Tips to improve your writing

Hello fellow form peeps and peepeats, I am the awesome and sexy Zalzas, here to tell you of an exciting new idea that has formed in my massive mind.

It had come to my attention that I have not being contributing to the Felarya universe as a whole, mealy writing stories about my own characters and not coming up with idea that everyone can share. So I set out to come up with the greatest idea ever.

“brain!” I yelled at my brain “come up with something awesome”

“How about a dick joke? I got a TON of those!” my brain responded

“your have to tell me later, right now I need something awesome to contribute to the Felarya universe.”

“how about a Felarya dick joke? I got this one with Crisis and Vivien having sex, and they hear Katrika coming and they don’t want Katrika to catch them in the act so Vivien starts shoving Crisis into her girl parts to get her out of sight. Then Katrika walks in (or slithers I guess) and says hi, then her eyes get really big and she points to Viviens crotch and screams ‘what the heck is that!’ and then Vivien realized that the end of Crisis’s tail is sticking out of her crotch. Thinking quickly she looks Katriak in the eye and says ‘what? Haven’t you ever seen a trouser snake before?’ isn’t that hilarious!

“Meh, it would have been funnier if Vivien actually wore trousers, as it is that joke doesn’t really make much sense.”

“well excuses me for trying! I haven’t slept in nineteen years! That makes it a little hard to think!”

“well maybe if you would come up with ideas faster then I would let you take a break every now and again, now get off you fat spinal cord and give me a good idea for the Felarya community!”

“NO! you can come up with an idea all by you self, I am leaving!” my brain said, before walking out the door.

Well my brain leaving caused me to go into a coma for the next ten years, but thanks to some regenerative technology and some time travel I am back and I DO have an idea! Unfortunately it has nothing to do with adding to the Felarya universe as a whole, it is geared towards improving the many writers that try create stories for the Felarya universe.

With drawing it is a lot easier to see where you need to improve, if your owls look like they have wheels for feet then you know you need to practices drawing feet. But what about writing? What do you do to improve you overall writing ability? How do you craft a scene that can really paint a picture in the mind of the reader?

“Crisis ate the Neko, she was tasty” certainly describes an action but it can be much better

“The tiny Neko struggled desperately in Crisis’s grasp. Her claws slashing uselessly at the Naga’s thick skin. ‘That tickles’ giggled Crisis as she lifted the screaming Neko to her lips. The unfortunate cat-girls pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears as Crisis happily popped the Neko into her mouth. She bounced around the warm cavern as Crisis moved the poor Neko around with her tongue, quickly covering her in a slimy coating of spit. the Neko felt herself sliding to the back of Crisis’s throat, she tried to dig her claws into the fleshy tongue to stop her descent but they where only bounced harmlessly off the soft velvet cushion. The Neko gave off one last panicked scream as was sucked down the dark abyss of Crisis’s throat. ‘Tasty’ Crisis said as she licked her lips, then went off to find a more substantial dinner.”

that is a much better description of a scene. But how ELSE can we make it better? That is what this thread is for, for writers to discuses literally techniques and methods to improve each others writing. My hopes is that this will serve as a “How to” guide for fiction writing, and hopefully help all the great Felarya fiction writers improve there stories. So contribute my peers. If you have a thing that helps you write better stories, or maybe something you are sick of seeing in peoples writings then feel free to post them here. Thank you.

P.S ok, so the first part of this post was pointless….oh well.

Something I particularly dislike in Felaryan fiction is references to things only people from Earth would probably understand, especially when it's a Felaryan native making the reference. Another thing I find somewhat displeasing is seeing frequently-used or unoriginal lines, metaphors, and similes. An excerpt from your second-to-last paragraph: "... fell on deaf ears ..." A few other lines I can think of from the top of my head:
-... ran for his/her/their life/lives
-... faster than the speed of sound/light
-"Roses are red, violets are blue..."
-... like heck/Hell

One thing I particularly find interesting (in narratives) is when the point of view suddenly changes according to the central character in the paragraph or scene. For example, if Crisis were to be playfully eating a neko, the description from Crisis' perspective would probably be predominantly happy, amusing, and joyous-- the neko's fright and concern for her life wouldn't even appear, but the reader will know it's there from the explanation (if you can write it out well enough). However, if the next paragraph were to be from the neko's eyes from within the stomach, the mood and tone abruptly goes from playful and awkward to morbid and bleak. This is a wonderful way, in my opinion, to stop the story from being too repetitive or predictable.
To explain it deeper, the narrator describes the scene in the given paragraph as if the main character at the moment is writing their own narrative on their own experience as it happens. Their opinions and prejudice comes into play. Let's say that I was writing a story about a benign, vegetarian, adult naga who had a heart of gold. Upon seeing a wandering adventurer, the paragraph might be something like (and I'm being very lazy here) :

"Hey, do you know the way to Frost Peak?" Nagette asked the person writing on the bark of a massive tree. The naga giggled as the shocked human stumbled onto its* back. She waved amiably with a friendly grin as he* climbed to his feet and backed into the tree he was confined to.
Fear grasped Mitchell's throat and refused to let go. His gray irides stared up the horrid monster** towering over him; the sinful creature's** red eyes of evil** emptily promised him peace and kindness.

