I have no advice to add (sorry), but I do want to thank you for making this thread because it sounds like a very useful one <3
(If you are right-wing in the US sense, pro-ship, or associate with someone who is pro-ship please do not respond!!)
Since I see there’s a good chunk of writers here (hello!) I figured why not start a thread where people can post their writing advice/writing advice videos, etc;.
Feel free to post below! (And no NSFW advice, please. Thanks.)
I’ll start:
Besides themes find the “glue” that hold your story together. For example, in Avatar: The Last Airbender, the glue was the Fire Nation War (and trying to stop it). This main goal was present throughout all four seasons, including in the side-quests. All characters had different motivations for teaching Aang, but the war kicked off all the events and was why Aang was learning the elements to begin with.
In order to help the characters feel more like real people, have them react differently to the same event. For instance, when a character dies, Person A could be sad about it while Person B could be angry.
Don’t be afraid to extend out scenes for tension.
Have your character asks questions. Especially if they’re new to a place/culture.
If you want to do a twist, drop small clues leading up to it, so it won’t come out of nowhere.
Don’t have the characters share everything with each other.
For research, try to find a video/source with a first-hand experience. For example, for anxiety, try and find a video with a person talking about what its like to have anxiety.
It’s always good to have a second pair of eyes on your writing.
When it comes to descriptions, use the five senses to help draw the reader in. Namely touch, sight, smell, hearing, and taste.
Have the character’s choices impact the plot, not the other way around. For instance, Aang running off after learning he was the Avatar in Avatar: The Last Airbender was what allowed the Fire Nation to succeed in the war.
Do your research! If not, you’ll look like an idiot. (I should know. I didn’t do my research for my third draft and looked like an idiot.)
Find the main theme of your story (see chart below) and revolve everything (character arcs, chapters, etc.;) around it. This will help cut out fluff chapters and make the writing more cohesive.
Need some advice.
I spent a couple months writing a (webcomic) script, and ended up shelving it. My first drafts are always very freeform, novella type writing. The reason I shelved it is because I decided I needed to go back in the timeline for a different main event, and start the series with that. I have a problem of changing early parts of the timeline, rendering the current narrative confusing or full of plot holes.
I have my current script completely outlined (with exceptions to some parts I'm not sure how I want to go about).
But my problem is I'm either burnt out, or bored out of my mind with my writing right now. I've finished the first chapter (out of 11 in the outline) and I'm in the middle of chapter two. My editor says this is the best writing I've ever done, but I'm afraid if I'm bored, than my readers will get bored. But it could also just be burnout, as the two emotions often appear the same. To clarify, as I'm expanding on my outline, it's causing more doubts in my writing.
I think the only way I can get myself out of this funk is to find a new way to approach my writing, or find some exercises that will loosen up my imagination. I'm very familiar with my characters, and my narrative is solid. (in regards to plot structure), but filing out the details and actually writing the script is defeating me. I really want to get the ball rolling on this project but my inspiration is just zapped. Taking a break, or starting a new/different project is not an option for me on this specific project, as it just delays the bump in the road, and when I return I'll be exactly where I was before. I've sat on these characters for almost a decade, and need to finish this project so I can finally move on, clear my head, and genuinely start on something new.
Anybody have some tips or resources to share for this issue?
this thread is an AWESOME idea omg, i’m afraid i don’t have any advice to give anyone atm but if i ever do i’ll come back
Boyfriend if you’re getting bored easily you may want to try writing other pieces of the story. think about what you absolutely want to happen first and start writing that, then things that can lead up to it. after that a lot of it is flexible and can be changed to whatever you want unless it’s critical to the story. it’s never a bad idea to write multiple scenes at once
i’m a beginner writer (i’ve been writing on-and-off since 2019 but i’ve just now fully gotten into it) and i’m looking for some advice,,,
don’t get me wrong, i want to write, i’m excited about writing, writing makes me happy, but when i sit down to actually write, i lose all motivation and just. sit there. it’s the most annoying thing ever, i don’t get anything done
it doesn’t help that i have TONS of different projects, to the point where i can never choose what i want to work on. like, i sit there and try to choose one to work on, and i can’t just give up and start a new story because it’ll just add to the pile
it’s sad because i’m so excited to start writing, i plan stories in my head, i just can’t write them down,,, then again i’ve always had a ridiculously huge procrastination problem so it might stem from that
any advice? anything would help a ton
wonkypaws Hmm, well as someone who tends to lose motivations on their own projects, I try to remember that you can edit a bad page but not a blank page. Even if you don't feel like writing, you should at least try to write a bit each week. Motivation is rather fickle so I tend to use what some people call the Terry Pratchett method in that I aim to write between 300-500 words per day.
