Advice About Writing

Useful things found in entertaining stories:

Point #1: The First Sentence: the first sentence of a short story, or novel, or what have you, is as important as the first impression one gives to another when they first meet. The entire story will be judged upon it. People will scan the work or they will start to read it, depending upon this very first, very crucial thing. If you don't like the first sentence, no one else will like it either.

Point #2: Active vs. Passive: the voice of your work sits better with readers using the active, rather than the passive verb. The passive verb and its derivatives, (is, are, have been, to be, etc) lends a drier feel to the work, whereas the active verb livens the work, and helps keep the readers' interest. A simple example: "The day was sunny." could instead read: "The sun lit the day." After setting down the epic go through it again, noticing the voice, whether it is active or passive.

Point #3: Focus: The focus of the work often causes what many refer to as "writer's block". Recovering from stagnation can be as simple as looking at the action from a different angle. Say one is entirely focused on one character, their thoughts, feelings, and the things that happen to them. Take a deep breath and write the same scene from the perspective of the protagonist, or from the point of view of someone who has just come upon the scene and is trying to make sense of it, The myriad of things that happen in the world, the myriad of people, their beliefs, what motivates them, acts of God, all are viable sources of inspiration. Psychological differences, different stages of life, the differences between men and women, the burdens people carry, it’s like a rainbow smorgasbord of possibilities. No matter what one's interest, a whole other angle, an unexpected twist can revive one's soul and rid oneself of anguish caused by the looming horror of "writer's block". (of course, then one has the problem of : "how the heck am I going to work this into the plot?") Another good exercise is to place oneself into the shoes of another character, or create a character that will have an impact on the action of the hero.

Point #4: Realism: Keeping some realistic touches shows your audience that a lot of thought has gone into the work. For instance, say one writes a story about someone royal who accepts a marriage proposal. One realizes that protocol will have a great impact on the situation. One thinks about the parents' view, the in-laws' view, the opinion of the people. A royal wedding is no trivial matter and is never as simple as one wants it. It is insulting to the readers when important details are skipped. After all, it could lead to something even more interesting. This point also could be called: "Write What You Know."

Point #5: Read Out Loud: Read the work out loud. This is a good exercise to help iron out any common errors we all make: a) repeating words like "suddenly" or "then" too many times in one paragraph or over using descriptive passages. b) run on sentences: too many "ands", "buts" and "thens". c) it should sound, not poetic, but eloquent. d) it could bring to mind a question about a certain aspect of your story that may have been missed. e) Read out loud to someone whose opinion is trusted. Their input will surprise and inspire.

Point #6: W5: Who What When Where Why: keep this in mind. (Sometimes, "How") These questions cover the bases. Make sure to cover these questions. (How you do that, is the fun of it all.) This point could also be called "Clarity" Don't burden the work with unnecessary description. Cut through the shit and think about what the point is, and what the audience needs to know, and what they don't have to know. Read the work over to make sure that the same thing hasn't been said twice.

Point #7: Grammar & Spelling: yes, its really low on the list, but nevertheless, important. Some spelling mistakes can cause a reader to lose the flow of the story, because they have to stop to divine your meaning. ("Keeping the hoses" is NOT the same as "keeping the horses") Proofread, proofread, proofread! BTW: reading your own work over and over again is a good test of its worthiness.

Point #8: Annoying Names: make sure the names of characters are well chosen and easy to figure out. There is nothing more annoying to the reader than having to stumble and struggle with someone's name over and over again. Need help picking out a name? Practice by imagining that the mother cat just gave birth to six kittens. Name them all according to their looks or their personalities. And "Fluffy" is just too banal. Or watch the equestrian trials. There is nothing more imaginative than a horse's name. Please stay away from "baby name" books. They may help at first, but man, a person can get caught up in all that meaning and shit. Just don't go there.

Point #9: Third Person Positive: this is a go. Do not even attempt works done in the first person. They are generally narrow and uninteresting. Good for diaries, not good for audiences. There are exceptions to this, but takes a great deal of skill and experience. Second person: no. This is too preachy. You insult your audience by talking down to them. (See?) Most people do not respond well when they are told what to do. Using the more general third person puts you in a royal position. One becomes the king/queen of his/her work. A general view is less debatable, more diplomatic, and a greater challenge.

Okay, was anything missed? Let me know if you have any input or advise to add to this little essay.

All my love,

StoryJunkie