* I use "its" to show that the naga does not yet know the gender of the human. After he falls and reveals his face and front body, his gender is unmistakable.
** While the naga is completely benign and harmless (and the reader is aware), Mitchell assumes that this massive thing in front of him is not planning to become friends with him. He would describe the naga as a "horrid monster"-- a "sinful creature" with "red eyes of evil."

Be creative. Some examples: Have a non-Miratan use a gun. Have a close-combat fighter use something besides an axe, sword, or spear. Have a Predator trap a prey in a way beyond outrunning it / wrapping its tail or arms around its escape route / get it stuck in a web. Perhaps herd it to a cave where the only escape is covered by the Pred? Or how about they set up some snares? Force them into a place where they're hampered such as a bog? Just think of what you normally expect of a certain act in a story, then to think of something you normally wouldn't. While it is okay to use the above [Miratan with a gun, a fighter with a sword, a Predator surrounding the Prey with its tail], using exclusively stuff like that leads to a lack of variety beyond character names and appearance. "This is a Dridder? Well, she's going to lead the victims to her web to feed on at her leisure. "

Detail is nice, but we don't need thirty pages to describe a simple act. Also, try and tone down on simile's. Every now and then throwing in something like "(S)He struck lightning fast" is alright. "(S)He struck as fast as lightning, dodging the blows like water parts as (s)he attacked with the strength of a bear" is not. It's possible to say "They hit hard" or "they're strong" without making your writing skills look bad. Actually, it tends to help in some instances to not put those types of comparisons.

Write a chapter or two ahead before you 'finish' with an earlier chapter, more if possible. While the chapter may have been perfect at the time, what if it turns out that the events of such write you into a corner three chapter's later? Or you want to make a certain event the next chapter, but it turns out that a few seemingly meaningless occurrences last chapter prevent you from writing it plausibly?

Lastly: PROOFREAD! Don't rely on your spell / grammar checks to tell you if something was spelt right or makes sense. Sometimes they'll say nothing is wrong when there is a problem, and other times they can say there's an error where none stands.

<<< “NO! you can come up with an idea all by you self, I am leaving!” my brain said, before walking out the door.

hahahaha I laughed out loud at this line XD
And this thread is a great idea I think ^_^

Sephimink|Kyle wrote:

Something I particularly dislike in Felaryan fiction is references to things only people from Earth would probably understand, especially when it's a Felaryan native making the reference.

I think it really depends on the story. a completely serious story should absolute follow this rule, it really does not make sense for a Felarya Critter talking about stuff from earth. But a light hearted comedy might do well with several pop coulter references.

Katrika- * in a batman costume* I am darkness, I am the night, I am BATRIKA!

See, funny!

Sephimink|Kyle wrote:

Another thing I find somewhat displeasing is seeing frequently-used or unoriginal lines, metaphors, and similes.

Another valid point, one which I am guilty of ^_^

Sephimink|Kyle wrote:

One thing I particularly find interesting (in narratives) is when the point of view suddenly changes according to the central character in the paragraph or scene. For example, if Crisis were to be playfully eating a neko, the description from Crisis' perspective would probably be predominantly happy, amusing, and joyous-- the neko's fright and concern for her life wouldn't even appear, but the reader will know it's there from the explanation (if you can write it out well enough). However, if the next paragraph were to be from the neko's eyes from within the stomach, the mood and tone abruptly goes from playful and awkward to morbid and bleak. This is a wonderful way, in my opinion, to stop the story from being too repetitive or predictable.

Very good idea, and sets the stage for a lot of conflicting emotions for the reader, and maybe even a little bit of Black Humor.

Malahite wrote:

Detail is nice, but we don't need thirty pages to describe a simple act. Also, try and tone down on simile's. Every now and then throwing in something like "(S)He struck lightning fast" is alright. "(S)He struck as fast as lightning, dodging the blows like water parts as (s)he attacked with the strength of a bear" is not. It's possible to say "They hit hard" or "they're strong" without making your writing skills look bad. Actually, it tends to help in some instances to not put those types of comparisons.

Ahh! VERY good point! This has to do with pacing and balance of the story. you can’t have so little descriptions that the story becomes merely a laundry list of events, while you also cant have so much detail that the story moves at a snail’s pace, being bogged down with unnecessary description.

Karbo wrote:

<<< “NO! you can come up with an idea all by you self, I am leaving!” my brain said, before walking out the door.

hahahaha I laughed out loud at this line XD
And this thread is a great idea I think ^_^

Oh you know how much I like making you laugh.

And that Brain of mine is a total jerk! See if I ever use him again! Who needs brains anyway!

