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- I want characters I can relate to. I’ve only read about a small handful, so I’ll gladly settle for characters that are both odd and fleshed out.
- I want a setting I’ve never read about before. I mostly read fantasy and science fiction because they take me to new places that present unique problems.
- I want clear prose. Words can be poetic without being fluffy.
- I want an ending that that’s foreshadowed without being predictable.
- I want a new premise that stays with me for a long time. This is another reason I mostly read science fiction and fantasy.
- I want to root for a character so badly that I shout advice to them while I read.
- I want literary techniques to be subtle enough that I don’t roll my eyes at them.
- I want as little romance as possible.
- I want to put down the story so desperate for more that I look up the author and read more of their works.
What do you want in a story? Do you share some of my preferences? Are there things on my list that you can’t stand? Reblog with your personal list!
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Having a writing lifestyle means
- Waking up with a plot idea based on one of your dreams.
- Rambling about people who don’t exist to anybody who will listen.
- Sneaking some words into your stories when you’re supposed to be doing other work.
- Staring dumbly at the blank word processor.
- Finding time to write where others only find time to sleep.
- Cringing at the OBVIOUS ERRORS in bestselling novels.
- Thinking up epic plots during your commutes to work or school.
- Cringing at the OBVIOUS ERRORS in the stuff you just wrote five minutes ago.
- Repeating a brilliant idea to yourself until you get the chance to write it down.
- Getting massive FEELS from your own work.
- Having a strange mix of love and hate for your characters.
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How many words can you write in a half hour?
When I asked my followers how much they wrote on their best writing day, one answered that she once wrote 2000 words in a half hour!
Seeing that, I tried to write for a whole half hour and check my word count at the end. It was only around 500. A little while later, I tried again and got 800. Every time I tried, the number increased. I decided to make a game out of it: every time I had a half hour free for writing, I would try to beat my best score.
I ended up writing an awful lot of words and spending much more time writing.
You can use a similar strategy. Pour your heart out into your word processor for half an hour and see what you can come up with. Then try to beat that number the next time you get the chance. Let me know if you ever top 2000!
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Quite a few people complained about my “write in order” post by saying they had to write the scenes they were “inspired” for first. If they wrote in order, they didn’t get “inspiration.”
Here are two quotes from famous authors about inspiration.
“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” -Stephen King
“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” -Jack London
There are several more of a similar nature. I follow the “if you only write when you’re inspired, you write as a hobby, not a lifestyle” camp. Don’t get me wrong, it’s wonderful when inspiration happens, but if I only wrote when I was inspired, I would get a lot less writing done. Plus, you can always force your brain to come up with ideas. Some people say it’s impossible simply because making your brain form new ideas can be really hard the first couple of times. Once you get the hang of it, though, it becomes easy to grab inspiration instead of having it come to you.
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There are a lot of authors who write whichever scenes come to their mind first and then fill in the words to link those scenes together at a later time. I disagree with this standpoint, as it leads to repetitive and sloppy writing.
One of the people who writes this way is Stephanie Meyer, and it shows. When people complain about her prose, they’re most likely complaining about problems that arise from writing out of order.
Edward’s physical characteristics are mentioned a ludicrous number of times in every chapter. Bella is supposed to be mostly featureless so the reader can step into her shoes, but her features are also mentioned more often than is healthy. Some sentences are repeated nearly word for word at different times in the books, and concepts are often introduced more than once.
This is because the first time you write about something, you want to get every detail out. If you’re writing about an alien race, you’ll want to get their looks and mannerisms out of the way as soon as possible. The problem is, if you get all those details out in the first scene you write and you need to write an earlier scene featuring those same aliens, the readers won’t get a proper introduction unless you put all the stuff you already wrote in again. There’s a good likelihood that future edits won’t remove all of the repetition that comes from writing this way.
Also, though it appears fairly easy to start writing a story this way, it sounds like it would make finishing and editing the story several times harder. Best to just write in order.
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When I was younger, I asked my dad why anybody would ever take up smoking. Everyone knew how unhealthy it was, after all.
He said that even though people knew it was bad, they also thought it was worth it to get a temporary pleasure. I had just spent half the day messing around on a Pokemon website, and he pointed out that I was doing pretty much the same thing by playing online. I was making whatever goals I had for the future less likely to happen because I wasn’t pursuing them.
If you want to be a professional writer, every second you spend doing other things (that aren’t necessary) is a second taken away from the future you want to have. The same thing goes for if you want to be a well-known fanfiction author, a great roleplayer, or any other writing-related thing you can think of.
Just something to consider.
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- Is your first sentence enticing?
- Do you quickly establish a character we should care about or be interested in?
- How clogged is your story with exposition?
- Do you use any words too often?
- Are there any instances of that, had, somehow or it was that you could delete or change?
- Are there any typos you need to fix?
- Are there any sentences or paragraphs that wouldn’t alter the story if deleted? (hint: a lot of times it will be your first paragraph, especially if you enjoy writing about setting or back story right up front.)
- What kind of voice pervades your piece?
- Is your story the right length?
- How is the main character different at the end?
- Do all your characters have distinct voices?
- Does the plot progress at the rate it’s supposed to?
- Are all late events properly foreshadowed?
- Are all plot threads either wrapped up or obviously and deliberately left open?
- Is there a different way the story could have gone which would have made better sense given its premises?
- Is it properly formatted?
- Did you accidentally include any unfortunate implications?
- Could an average reader from your intended audience understand your story? For example, even if you are writing a Batman fanfic, your readers will not have read every single comic that includes Batman.
- Does anything major actually happen in the story?
- Does your ending satisfy?
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I never thought I’d have to do a post like this, but it turns out more people than I ever thought don’t know these things! Here are the basics to keep in mind while you write. You can deviate from them if you wish, but it would be hard to write a good story without even knowing about these things.
- You need to know proper punctuation and grammar. Putting commas where your periods should be is not a stylistic choice. It’s not a good one, anyhow. There are several websites that explain grammar and punctuation in simple terms. If you’re confused about something, look it up. There’s no shame in doing so. I do it all the time.
- The fewer words you use, the better. The point is usually to tell a good story, not to have a high word count. If something is extraneous, cut it out, even if it sounds really good.
- Don’t show off your vocabulary. Readers are not impressed by big words where smaller ones can do the job.
- When attributing dialogues, said and asked are your friends. Never say “he commanded” when the words themselves are commanding. As far as I’ve seen, beginning authors think this is a matter of style while professionals know not to clutter their dialogues with alternate words for said.
- Speech doesn’t have to conform perfectly to grammatical rules. In fact, it probably shouldn’t. Sentence fragments add flavor and people often use words in new and technically incorrect ways. This isn’t to say you should make dialogues entirely true to the way people talk in life. That would be hard to read. You should make them far less formal than the narrative, though. Each character needs a distinct voice. This not only adds realism, it also makes it easier for readers to tell who’s talking without overt clues.
- Your beginning sentences should make the reader want to know more.
- You should not bring new items, characters, places, or situations in late in the story without any foreshadowing.
- Suddenly is a horrible word that should be used as little as possible.
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I’m not going to post a tip tomorrow or Sunday because I want to focus more time this weekend on writing. Every time I get on Tumblr, I’m like a magpie in the land of shiny baubles. Hours of my time mysteriously disappear. It’s like they’re stolen.
In fact, tonight’s post shall be a prompt on that very thing. Write a detective story where the criminal is somebody who literally steals time. If you actually write something based on this prompt, let me know, because I’d love to read it!
(Source: shannahmcgill)
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