How To Determine If I Should Push Through The Dip

[Shane597]

@username I am currently working at a disability support center, but I am transferring back to college in the fall as a sophomore.

Edited April 16, 2017 by Shane Roberts

[Shane597]

@username Now that I think about it, I don't think that is necessarily my introduction, that is just a little explanation of where I am going with the book, I have not written my introduction yet. 

[Guest username]

@Shane Roberts That will be a good environment to really help with your writing skills. If you're serious about this novel, take full advantage of the campus writing center if you have one, meet with professors every chance you get, take rigorous writing-intensive courses such as ones in literature,philosophy, history, etc.

In the mean time, the best thing you can be doing  to improve your skills is reading voraciously. If you are not extremely well-read, it will be just about impossible to be a good writer because you will not be as familiar with the conventions of good writing. I understand the frustrations plenty. When I was 16, I was told my my English teacher than my writing was at about a 4th grade level. I buckled down a deliberately practiced on my writing for about 100 hours and devoted all my free time to reading books. During my first year of university, my English professor said I was writing at a graduate students level and far exceeded expectations for an undergraduate. 

I haven't really maintained my skills since then, so my ability has considerably deteriorated since then, but I am still much better than I was to begin with. You can do the same, but deliberate practice and being consistent and persistent are critical. If you don't work hard and work smart, you'll get nowhere.

To get the the level you aspire to, you'll need much more work than I needed for my modest ambitions. You will need thousands of hours of practice writing, getting feedback from qualified people, and reading challenging literature from a variety of domains.

You'll need to be prepared to accept the cost and sacrifice a lot of other aspects of life. While your friends may be out clubbing and getting laid, you will be working on your life purpose and self-actualizing. 

 

I don't say this to scare you, but the biggest problem a lot of people have is that they severely underestimate the sacrifices they will need to make. When they finally realize how much it will cost them to follow through with their grand vision, they decide not to accept the cost. They don't embark on the journey.

https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/ is a good place for you to start.

Be prepared to work thousands of hours without seeing any amazing results. This journey will take years of every day practice so be fucking patient!

Edited April 16, 2017 by username

[Shane597]

@username Well, I can give you the first page of my memoir and see what you think.

 

[Guest username]

@Shane Roberts Sure, post it here. I also recommend sharing it on the writing reddit or some other community specifically oriented toward giving feedback on those things. As a general self-actualization forum, you're probably not going to get the best quality feedback here.

I can give you my general impression,but there are many places where you will get advice from much better and experienced writers than I. I'm not really even a writer, it just so happens to be an area where I made big improvements due to once being very much sub-par. I'm still nowhere near great and probably never will be due to my priorities. 

[Shane597]

@username I changed a few things, like the tenses, I realized they were not consistent. 

[Guest username]

You're off to a good start, but you have a ways to go. Like I said, I'm not the best person to get specific feedback from and this forum probably isn't the best place to get a writing critique. 

You're clearly putting effort into your writing and it's not entirely atrocious by any means, but it isn't exactly spectacular either. I stand by my advice from my earlier posts.

[Shane597]

@username Um, I like to show the story rather than tell. I would say right now my writing is decent after a lot of revision. 

[Shane597]

@username  So, how do I know if my writing skills can become great? How do I know if I have chosen the right life purpose? 

[Guest username]

6 minutes ago, Shane Roberts said:

@username Um, I like to show the story rather than tell. I would say right now my writing is decent after a lot of revision. 

I'm just giving you my opinion. It's not awful for standard forum writing, but you're no novelist yet. You have a lot of room for improvement, and it will take years to get there. That's just how it works for pretty much everyone. As a rule of thumb, expect mastery to take 10,000 hours of deliberate practice. That's 10 years of every day INTENSE practice.

3 minutes ago, Shane Roberts said:

@username  So, how do I know if my writing skills can become great? How do I know if I have chosen the right life purpose? 

I recommend reading the following books: 

So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport

Deep Work by Cal Newport

The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks 

Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin

Mastery by Robert Greene

Mastery by George Leonard (The only one I haven't read, but I'm familiar with the principles, and it's a great read.)

Also, I highly recommend the Life Purpose Course

Life purpose is arguably the biggest commitment you'll make in your life, so don't expect it to be easy to figure out. You should be spending all your free time researching these kinds of things and asking questions. You're on the right track, but you're just starting, and you have a very long way to go.

[Arman]

2 hours ago, Shane Roberts said:

@Arman @Shin Can you guys read the post above and see what you think, it is right above this post?

I think whatever you do, as long as your intention is growth then you can't lose.