Writer Tips

[AquilaTempestas]

The Do's and Don'ts of writing!

 

List your tips that every writer should be aware of!

 

DOs

• Do be sure to spell check

DONTs

• Don't be a troll!
• Don't write what everyone else is writing - find your own voice

Add yours!

[Stubborn Saber]

My does and don'ts are:

Dos:

Have fun with what you're writing.

If you're up for a challenge try writing with topics you feel you struggle with, it could help you with future stories.

Accept constructive criticism.  

 

Don'ts: 

Force yourself to write, you'll think it's a mess and you won't like the end result.

Jumble everything together in one massive block of text, use paragraphs to separate dialog from text and appropriately split text into nicely sized paragraphs. 

Bother feeding and getting into a internet war with a troll, they get joy from watching your misery. 

[StormyAmethyst]

Do:

 

Have fun, of course!

Walk away from the masterpiece for a while if you're really stuck--you may come back inspired!

Read/Watch/Play other works in the genre you are trying to write--both good and bad, so you also know what to do well, and what NOT to do.

Write what YOU want to write, no matter how harebrained and off the wall it is.

Listen to constructive criticism

Give constructive feedback to your fellow writers

Respond to requests in a timely manner

Admit and accept you don't know everything about writing--there's always room to improve

Write what you know, and research what you don't--this way you SOUND like you know what you're talking about

 

Don't:

 

Put down other writers

Feed the trolls

Completely trash another writer's work

Forget to spell and grammar check

Throw stuff in the story just because

Play too many cliches straight--dare to subvert, invert, avert, and play with them too

Write too many Mary Sues/Gary Stus--give your characters realistic flaws, fears, and regrets

Overdo the angst/swear words. Done well, it can make a powerful scene, but too much will turn the readers off

[SilveryMoonShadow]

Do

• Leave honest reviews
• Research
• Know where to draw the line on information. Too much looks stupid, and too little looks lazy

 

Don't

• Leave nice reviews just for the sake of being kind
• Forget to thank your readers

[yewonthetrashcan]

DOS:

- Be descriptive. A good way to get the reader into a story is to help them visualise what is happening.

- Develop your characters. A story with flat characters is boring.

- For fanfics: Try to stick to canon, but don't be afraid to experiment!

- If you notice that no one has written about something that people seem to want, WRITE ABOUT IT!

DONTS:

- Copy people's ideas in ANY way. 

- confuse your reader with too much. Try to leave explanations if you can in author's notes, or the notes section in AO3.

- As a reviewer, do NOT express anger just because something you wanted to happen didn't happen. Write about that yourself instead!

 

[MasKaiHilFantic]

Do...

1. Be sure to write what you want
2. Write in your own style
3. Write about the couples you like
4. Also try once to write things you do not like, it may be tough, but it can be challenging, and challenging is fun
5. Write for someone you like, or you care about.
6. Write as a gift or a thank-you 
7. Write when you feel like it
8. Take good suggestions given by your readers, they always help
9. Some research does not hurt
10. Use some new words you learn
11. Learn new words from others' writings
12. Take notes from others' criticisms, positive notes that is.
13. Be inspired from things, be it other fandoms, manga, comics, TV, music, books, pictures and images etc.

Do not...

1. Fuss over negative comments
2. Overdo stuff
3. Be too descriptive
4. Be too mysterious
5. Write too much third person view
6. Abandon your fandoms completely in favor of do no.3
7. Overdo lemon scenes
8. Be afraid to take criticisms, even negative one
9. Take too much time in writing, write as soon as possible.

[pyrosocks]

do 

• whatever you want 
• but make sure your reasoning for it is bullet-proof. 
• Be unapologetic about your content
• but learn to take criticism. 
• Create content you would read. 
• Have fun! 

don't 

• forget that no one's entitled to read your work
• and don't let that bother you if you don't have a lot of readers/reviewers
• be afraid of trial and error
• or if you feel like something is imperfect, succumb to self-depreciation.
• listen to people who say that "art is made out of madness"

[Laggy]

-Do

Be logical

Understand the limits of your characters

Let the romance be slow and well developed

Sneak in a few light moments here and there if possible

Maintain the overall theme

Maintain immersion 

Have adequate descriptions

Proofread and have it beta-read

Fact check

-Don't

Make the romance too quick and sudden

Break immersion

Leave important details out

Have your typical Mary Sues and Gary Stus

Be lazy

Be afraid to kill main characters 

 

 

[AquilaTempestas]

Mine is simple.

Do write the story you want to tell

Don't write the story others want you to write

[Beywriter]

DO

Write what you know
Research (if needed to add realism)
If you don't know, look it up
Seconded: Use Spell Checker
Try and get a BETA reader to assist and give opinions before going live
Try and make it belivable/logical
Try to make plot notes

 

DONT

Write poorly constructed sentances/sentances that don't flow properly
Too long paragraphs
Forget soft and hard returns (resulting in a huge colossal wall of text)
Steal other author's works
Upload stories full of gramatical and spelling errors
Write Author's notes halfway through a story - Authors don't do this and it really breaks the flow. I think its against the rules on ff.net
 

 

-A hard return is pressing enter starting a new paragraph, A soft return is pressing shift enter starting a new line which ff.net requires and here for that matter.

[AquilaTempestas]

Instead of having this thread die after several replies, I figured it would be better if we share a tip a day (per person naturally).

Since most of us are writers here, I think it would be quite useful to compile a Tazland guide on writing to help others.

So my tip for today is simply:

Write what you would want to read.

[congresscrab]

If you want to better your writing, read more.

[MasKaiHilFantic]

The best way for me to write now-a-days is to write whatever idea I have in my mind, be it 'original' or not.

If an idea hasn't been done by you, then it's still original.

[onewiththewheels]

As simple as it sounds, make sure to edit your work before posting. If you don't feel like you're able to do this, find someone who can. Particularly true when it comes to grammar.

[AquilaTempestas]

You can't please everyone. Some people are just going to find your work boring. No. That doesn't mean your writing is actually boring - it's boring to some people, not everyone. Don't get disheartened.

[onewiththewheels]

Show, don't tell. Figure this simple rule out, and the writing will come alive.

[MasKaiHilFantic]

Don't be scared to ask for help, and don't sell yourself short either.

[onewiththewheels]

Research, research, research. Nothing ruins a piece more than a badly researched setting. Of course, minor mistakes or things changing are fine, but a nonsensical plot is not.

[belmakori]

Always use a spell checker...most writing programs come with one...

[AquilaTempestas]

Write what you yourself would want to read. At least you'll be interested in it.

[onewiththewheels]

The comma is not the new period, people. Remember that and you'll go far in life.

[aikotters]

Acknowledge your writing will not always be amazing.

[VectorLogic]

Keep things as simple as possible. Twists and turns are okay, but a lot can divert a lot of readers away from it.

(Side note, keep them relevant to the plot, it'll help you stay away from resorting to deus ex machina.)

[onewiththewheels]

Going to post two here because I was supposed to post one yesterday but forgot:

 

From yesterday:

 

Be careful of redundant information. Detail is great, but there's a limit to what it can do.

 

For today:

 

If you are going to do a complex story, make sure to keep track of your own rules and characters. Make it so that readers can too.

 

[onewiththewheels]

  Don't have someone die just for the sake of dying. If the character does not need die  to achieve something in the plot, leave them alive.