Also, there are tons of great YouTube videos by writers like this one here that talk about how to get your story done.
Hope this helps!!
Maggie-Wolff it took me a solid week to stop procrastinating and finally watch that video, it helped a TON (specifically the tip about writing out of pure spite) tysm for sharing!!!
I got some tips and a question!
For tips:
- Having your research, outline/plot notes if you're a plantser/planner and character notes available as a hardcopy offline is a lifesaver. I work away from home where I don't always have mobile data or wifi so I'm biased to keeping these in either in a notebook or printed out in a ring binder as it's easy to fit these into my suitcase when I leave for a contract.
- Plot structures are really good for checking the story flows nicely and give a nice basic outline to work with. It's worth investing the time in learning how to understand them. I recommend trying a few different structures as different structures will work better for different kinds of stories. If a plot feels dull or doesn't quiet read quiet right I tend to break it down back to basic story beats and reshuffle and alter them as needed until it sounds better.
- Keeping a writer's notebook is a fantastic resource to fall back on later when you're stuck writing. A Drive doc works nicely too. I have one set up to serve as an Idiot's Guide for those moments where I spent so long with one project I genuinely forget how to start another. It collects my current workflow, tips I liked and feel I'll refer back to, writing exercises, references multiple plot structures and tl;dr'd tumblr/youtube tutorials I learnt a lot from, as well as ideas for how to get a plot started.
- I also recommend keeping a small OC/Concepts notebook. I keep an A6 OC Ideas notebook because I can take it to work with me and scribble stuff down and sketch out loose ideas on the go but also I frequently feel like I have no ideas because the few I do have are spread out across 3 devices and 5 different apps so collecting them in a single notebook to serve as an idea bank has done wonders for me.
- When looking for research material, it's worth reading the related wiki's for your subject matter. Cited sources, further reading and external links often lead back to more valuable research.
- If you're writing historical fiction it's worth googling established, published authors and seeing if they have a page/blog post noting what sources they used for their research and recommend to people wanting to write within the same era. I've found a lot of history books tend to regurgitate the same information and just format it differently so if I pick up a new project in an era I'm unfamiliar with that I'll be starting research from scratch I tend to do this along with looking at cited sources in related wikis as a starting point for gathering research material once I'm committed to a plot. Looking at an author's goodreads for recommended research can give a good starting point if they have a goodreads account.
For a question: does anyone have any tips for managing chronic underwriting? It's not a problem for shorter works but I often find myself bugged by this because have several long novel length projects in the works including what I'd like to be a 100,000 word monster project I'm actively writing but I often end up finishing them in half the wordcount I initially projected and planned for. As in I got what was supposed to be 15,000 word short story done in just over 5,000 words even after expanding on the zero draft and adding in just enough details to further ground the setting without it becoming filler.
Small tip because it's just one of the things I've been thinking about and been potentially guilty of is Setting:
A lot of people tend to chuck the setting out at the very start with huge descriptions and memories but it gets lost in the middle, and feels more like flat white background with talking characters. Naming every store in the mall or color of tree in the park doesn't help that a lot. What needs to be written is the characters and their relationship towards the setting. How they feel towards it, how they perceive it, and how it maybe changes them.
Branching off on that, what you're losing isn't interest or the plot of your story, but the mood of the writing and its prose. Setting the mood is one of the things that really set apart amateur and professional prose to me because when you read it, you subtly feel the emotions and overarching themes or feelings without directly reading them. Setting plays into it as the base of that mood. Simply stating it isn't enough but the setting needs to come alive.
For example without specifications, an abandoned neighbourhood may be perceived as creepy or claustrophobic or dreamy or dystopian. Simply describing leaves too much room for speculation and not enough to set the mood. So the tip is basically to just take setting as something as important as every plot point in your story or more :-)
tldr: give the setting as much love as you do your mcs