Posts tagged writing tips

neil-gaiman:

1. Thank you for posting some advice to writers. I’m doing a group presentation for a “writers on writing” assignment in a composition theory course and although I know that no two novels are written using the precisely same method, I was wondering overall what processes work for you, whether it be in first drafts or your editing process. :)

    veg-r3

   Normally my methods are something along the lines of:

   Start at the beginning. Or at least, start somewhere: it may turn out to have been the beginning.

   Keep going somehow until the end.

   Make it look like I knew what I was doing all the time. 

   
   
   
2. Hi Neil, I’m a huge fan of your work. I was wondering if you could give me some writing advice. I’m stuck about 2/3 of the way through a first draft, and I’ve got plot threads running all over the place. Do you have any suggestions on what I can do to bring them all back to my central plot? Thanks in advance! -April

    waywardvictorianbitch

   Make a list of what has to happen to get you to the end of the story. Write down all the dangling plot threads and ways you can resolve each one. Look for ways that you can deal with several plot threads at the same time.

   I tend to be less concerned with how things happen than with what has to happen to people, so I list my plot threads by people. I write down things like “Fat Charlie has to SING.”

   And then start writing again. Good luck.

consulting-helper:

By Ginny Wiedhardt

Read More

(Source: fictionwriting.about.com, via fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment)

bendingsignpost:

Required: know all major plot points or major scenes. 

Step one: write out all of them in any given order. 

Step two: find the one that goes last. 

Step three: reverse engineer what would have had to have happened before that. 

insomniacauthor:

So I’ve also decided to put up some writing tips here as well, to help give me a reference, and to help anyone else who may be interested. Here’s the first set, taken from writeitsideways.com. Be sure to click on the links for more detail.

101 of the Best Fiction Writing Tips, Part I

1. Calling characters by their proper names in dialogue almost always sound phoney. 5 Creative Flaws that Will Expose Your Lack of Storytelling Experience.Storyfix
2. There’s never a perfect time for writing, so stop waiting for it. Why There’ll Never Be a Perfect Time to Write. Daily Writing Tips
3. Be selective about what you include in your story. You don’t need it all. Six Structural Problems Writers Face & How to Fix them. Beyond the Margins
4. Increase the stakes for your characters to prevent sagging story middles.When Middles Sag. Writers in the Storm
5. Use a waterproof dive slate to take notes in the shower. The Three Writing Tools I Can’t Live Without. Writer Unboxed
6. Avoid extended dialogue without sufficient grounding. Five Openings to Avoid. Nathan Bransford
7. To write a better book, write your query letter first. Write Your Query First for a Better Book. Writer Unboxed
8. Bigger doesn’t mean better. Use simple words instead of deliberately choosing big words. Just Call It Freaking “Green” Already. Writer Unboxed
9. Writer’s block might mean you’re trying to write something you’re not ready to write. Advice from Jonathan Franzen. Gotham Writers’ Workshop
10. Epiphanies are overused in fiction, and can be boring. The Problem of the Eureka Moment. Beyond the Margins
11. Your novel shouldn’t be a thinly-disguised memoir. 12 Signs Your Novel Isn’t Ready to Publish. Anne R. Allen
12. Try to use all five senses when writing each scene of your book. 5 Tips for Writing Better Settings. Jody Hedlund
13. Don’t describe silence as ‘deafening’. Things to Avoid [in Writing]. Glass Cases
14. Prologues usually just encourage infodumps. Prologues–This Side of Hell.Behler Blog
15.  Using defense mechanisms can increase the tension between characters.Using Defense Mechanisms for Characters. Roni Loren’s Writing Blog
16. Less is more when it comes to describing your characters. Why Less Detail Makes More Believable Characters. Plot to Punctuation
17. In action scenes, vary sentence length and structure to increase or decrease speed and excitement. Tips on Writing Action Scenes. The Other Side of the Story
18. Evaluate your story by defining its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. How to S.W.O.T. Your Story Over the Fence. Storyfix
19. In first drafts, you don’t need to know everything. Use placeholders (like X) as reminders to research a detail later. First Draft Secrets: Five Simple Steps.Write to Done
20. Sometimes the most important moments in dialogue is what isn’t said. What Isn’t Said: Subtext in Dialogue. Author Culture
21. Try using an ambiguous ending to create a plot twist (often works well in short stories). 10 Ways to Create a Plot Twist. T.N. Tobias 
22. Avoid overused, obvious symbolism in your fiction. The Obvious Symbolism Police. Glass Cases
23. Dialogue should reveal emotion through words, not adverbs (eg. “she said angrily”). Tips for Improving Dialogue In Your Novel. The Creative Penn
24. Know everything about your characters’ backstories, but write about only 10% of it. Character Planning. Procrastinating Writers
25. Your protagonist can’t be easily satisfied. He needs to want something badly. Can You Write a Publishable First Novel? Anne R. Allen’s Blog

(Source: writeitsideways.com, via moffating)

writingbox:

You don’t need to describe your character down to the finest detail; let your reader do some imagining of their own (they seem to enjoy that!) But there are a few character points that affect how they interact with their world which you can reveal through action.

1. Height: Do they need to duck through doorways, or bend to speak to their friends? Do they struggle to reach the top shelf in the supermarket? The way they cope with these things reveal how they feel about their height. Do they compensate by wearing heels or by slouching?
2. Weight: Do they easily slip through small spaces and crowds? Or do they avoid sitting on flimsy-looking furniture? Do they suffer backache from pulling their stomach in all day, or do they wear layers to try and look bulkier?
3. Eyesight: How well can they see distances or read small print? Do they proudly wear glasses, do they go more subtle with contact lenses, or are they in complete denial?
4. Smell: Do they douse themselves in perfume or do people shy away from their sweaty smell? Do they realise what they smell like, or are they oblivious?
5. Walk: Does the way they walk make them stand out, or blend in with the crowd? Do they look ahead or walk looking at their feet? How big is their stride, how big are their feet, and how does this affect the way they move around their world?

These are all things that can be used to reveal character, impact plot and affect the setting.

Think about how happy your character is with their physical attributes. Do they hide them because they’ve suffered years of bullying, or are they proud of who they are and have little care for what others think?

(via fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment)