Weaknesses actually.
All authors, writers, etc have writing weaknesses. Areas they don’t have a lot of skill with or desire to have a lot of skill with.
Learning your weaknesses help you improve as a writer. It’s okay if you make the same errors over and over as long as you know them.
- I have a pronoun/name issue. I heavily use “I” in my stories. This kinda connects to the second issue
- I suck at description. I hate writing it. I write it more now. I add in more action with descriptors and more sights and sounds. Get those senses invoked. My work will never be heavily detailed.
- Finally, I struggle with my timeline. I forget how many days has it been. Whether a week has past or a couple hours. It can be bad. And when I add in a time specific event, I end up messing things up.
I typically ignore the first problem in my first draft. I’m better than I was, but I don’t mind with every sentence starts with “I” or a person’s name. That’s fine. I write for ease of reading. Getting rid of proper subjects so it looks better isn’t my true goal. But there is normally too many in the first draft. I do have to figure out how to cut down.
The timeline issue is a big one. Like with my Organization, I give them days earned. Then forgot about it. It became a plot hole that should be noticed by most. I need to be careful with my times. How long should they be driving for? Should she be worrying about her bleeding cycle? Would they be tired? Do they need a stop for food?
I’ve had points where I say they’ll stop to sleep somewhere and then don’t.
All weaknesses can be fixed in edits. The key is to figure out where you strongest and weakest.
I’m a dialogue happy. I love talking. I hate the small talk jibber jabber of human life. Dialogue is so much more than that. When I use the common small talk nonsense it’s to make reader realize they’re masking, they’re hiding their truth in some way.
What do you think is your weakness?
Cat Hartliebe 