I and I do hope this thread goes well, I am really excited for it ^_^

zalzas wrote:

Sephimink|Kyle wrote:

Something I particularly dislike in Felaryan fiction is references to things only people from Earth would probably understand, especially when it's a Felaryan native making the reference.

I think it really depends on the story. a completely serious story should absolute follow this rule, it really does not make sense for a Felarya Critter talking about stuff from earth. But a light hearted comedy might do well with several pop coulter references.

Katrika- * in a batman costume* I am darkness, I am the night, I am BATRIKA!

See, funny!

You're right-- if a writer is writing for humor and is not tuned to be serious, then unexplainable and unfitting things can be passed along as long as it makes the reader laugh or smile. That fact could very well be the reason why it's funny.

Quote :

Sephimink|Kyle wrote:

Another thing I find somewhat displeasing is seeing frequently-used or unoriginal lines, metaphors, and similes.

Another valid point, one which I am guilty of ^_^

Me, as well. I haven't read over my first story in a while, but I'm positive there are a lot of cliches in there.

Quote :

Sephimink|Kyle wrote:

One thing I particularly find interesting (in narratives) is when the point of view suddenly changes according to the central character in the paragraph or scene. For example, if Crisis were to be playfully eating a neko, the description from Crisis' perspective would probably be predominantly happy, amusing, and joyous-- the neko's fright and concern for her life wouldn't even appear, but the reader will know it's there from the explanation (if you can write it out well enough). However, if the next paragraph were to be from the neko's eyes from within the stomach, the mood and tone abruptly goes from playful and awkward to morbid and bleak. This is a wonderful way, in my opinion, to stop the story from being too repetitive or predictable.

Very good idea, and sets the stage for a lot of conflicting emotions for the reader, and maybe even a little bit of Black Humor.

Occasionally, I'll be looking over my writing and wonder how my English teachers would try to decipher and analyze it if they read it. (Dark) Satire is always fun to incorporate.

http://foremostpress.com/authors/articles/show_not_tell.html


Simply read this, and you'll start walking along the Yellow Brick Road of Improvement. Not to be confused with the other Yellow Brick Road.

Credits to Daimo for showing me that site.

I heartily approve of this thread, and feel it has been without activity for too long. Several interesting and helpful tips have already been posted here, so I think I'll add one of the more unconventional things I've come up with. This tip is especially helpful if, like me, you don't have someone to proofread your work, but it's probably not a bad idea in any case.

Anyway: Once I've finished a story (or section of a story), I put it away, and leave it alone for at least a couple of days. Then, when I come back to it, I go over my story one last time, but I change the font and text size first. It sounds silly, I know, but for some reason it helps me look at my writing with 'fresh eyes', and I'm always amazed at how many 'new' errors I find in my writing with this practice.

Yeah, not exactly groundbreaking stuff, I know. But it's relativity easy, and I've definitely benefited from the practice, so I figured; why not share?

Here's another tip!

Accept CRITIQUE
Ignore CRITICSIM

It seems many writers have forgotten the difference between the two, as well as commenters themselves. For example, if someone suggests to you to be a little more descriptive in your writing like this;

Quote :

It's a good story, but it seems a little bland, maybe you could put in some more descriptions like 'and then her mouth opened, revealing long, white, glistening teeth'

Then they are giving you critique! Good critique too! And you could accept it and do what it says.

Then there is criticsim. I know, I know, some people are not the best spellers or plot makers, but blasting them off their computer chairs is not how you help them grow as writers. So something like this;

Quote :

You're spelling sucks, use spell check, there is no clear plot, where are the quotation marks? The only thing in here is sex, sex, and more sex, and you can't even punctuate properly! This story suxxors!

is a no-no.

L'Ryn wrote:

Accept CRITIQUE
Ignore CRITICSIM

This is a good point, but your examples are a bit off. A critique can contain criticism while still being useful, whereas unconstructive praise is pretty much as useless as unconstructive criticism.

The real difference is that criticism and praise both lack suggestions on how to improve the subject. A pure critique is only the suggestions, pointers and corrections without emotional content. Usually, a critique is combined with either praise or criticism to make it more interesting.

Honestly, some of my best learning has been from the harshest critics. I would instead say that you should separate the critique from the review to accept the lessons that feedback can teach while ignoring the emotional content. (Though praise is cool, My ego likes the boost)

Hmm, I'm gonna bump this excellent thread with another 'tip' now. (I do wonder if I'm really even qualified to give tips, but lack of qualifications has never stopped me from doing anything before, so BWA!)

Anyhow, another thing that I think has really helped my writing is that when I'm reading a book I really enjoy, I'll often step back from the immersion, and take a more clinical look at how it's written; dialog, sentence structure, and punctuation especially. It's often quite helpful (to me, anyway) to take a close look at how a person who makes a living writing does it. Plus, reading novels in fun to begin with, so it's a two-in-one.