How much would you say you've improved as a writer?

How much would you say you've improved as a writer since you started writing?

I started writing when I was about...8 or 9! I tried writing a book in a Marble notebook around that age. Sadly, that notebook is long gone and lost, so I definitely cannot start from there...

So, I'll just say that, well.

Recently, I read my godawful fanfictions from ten years ago that were literally just talking upon talking. Yikes! That was a pretty awful read! But, we've definitely all been there where you're not an experienced writer. We've all been there.

I say I've definitely improved a lot from that. In 2014, I wrote a horror novel and it had a lot of description. I had a repetition issue (but most of the repetition was written that way on purpose anyway) and tense issues here and there, but I definitely had improved from 2010-2011 to 2014.

Now, in 2021 I'd say I'm a pretty good writer, but I feel very egotistical saying that. I want to post a side by side comparison of my writing from ten years ago to something I wrote last week, but I don't want to spoil what I'm writing but maybe if it's cool I'll post an excerpt.

I also want to say that apart from writing a few RPs with a close friend, I hadn't written much of anything seriously since about 2015! Despite that, I still feel like I got it and didn't lose my touch.

Anyway, I look forward to people telling me how their writing's improved! I encourage all of you to go dig up your old fanfics or original writing and read it. Also, read something you recently wrote, too, to compare from then to now!

Looking back at my old works, I can say for certain I've come a long way and am really happy with what I've created and how I've put it together.

I started writing sometime towards the end of high school (2010) just for fun and then it became more serious after graduation. Kind of a long story after that, don't want to bore anyone with details.

Comparing then and now, I think my biggest improvement was in character dialogue. However, by far my biggest fault back then was being oblivious to false-positive reactions from people, so I kept doing simple things wrong thinking that they were right...

I started writing when I was like seven, so I've definitely improved a lot since then lol. I think that if we're talking more recent years though, the past 5-6 years have marked a pretty significant spike in my ability as I've started to focus more on trying to develop writing into a profession as well as a hobby.

Yeah I started writing really early on but it was... by no means anything I was taking seriously outside of my own enjoyment. Most of my growth has been in the past 5-6 years and I gotta say... looking back at some of the little things I was working on when I first started posting here and then looking at some of the rp posts I do now.... its like night and day in some cases. I haven't had nearly as much time to just sit and write as I would like to as there is always some other distraction in front of me besides the time I lose to rest and work.

But, despite that, I think the growth I experience when I take time away from writing and focus on other things is much more substantial than those periods where it seems like all I do is write. I guess... its personal growth translating over? Eh. All I can say for certain is as much as I'd like to dedicate my life to this craft, I'm doing better now that I have other things taking up my time despite how much I might dread some of it.

The thing thats probably improved the most out of what I do... punctuation? I still use way too many breaks in whatever I write, but its not nearly as bad as it used to be.

At least when it comes to the field, what's improved the most probably is the ability to write shorter. As well as the ability to write scenes with a steady flow. Other than that, it really comes down to the more abstract aspects of writing: how to come up with and organize ideas, etc.

I think I've improved a large amount. I've always been a huge fan of writing. Just the other day, I found three Neopets stories I wrote when I was 9 or 10.., I cringed so much...

About three years after, I started doing Runescape fan fics. And I worked on that until about 2018, writing around 20 fanfics. I can't really stand reading the first ones I wrote, even though people have said they weren't that bad.

And now just between now and 2015, I've seen a huge improvement with my writing, which is about when I started roleplaying. I've even won three short story contests.

I want to be an author so bad, but every time I try to work on a story, I end up losing interest, or I get more ideas or can't figure out how to lead up to the climax. I am still extremly weary on emotional scenes which I think is my weakness which isn't the greatest weakness to have.

I've improved decently.

Mostly in the plot-building aspect. Grammar-wise I am still a mess at times, but then again, most of my work is more show than tell due to the comic format, so I can get away with a whole lot more.

Originally I just wrote on the fly, with no real goal in mind. And that often would result in never ending dialogue since I was really bad at shutting down conversations. This also bled very much into comic work, and stories that were supposed to be adventures took very long to get anywhere due to the extremely drawn out conversations.

I got a whole lot better at imagining where I want a plot to go. Tutorials about planning comic stories definitely helped with that though, the advice that stuck with me the most is to start with the end and work backwards from there by consantly asking how or why something happened the way it did, it helps building the backbone of the big picture, and I can work out the minor details as I start fleshing it out.

Having a goal in mind also makes it easier for me to actually finish what I started. Though having participated in various Original Character Tournament settings has helped immensely with building reasonably sized projects with a deadline of 2 months in mind and getting them done.

Fleshing out the minor details is definitely the fun part though. And I definitely got better at it. Though mostly that's also because I will just power through, even if the first initial idea isn't the greatest one. I can always revisit my writing later, when I got a better idea or when I feel like revising it to see if I can make any improvements.

Comparing 2006-2010 me and 2019-today me is like night and day. I have a better handle on keeping a character's point of view in check, grammar, and more variety of body language and expressions. Comparing my works a few years ago though I feel I hit my peak with emotional description then, but my pacing is getting better.

I know my writing itself has definitely improved, but I can't think of anything specific. One thing I can say I have improved on is actually writing for fun and not just for school assignments.

I think I've improved a lot since I started writing. I started writing proper stories when I was maybe sixteen or seventeen, and I'm thirty now so I think that after writing for so long I've improved. I can't name anything specific to show that I have, but I feel like I have.