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Style vs. Voice - A Guide

A Writer's Guide to Style vs. Voice

Here on dA, there seems to be a lot of confusion and general mass hysteria when it comes to the subjects of writing style and voice. What are they? What's the difference? Can you write one without the other? How important are they, anyhow? Do you really need either of them? Wait, what are they again?

I like to think I'm somewhat of a self-made genius in the art of simplifying the complex, so here's my boiled-down summation of the two topics:

Style is the form and structure with which you write.

Voice is the attitude and perspective with w

How to Start and Stay Writing

I recently solicited my watchers to ask me writing questions that I would then attempt to answer in a writing guide such as this. This article is my first response, and there will be many more to come.

I've been asked to give advice on ways a writer can begin to put words on a page. The bottom line is as simple as this: sit your butt down and write.

Duh, right? It's the only way I know to actually write.

Sure, sitting your butt in a chair is easy, but getting your fingers to move and stay moving is a challenge. Here are three things that have helped me.

1) Have a goal.

Your goal can be as simple as "describe the person in this picture" o

Publishing Resources ListMake sure you

the news article!
So you've written something freaking awesome. You've edited a million times (and if you haven't, turn around and go do that. Right now). You think you maybe want to take the leap and try publishing something. But you have no idea where to start.
Well, this is a good place to be.
This the journal where I'll be keeping a running list of all the publishing resources I find, both on and off dA. Most of it will probably be related to literary journals, since that's the stage where I'm at in my literary career, but I'll add things about book publishing as I find them.
If you ever find a great resource, or if you'd like to request something specific, please leave me a note in the comments.
Also this journal is probably going to be super-messy and slightly badly-categorized for the first few weeks, so if anything looks out of place and/or you can think of a better way for me to organize this, please

Prosody GuideHere's a short and limited guide to prosody. Thought it might be helpful. Let's start with few terms:

Rhythm - refers to the natural rise and fall of the voice when something is being spoken or read aloud.

Meter - comes from the Greek word for "measure," is used to describe a regular rhythmic pattern that operates throughout a given poem.

Cesura - is a strong break/pause in the middle of a line.

Scansion - the act of determining the meter of a poem by marking the stressed and unstressed syllables in its lines.

Accents - (Stressed syllables) are marked by a slant line above the syllable (/)

Slack Syllables – (unstressed syllables) a

Prose Critique BasicsProse Critique Basics

Critique... we all want it. We all need it. But what exactly is the embodiment of this fear-inspiring, often frustrating word?

Ever since dA rolled out their advanced critique system in 2009, I've made it a point to read through many prose critiques, mainly in seeking a person to look at my own work. While most critiques are helpful to some degree, it never fails to surprise me how many exist out there are nothing more than in depth comments. Just the critic's opinion or view on the piece, which is usually made of nothing but positives. In short... a review. Of course, the receiving authors snatch up whatever feedback

The Ultimate Writing Guide

Have great tutorial that you want to show off to help others? Or need a great tutorial yourself to make your characters shine across the battlefield? Then check out the description for more information.

The Art of Refining Prose

The Art of Refining Prose

Many writers dread the editing process. Not only does it delay the showcase of prose, it can seem a tedious and painstaking task. Often, editing is more time-consuming than the initial writing and consequently, it is either ignored altogether or briefly indulged. This is a great shame. Sincere editing not only proves a pleasurable experience but invaluable to prose, as this is a wonderful opportunity to buff, polish and tighten the impact of one's writing.

Some might argue that editing is not only unnecessary, but detrimental to the “raw concept” of one’s inspiration. The answer to this is simple: se

Tips On Self-Publishing

Tips On Self-Publishing

I recently decided to self-publish a compilation of my work. It is something that I've wanted to do for a long time, but have always put off for several reasons; the imagined cost, basic lethargy in editing the damn thing, and laziness when it came to mail-outs to publishers. If this sounds like you so far, you might be able to benefit from a few things I learned along the way. Below I will discuss almost everything you will need to know before jumping into a self-publishing project, some pitfalls to avoid, and approximately what to expect to come out of your pocket. (I'm talking about money, pervert.)

