April 2007

Huskal

(17, F, NZ)

Advice I've got and been given that only a person sleep deprived would read:

I find it easier to write realistically by stopping waffling on and just taking a moment to envisage what's going on in my story, see it in my head, and then transcribe what I fantasize into fantasy.

20000names.com is a good source for names. I personally will start a story with great momentum and vision for my wee characters; then take an hour and a half wondering what name I should give them and usually don't get halfway through a sentence before I run out of steam and give up. If worst comes to worst, just use family middle-names or obscure street names and replace later with something different if your character doesn't grow into their temporary name.

A great tip about writing I got from a famous author called John Marsden is that you don't explain everything to the reader, like "This is Shelly, she is 16 and lives in America", but you leave subtle clues such as, "Shelly grabbed her schoolbag on her way out the door, yelling 'Bye Mom!' as she usually did--" I keep doing that myself. I explain things that are actually obvious or give too-revealing clues and have to back-track to make sure I don't spoil the surprise. Remember, the reader isn't stupid, they can make inferences all on their own.

A tip about writing I learned in primary school was: avoid using said. Said is the most basic of descriptions of communication. My teacher was singing the praises about an author who hardly ever used 'said', which made the book 'so much more interesting'. So there. I'm avoiding said. She's got a good point.

Edit out repetition. Repeating the same repetitive words in a repeating manner without exploring a wide range of vocab is repetitive and is very distracting. Give it a few sentences, or even a paragraph, before repeating it.

Mary Sues are cannon fodder. Anyone on Fanfiction.net will concur. No one likes them. If you make your character perfect, prepare to be lynched. It's hard work trying to get your character realistic, (and I've probably Mary Sued my own creation), but try to avoid it. Seriously. I've read Bill McCaffery's stuff, he makes Mary Sues. It's horrific.
If you can write without making a Mary Sue (perfect creations, flawless) then you're better than published authors.

:) that's all for now.