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airfryer-on-meth · 4 years

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writing tips bc someone asked

if you haven't lived it, don't write it!

this really should be applied more, really. if you haven't lived through a situation, you probably shouldn't write your main character with it. this is more of a “you will offend someone” rather than “this will make your writing better” but it is seriously important!

to give you an idea of what i mean, if you have never made cookies, you probably aren't in the position to teach someone how to make them, right? unless you have for some reason memorised the recipe AND the tips and tricks to make them as tasty as possible. the same applies to what you write. if you haven't lived through it or done *extensive* research on it and read other books with said subject featured in it, you really shouldn't write it. like, if you are straight, your main character probably should not be gay, that's something i see that pisses me off.

of course, doing extensive research on some things is acceptable. for example, if you live in america your story shouldn't take place in like poland or something. of course, if you do a lot of research on poland then it would make your writing fine. i don’t particularly recommend it, just because you can sometimes still mess stuff up.

that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have diversity in your writing, though! just because you are straight doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have a gay background character. just because you are white doesn’t mean that you can’t have the main characters best friend, for example, be hispanic. If you are in america, you can certainly still write a character from poland

“was”

using “was” in your writing will make it sound less interesting. well, using it a lot or way too much, anyway.

which sounds more interesting to you? “Her breakfast was a bagel. It was topped with cream cheese and berries,” or “For breakfast, she had a bagel topped with strawberry cream cheese and mixed berries.’? probably the second one. not using “was” makes more room for adjectives (and less awkward sentences!) so you can get more detail in one sentence instead of a paragraph.

of course, this doesn’t always need to be done. i’m not saying DON”T EVER USE THIS WORD IT IS BAD i’m saying just avoid it most of the time or when you can. you don’t need every sentence to be so long and wordy. i use this trick maybe 80% of the time, since my target audience is young teens. i wouldn’t use this as often if i were targeting, for example, 4th graders. even if you are targeting highly advanced readers, using this all the time still isn’t necessary. i assure you, it won’t read well and your reader may lose interest.

balance of adjectives and plot

this one really is not super complicated. just don’t describe everything. leave room for the readers to imagine some things! most people like having some creative room, so let the reader have some freedom! yes, some things do need to be described, but not everything., describing every little thing down to the floral pattern of the vase sitting atop an ornate wooden side table in the next room over will make the reader bored, and leave less room in your novel for plot and the action/dramatic/interesting scenes. describe things that you think are worth describing. it is really up to you what is worth it.

dialogue tags

“This is not the best way to write dialogue,” he said.

Using just “x said” or “x said, like this” won’t make your writing very vivid. use words besides “said”. there are so many more ways (thesaurus.com is your jesus) to make a character say stuff. (mumbled, hollered, whispered, cried, choked, muttered, demanded, etc. use whichever is appropriate to stress your tone and mood.)

also, add action into your dialogue! instead of using just a tag, add a tag and then some action. this will make a less bland sentence and make your novel more interesting.

“like this,” he lectured, tapping his fingers on the desk.

you can also add action in the middle, too. this makes the sentence even longer than the last trick, so you can vary sentence length.

“This,” he began in a matter-of-factly tone, “Is another way to write dialogue.”

if you do just want to use “said”, at least add an adjective.

“If you must, at least use an adjective” he said flatly.

describe. your. characters.

we all know the struggle of reading and then suddenly finding out that a character is a different race, age, hair colour, or build than we thought. PLEASE tell me what this character looks like when you introduce them. i will throw your book, your precious child that you spent years making, across my room multiple times if i find out a character is actually 18 years old instead of thirty-something. okay maybe i won’t be THAT aggressive, since i love my books. but please, describe your characters.

keep a list of fancy words

i keep a list of fancy words i hear or read that might be interesting to use in my writing. i also write down phrase and analogies i really like. this has made my writing more vivid, i’ve found.

chapters

chapters should be at LEAST two thousand words long. if you are going for an extraordinarily short chapter, 1,500 at a minimum. short chapters are annoying. especially on websites with user-created stories. looking at you, wattpad.

make character profiles

before you write a story, make sure that you have your characters planned out. this will help to ensure that they are in character and distinguishable.

this doesn't need to be a separate tip, so i'll leave it here. make sure when characters are speaking, THEY SOUND LIKE THEMSELVES. it makes dialogue easier and less confusing to read.

plan out plot

planning out your story or at least having an idea of where you want to go with it is VITAL. this helps avoid plot holes and writing block.

general words to avoid

ima just drop the words to avoid here

was

that

because

basic color names (e.g. red can be replaced with auburn, ruby, crimson, etc)

general slang (unless in dialouge)

k that's all

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