>>So pick up a biology book as a refresher, or read a website on the topic.<<
Luckily, I still have some of my university textbooks, so I can start there, or I can find an interesting article and then do more research from there. I also just picked up a book about Mind Maps for learning Physics (not sure the actually title), and it looked interesting, so I'm hoping to shore up my tenuous grasp there.
>>Often it's nice to pick a starting example from this world and imagine a different example from another. A food web. How sex works. Genetics. A species. That sort of thing.<<
That is good advice. Also less daunting than doing a whole world, while still having the fun of imagining something different. Aha! Maybe I could use one of the ideas I had while sitting in the sun after giving blood; what if humans could use photosynthesis?
>>Apparently, what most people do -- and this includes professionals -- is take something and copy its appearance.<<
I can actually see how this would work, as it is a very shallow "idea" to work off of, but it's also why I feel most of my writing is subpar. The main core/idea is where I have trouble, along with characterization and world details. So while I can take an idea such as "Sofia takes an art class", I have a hard time giving it any substance, so my work ends up feeling undeveloped and lack luster to me. Actual professionals working in a similar fashion? Boggles my mind a bit and as makes me feel less bad about my attempts. I thought they were supposed to do it *properly*.
>>I should probably warn you that I can teach you a ton about storytelling, but it is likely to make you and your work wildly unsuited to mainstream markets. This may or may not be something you want.<<
I would love to be able to have even a tenth of your storytelling skills. I've never had aspirations for a career as a writer, so being unsuitable for mainstream isn't a concern. I'd rather be able to do something *well*, and write something that I'm proud of and am confident showing other like-minded people.
Re: I'm going to try
Luckily, I still have some of my university textbooks, so I can start there, or I can find an interesting article and then do more research from there. I also just picked up a book about Mind Maps for learning Physics (not sure the actually title), and it looked interesting, so I'm hoping to shore up my tenuous grasp there.
>>Often it's nice to pick a starting example from this world and imagine a different example from another. A food web. How sex works. Genetics. A species. That sort of thing.<<
That is good advice. Also less daunting than doing a whole world, while still having the fun of imagining something different. Aha! Maybe I could use one of the ideas I had while sitting in the sun after giving blood; what if humans could use photosynthesis?
>>Apparently, what most people do -- and this includes professionals -- is take something and copy its appearance.<<
I can actually see how this would work, as it is a very shallow "idea" to work off of, but it's also why I feel most of my writing is subpar. The main core/idea is where I have trouble, along with characterization and world details. So while I can take an idea such as "Sofia takes an art class", I have a hard time giving it any substance, so my work ends up feeling undeveloped and lack luster to me. Actual professionals working in a similar fashion? Boggles my mind a bit and as makes me feel less bad about my attempts. I thought they were supposed to do it *properly*.
>>I should probably warn you that I can teach you a ton about storytelling, but it is likely to make you and your work wildly unsuited to mainstream markets. This may or may not be something you want.<<
I would love to be able to have even a tenth of your storytelling skills. I've never had aspirations for a career as a writer, so being unsuitable for mainstream isn't a concern. I'd rather be able to do something *well*, and write something that I'm proud of and am confident showing other like-minded people.