to cover. I guarantee it's more efficient, and when you sit down to write it'll be a lot easier having everything planned out, so you can focus on the organization and presentation of your ideas, rather than trying to do that at the same time as coming up with them.
Not being familiar with something is no excuse for avoiding it
It's probably a good reason to do research, though. You can save yourself a lot of trouble when you look something up and realise your first impulse is number 1 and 2 on the top ten list of misconceptions about X.
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your Country52797 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 am a math and music major.
I write when I don't have any urgent work, which recently has been never. Just about everything I write is on TL.
Not really.
The latter.
Writing is much harder than I thought it would be when I started 
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United States744 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?)
How exciting it is to do Q&A
- I'm a college freshman, studying random shit, but I'm calling myself an Asian Studies and Linguistics major (go ahead and let yourself believe I'm a Koreaboo if it suits your imagination, although I wholeheartedly reject that perception of me)
- Since school has started I haven't done shit, but I used to write fairly often for TL. All of my writing activities were through TL, I can't say it's a hobby of mine outside StarCraft. Odd how that works
- I don't think so, but I guess you could say I write about herO a lot
- Prosaic element. When I was writing more, I strove to make otherwise repetitive or bland content interesting through (attempting) unique styles and general eloquence
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Mute City2363 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.
Maths
Just TL
My writing is noticeably worse than everyone else's  Also I wedge in a mention of TRUE vs MyuNgSiK whenever I can.
I just like waffling about starcraft tbh
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United States4883 Posts
On October 14 2015 08:08 Jer99 wrote:Show nested quote +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
You didn't know this? O.o
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considering you are all non-fiction writers can someone recommend a good collection of essays?
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On October 14 2015 13:01 jalstar wrote:
considering you are all non-fiction writers can someone recommend a good collection of essays?
Don't do writing for tl, but I do a lot of academic writing. Recently read eco's travels in hyperreality, liked it a lot.
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East Gorteau22261 Posts
On October 14 2015 08:50 Chef wrote:
I think studies in motivation have shown that for creative activities, things like 5 minutes of x or do x repetitions is really not effective. So it is very weird that there are so many blogs on the internet that give exactly this type of advice, by bloggers talking about how hard it is to write.
Certainly true, and I am not advocating the 5-minute regimen as a permanent solution. But a lot of people - high school students in particular - have trouble getting started. The idea is to get the ball rolling, and the prospect of a short burst of work is much easier to come to terms with than knowing that you have four hours of work ahead of you. Those four hours of work will still, ideally, happen regardless. For most people, it isn't writing that's difficult, it's just writing the first few words.
On October 14 2015 08:50 Chef wrote:
Why not just legit brainstorm? You're halfway there with this fake first draft. Take away all the syntax and just think about the points that would be interesting to cover. I guarantee it's more efficient, and when you sit down to write it'll be a lot easier having everything planned out, so you can focus on the organization and presentation of your ideas, rather than trying to do that at the same time as coming up with them.
It might be more efficient, but it might not be for everyone. I cannot write and follow an outline for the life of me - it doesn't work, and I've three full novels to show for my own method. The approach to writing varies wildly from person to person - not everyone can freestyle, but not everyone can conjure the entirety of the work beforehand, either. The concept of outlining is somewhat alien to me, because I find it stifles my creativity, so I chose not to bring it up.
On October 14 2015 08:50 Chef wrote:It's probably a good reason to do research, though. You can save yourself a lot of trouble when you look something up and realise your first impulse is number 1 and 2 on the top ten list of misconceptions about X.
Very true. It depends on what you're writing, and what kind of writer you are. Some of our writers drop out of Word every 45 seconds to look up a match or check a statistic, and it works for them. Others will work out the skeleton first and correct what's hellishly wrong on a go-over. Obviously, for larger scale essays and scientific reports, just writing is not an ideal approach. But I find it works well if you have trouble staying in-narrative for a free-form article.
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East Gorteau22261 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 study Psychology, although I've taken this semester off to focus on swimming and writing.
I write a lot - most of the time of the day I don't spend practicing goes to either TL writing (I'd estimate 30-40%) and fiction (60-70%). It's what I enjoy doing the most, I'd say.
I tend to focus on the themes of (striving for) greatness and failure a lot. Reading through articles I've written this year, many share the recurring concept of "a player on the cusp of great things" - I strive to reshape that concept each time, to present in a new and hopefully interesting way, to make sure it doesn't get dull. There's a lot to say in this area, be it for HyuN and FanTaSy or Jin Air Green Wings and CJ Entus.
I prefer the story, to be honest. I admire the people who take utmost care of their phrasing and the way they frame their stories, but the stories themselves are usually foremost in mind for me - elegant words are of little use if the story they encapsulate does not stand on its own feet. Naturally, though, I enjoy tinkering with both parts.
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Austria24417 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.
Currently studying Journalism/Media Management.
I write for school, for TL and I actually wrote a goddamn novel. I then completely scratched it because I wasn't satisfied with it at all and have been in the process of outlining and almost re-starting ever since.
I don't think I'm a particularly good writer (in English!) to be honest (being from Austria and all), but the one thing I think I do bring to the table is that I always have a very clear idea of what my articles should discuss/focus on and how I want to go about it in a way that makes "sense".
I love coherence. I love it more than anything else. That feeling when things fall in line, when things come full circle and get rounded out. Nothing is more satisfying to me than that.
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France77 Posts
On October 15 2015 03:38 DarkLordOlli wrote:Show nested quote +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.
Currently studying Journalism/Media Management. I write for school, for TL and I actually wrote a goddamn novel. I then completely scratched it because I wasn't satisfied with it at all and have been in the process of outlining and almost re-starting ever since. I don't think I'm a particularly good writer (in English!) to be honest (being from Austria and all), but the one thing I think I do bring to the table is that I always have a very clear idea of what my articles should discuss/focus on and how I want to go about it in a way that makes "sense". I love coherence. I love it more than anything else. That feeling when things fall in line, when things come full circle and get rounded out. Nothing is more satisfying to me than that.
Id've loved to read that ;(
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EPT
