For the writers out there. Can you recommend any websites for writers. Especially sites that teach

[applegrove]

you how to write short stories?

[taterguy]

1. Yes

[applegrove]

2. .

:spank:

[Tobin S.]

3. The important thing is to have a good story

You can have perfect grammar but be a dull writer if you can't come up with a good story. If you have a good story in mind, but do not possess good writing skills, you can develop those skills with a few basic English courses at a community college. But I don't think anyone can teach you the ability to come up with good stories.

I learned how to write here at DU and by reading books, but mostly here at DU. I learn from everyone who posts here, no matter their level of writing ability. My grammar still is not perfect, but I am much better than when I started writing my stories. I have more of an intuitive idea of how to write in that regard. If I were to ever get serious about writing, I'd need to brush up on a few things. Or maybe just hire someone to proofread my stuff.

Just put it down on paper and then talk about your stories with other writers. That's a good place to start.

[applegrove]

4. I have good stories. I have the best and worst of humanity in my life.

I will be using these experiences to come up with the fiction. But I think these slices of lives better suit short stories than anything else. My writing is what I have to work on. I tend to write in a passive voice which I have to get over.

Thanks for your advice.

[HopeHoops]

5. Writer's Market. If you buy the Deluxe edition (like $35 at Amazon), it COMES with the online ver.

You can still access the web site without the subscription, but not in all of its glory. The subscription is $30/year so the book is a small cost on top of that. Both have a lot of articles and the online site has an up-to-date search engine.

[Chan790]

6. As a writing instructor...

I'd tell you that learning to write to any level beyond pure personal enjoyment requires the feedback and growing as a writer that can only occur in a formalizing setting...I of course recommend a classroom setting, but realistically you could get the same experience out of forming or joining a writer's group with other interested writers (DU's writer's group would work...I'm not active there as I like a smaller more-closely-knit invite-only intimate group of writers I consider of my similar skill-level, interests and genre.) Alternately, you can do as CalPeg and Tobin do and post in the Lounge for critique and feedback. You need to have faith in your "test readers"; if you don't trust them as much as your own instincts (but always defer to your strong instincts), you won't really listen to their feedback. Trying to grow as a writer without that communal and critical experience though is solipsistic and futile.

As for the question you actually asked, I'd actually recommend books over websites. I always strongly recommend On Writing by Stephen King as it's very no-bullshit a book about how to write, not just about form or style but actually about how to go about writing. No other book I've ever read on the subject covers such mundaneties as finding your writing space (physical space, as in where you write. Not so simple as it sounds.) and simple importance of writing daily even if your just writing something godawful just to fulfill your daily quota. (Ironically, this does help as it establishes routine and creates a mental condition where you prepare to write. It'll make you better. One phrase is scrawled on a sheet of notebook paper in black Sharpie on my ceiling over my bed so it's the first thing I see every morning and the last at night. It says: A writer writes.) For a formal writing-skills standpoint, it's all about finding an what works for you. I generally recommend On Writing Well by Zinsser, and anything by James Frey or Richard Rhodes. Perhaps none of them will work for you and something else will? All of these books should be available at your public library so your shouldn't have to buy them.

Three, and this is the big big big big one. To write well you must read in the genre you want to write rapaciously in order to have a feel for it, its' "rules" (which you can break as you see fit as long as you understand them and how breaking/adhering influences your text and its' deconstruction by your reader) and your audience. How rapaciously? I can't own a TV because it distracts me from reading sufficiently...I read 200 books a year on average. You don't need to read that much but I'd say the floor is about 50 if you want to write professionally. One a week, 2 weeks vacation. Read like it's your job because it is.

Edit: Tag-fix

[applegrove]

9. Thanks. I read 3 books a week but some of that is nonfiction. Great advice.

[madmom]

7. I have this link book marked for the very same reason.I haven't had time to

start it yet, hope it can help you.

http://diplomaguide.com/articles/Online_Creative_Writing_Courses_Offered_Free_by_Top_Universities_and_Educational_Websites.html

[Tobin S.]

8. Thanks for that link, madmom

I'm going to look into that, too. :thumbsup:

[applegrove]

10. Thanks. They don't have courses on short stories but I think there is one in the town I live in.

This learning to write is going to take me years but I look forward to a time when I can write slice of life stories, even if it is only for myself.