Once I dec

Writing Style--The Bottom Line

Writing Style - The Bottom Line

“Words are like sunbeams.  The more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.”       - Robert Southey

“Prose is architecture, not interior decorating.”       - Ernest Hemingway

Writing style is made up of two things: cadence and variation.

Good style is clear, readable, and invisible.  Its purpose is not to attract attention to itself but to transport readers into the world of your story.  If your readers notice your style without purposefully intending to study it, your style needs to be impro

Research: How to do It

We’ve already discussed where to do your research, so now we’re going to learn how to go about using those tools. Like everything else we do in life, there’s a process to it, and once you’ve learned the steps, finding the information becomes a bit easier (admittedly, some of the harder queries will never get easier).

What do you Need to Know?

Knowing what it is that you’re trying to research seems sort of obvious, but there are times when you won’t have the first clue about what you’re looking for. These are mostly situations when you already have your story plotted out, and now you need fact to work aroun

Writing Tips - Mechanics

Tips and Tricks for Writing Fluidly

Mechanics

No, we’re not fixing up your brother’s car. Mechanics are the little technical bits in your writing; punctuation, spacing, spelling, capitalisation, et cetera. We’ll start there.

Capitalisation

Different languages have different rules for what should be capitalised. If you speak English, you’d capitalise “I” and leave your dog lowercase. You may find it interesting that German is a bit backwards. If you’re German, you’d capitalise “Hund” and leave “ich” lowercase. Why am I telling you this? Because it’s simple little things like

Submitting to Lit JournalsRough Guide to Submitting Poetry to Literary Journals (by Email)

First thing you need is your poems, naturally; these must be fully redrafted to your satisfaction to have much of a chance of getting anywhere in the world of self-respecting mags. Try out some workshops (there are a tonne on the internet, and plenty in the real world too), ask your friends, but most of all just mull them over for yourself until you're happy.

Do not pad your submission with bad poems, thinking the worse ones might get through thanks to your stronger work. This will just result in the whole bunch being rejected, in all probability.

Next we need to scope out a

Character Motivation

Everyone's heard that characters should have goals, something they want and must strive for, overcoming obstacles and antagonists in order to obtain. Because, well, a story is the record of your character's journey toward achieving a goal.

While all of this is true, I think a lot of writers lose sight of an even more important aspect of character. That is, motivation. Sure, you know what your character wants.

Why?

That's the gist of motivation. What is the psychology and reasoning behind your character's goal? If your character is driven to make money, is his motivation greed? To pay off a debt? To support his family?

Motivation is your c

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More from ~WorldWar-Tori

52. it was menobody writes about breaking hearts,
all the damage they have done.
the times they've stolen a soul,
broke apart and hurt someone.

so here it is, my time of doing,
the time I hurt someone so.
I just couldn't take it anymore,
so I took the knife and let go.

the strings were taut,
they were coming thin.
every move we made,
was just another deadly sin.

this story could be written,
in metaphors and cliche.
in a sad story,
we were just that way.

he was my best friend,
someone I always knew.
and I got tired of everything,
and felt apart we grew.

I walked through the door,
and right back out.
I yelled about boring,
and everyth

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Literature Resourcesby ~WorldWar-Tori

©2010-2013 ~WorldWar-Tori

^{updated : 04.August.2010}

Also see my Lit Resources Collection

GENERAL

*Tips to Creative Writing by ~forbiddenhero
*5 tips on the writer to be(journal) by *Droemar
*Grammar Guide by *LateNightLady
*Writing Tips : Guides & Lessons by ~Mae-Jay
_{This is a gallery full of tutorials and guides}
*Imagery & Figures of Speech(news) by `lovetodeviate
*So You Wanna Be a Writer? by ~WordCount
*How To Write by `Bringa
*Writing Resources by *jamberry-song
^{A gallery of writing tutorials and resources}
*Writing Resources Collection by *jamberry-song
^{A collection of literature resources collected}
*Writing Guides by =illuminara
^{a gallery of writing guides}
*Rehab for Roleplayers by `salshep

