Writing Tips?

edited February 2018 in General Chat

Are the some writers here from the community that can share some writing tips for beginners like me?

Comments

  • Well, I'm a beginner writer myself. One thing I've learned is to find what inspires you, for me it's a number of things, but one is listening to music. I find that I write better while listening to a good song, then sitting in a quiet room. My mind wonders off less.

  • Always pick a writing topic that interests you. If you're writing something you're not interested in then you'll stop caring quickly.

    Always remember that not everything you write has to be perfect or better than the last piece, just make something for fun and try your best the hone your skills along the way.

    If you're posting online, always have a pal read through and proofread, just in case.

    Let your surroundings inspire you. Your environments, personal history, favorite media and emotional feel can very heavily impact what you're writing.

    Carefully study works that you personally feel are really well written and figure out why you love them so much. When I was learning how to write I studied Silent Hill 2 and Bojack Horseman a ton, and it helped me understand and appreciate the writing and allowed me to improve myself.

    Just have fun with what you're doing tbh. That's the most important thing really.

  • Thank you for these tips

    Always pick a writing topic that interests you. If you're writing something you're not interested in then you'll stop caring quickly. Alw

  • no prob my dude. i hope you succeed in all your endeavors

    Thank you for these tips

  • This link might be handy to read through. They're mostly tips about writing fantasy stories, but there are some general ones in there too.

    https://livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=limyaael&keyword=Limyaael's%20Fantasy%20Rants&filter=all

  • Stay away from common cliches as much as possible (if you really want your story to be original). What I mean by common cliches is stuff like "knight saves princess from dragon". There are other common cliches that you can use to your advantage though, like "kid whose mom dies wants vengeance", and you can add in your own twist like "kid whose mom died wants vengeance only to find out dad was the killer".

    Writing is a very complicated (but fun) thing. I hope you do a great job on whatever you're working on!

    1. Have an Ending in Mind.
    2. Avoid Inconsistencies via good explanation.
    3. Never Stop Improving.
  • Don't be afraid to touch those gritty, taboo subjects. The bravest stories are usually the most memorable.

    This is how I see it: For a story to be compelling, it has to be dark. For it to be emotional, it has to be dark. To have happy moments in a story you need to have dark ones. You can't have a day without the night, y'know? But that doesn't mean it has to be constantly dramatic and depressing. Finding the balance is a tricky thing to do. It all depends on the message you're trying to convey, the target audience and the overall tone you're going for.

    I always thought my stories were really dark. I sometimes shocked myself at what I'd come up with...
    And then I watched American Horror Story... Holy crap. It made my stories look like Nursery Rhymes.

  • I'm a beginner myself and the best advice I can give is to just have fun with it. Write what you want to write and try not to fuss over what people may think of it. Don't stress too much as no matter what you do, it's never going to look perfect in your eyes. You are your own worst critic.

  • I am not a professional writer but I do read a lot of comics and I do write a couple of Batman stories from time to time however if there is any advice I would give to beginners like me it would be always remember that if you ever decide to kill someone off make sure that there is a specific reason to kill them off e.g your character loves tech and you have recently introduced a character who also loves tech. Also make sure that the character has been around in your story for at least more than half the story so people can grow to love the character and then when he dies the reader can feel emotional about his death.

  • edited March 2018

    In my opinion, introducing a new guy who loves tech so you can kill off the old guy who loves tech isn't a great reason to off a character, especially if they are a major character. And they don't necessarily have to be around for most of the story for their death to be emotional. One of my favorite games has a death right at the beginning, and although we haven't known them for long, it is very emotional. It all depends on how its written.

    You can have a really important character that you really connect to die in a really tragic way, but if the scene wasn't written right, you feel nothing.

    Or you can have a character you know nothing about die, and if written right, it can have a huge emotional impact on the viewer/player/reader.

    My advice; a good reason to kill a character is to further develop characters who have a strong relationship with them.
    Examples:
    (Star Wars spoilers)

    Han Solo's death had a huge impact on Kylo Ren and further developed him as a ruthless, yet conflicted villain.

    (The Walking Dead Spoilers)

    Lee's death had a huge impact on Clementine as a character.

    So if a death has needed impact on a character's development and story arc, then by all means, slaughter that character!

    Tazmangamez posted: »

    I am not a professional writer but I do read a lot of comics and I do write a couple of Batman stories from time to time however if there is

  • edited March 2018

    Reading, it's so important that you keep reading stories, every day or few days if possible. I find doing that keeps the words flowing in your head for when you put pen to paper and it's not so hard to write things down. Most importantly it's just great for learning, from developing your own writing style, to picking up more on grammar errors better.

    If you're into writing a particular subject or story element, read themes that'll help with inspiration. Also doing research can help if you want to be accurate on something like historical events or how a medical producer is done. But like someone mentioned above, write with what you enjoy writing about and what you feel comfort with.

    With practice in time you'll figure things out more on your own so don't worry ^_^ just keep swimming.

    Edit:
    Oh oh and two heads are better than one. It's great having a friend or beta reader that you can discuss things with if you get stuck so you can work ideas off of each other :D so never feel afraid to ask for advice from those that are willing to give a head. Writer's block is a pain.

  • Thank you for your advice

    Acheive250 posted: »

    In my opinion, introducing a new guy who loves tech so you can kill off the old guy who loves tech isn't a great reason to off a character,

  • Hey Achieve250 I remember you from the "Will Steve come into MCSM" discussion, anyway thanks for the feedback I will definitely use what you told me! :)

    Acheive250 posted: »

    In my opinion, introducing a new guy who loves tech so you can kill off the old guy who loves tech isn't a great reason to off a character,

Sign in to comment in this discussion.