POETRY

*Tips for Editing Poetry by ~suture
*Haiku exercise for beginners by ~Wudang-mountain
*Introduction to Poetry by ~xXShadow-PoetryXx
*A Cheap Trick for Poets
*A Guide to Visual Poetry by ~darkdescartes
*Tips for Novice by ~suture
*How to Write Villanelles by =Mattiello
*Form(ing) Poetry(news) by `lovetodeviate
*Poetry Pickles(news) by `lovetodeviate
*A Guide to Writing Poetry by ~SugarGrunge

PROSE/NOVELS

*Writings Tips and Tricks by *OokamiKasumi
^{a gallery full of fiction writing tutorials}
*Writing Chapters - Tutorial by ~TahBayEss
*Creating Characters by ~AutumnsBandit
*How to Write a Story by ~inu-pup
*Advice for Writing a Series(news) by *LateNightLady
*10 Tips for Novel Writers by `ATrue
*The Truth About Nonfiction by `ATrue
*Giving Prose Visual Appeal by ~WordCount
*The Writing Process by ~LaMonaca
*The Art of Refining Prose by *ProsePlease
*Guide to Writing Fanfiction by ~EmpressTuiLa
*10 simple writing tips by ~x-Danielle-x

CRITIQUE

*How to Revise or Critique by `SparrowSong
*A Positive Critique by *ProsePlease
*A Guide to Critiquing by ~Mavyrk
*The Good Critique by `lovetodeviate

MISC.

*Getting Published by =mree
*Tips for Self-Publishing by ~suture
*Writing a Short Film script(news) by #deviantartfilm
*Write Better : Read More by ~WordCount
*Cover Letters : the why and how by `lovetodeviate
*lit. resources blog by #Mythologue
*Useful Writing Blogs by =julietcaesar

OFF DA PAGES

^{online articles/tutorials/resources that are not provide on deviantART}
*
*Writing in the Age of Distraction
*Becoming a Poet: One Step at a Time
*Writing Tips & Tutorials
_{This is a whole other list of tutorials & articles to help all types of writers}
*A Primer on the Poetic Line
*Advice on the Art of Writing Short Stories
*8 rules for writing fiction
*Ten rules for writing fiction
*HearWriteNow.com
_{This is an entire website, it has many areas with good info for writers}
*Craft of Poetry

GROUPS

If you have/know of anything you feel should be added to this list, please send a note or leave a comment. Thank you (=

lovelies that helped with this list....
=namenotrequired

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~WinterMelancholy Jun 2, 2013 Hobbyist General Artist

Great list. Many thanks

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~TangerineTerranova Mar 4, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

thank you so much! <3

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~WorldWar-Tori Jun 22, 2012 Photographer

my pleasure.

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^NicSwaner Jul 26, 2011 Student Writer

Could I be added to the list of resources: [link]

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~WorldWar-Tori Dec 1, 2011 Photographer

Sorry; I've been gone, but I've added it to the collection and I will be updating it soon and I'll include it

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Mood: Love

~Angelicwolf09 Mar 5, 2011 Writer

This will be very helpful. Thank you for posting.

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~WorldWar-Tori Mar 12, 2011 Photographer

My pleasure

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^namenotrequired Feb 22, 2011 Student Interface Designer

You should update this a bit, some things have changed and such and it'd be great if this would continue to be an awesome resource list

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~WorldWar-Tori Feb 22, 2011 Photographer

I intend to once I get everything organized, I have a lot of things to add/change.

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^namenotrequired Feb 27, 2011 Student Interface Designer

Yup!

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