Writing Guide

Welcome. This guide is to show people how to write stories properly. I've seen tons of mistakes in many stories, and it gets annoying after a while. Plus, if you write in chatspeak and all, reading this could change people's opinions about you. This doesn't have to be just for writing stories. It could be for properly repling to/making a thread in a forum. So, if you're ready, we'll get started.

Alrighty, we'll start with the basics. You always capitalize the first leter of every sentence. Always. I have never seen a situation where you wouldn't. You also capitalize proper nouns. Proper nouns include specific places, like cities, countries, etc., specific people, like George Bush*, or George Lucas**, etc., and specific companies, like Dell***, and Toys R Us****.

Now, each sentence contains a subject and a verb. Each sentce will end with a correct puntuation mark. If you're stating something, you're using a declarative sentence, and it should end in a period (.). If you're asking a question, you're using an interogative sentence, and it should end in a question mark (?). If you're giving a command, you're using a imperative sentence, and it should end in a period (.) or an exclamation point (!). If you're shouting something, or trying to make someone excited, you're using a exclamatory sentence, and it should end in an exclamation point (!). Each sentence conveys one complete thought. And we use paragraphs to group related thoughts together.

Whenever you start talking about something or someone else, start a new paragraph, don't just run it all together. Take this example. I was talking about sentences, and then started a new paragraph to talk about paragraphs. Paragraphs make a page seem less cluttered. Imagine that this whole guide was just one, big, long paragraph. The post would seem really large, and cluttered. But, by breaking the guide up into paragraphs, the post looks neat, and organized. Also, when you write dialogue, you always start a new paragraph when a new person starts talking. Take the following example:

There should be a new paragraph when Liz starts talking because she's conveying a new thought. So, the corrected example would be this:

Now, I know the paragraph looks skimpy, but, you can add some other things in, like little actions that define our characters. Like, Harry could shuffle his feet, or Liz could look down. Things like that.

Okay, we've covered capitalization, sentences, and paragraphs. Let's get into proper punctuation. We just scratched the surface when we started talking about sentences, but theres more to it then that. What would you use to combine sentences? What would you use when people talk? Let's start talking about that.

Yes, I know I've started a new paragraph. You may be thinking, "Wait a minute, you shouldn't have started a new paragraph. We're still talking about punctuation." Yes, we are, but you're thinking to general. Think of it this way. The previous paragraph was an introduction to punctation, and, in the next few paragraphs, we'll talk about the different types of punctuation and their uses.

Okay, combining sentences. How would you do this? Let's take this example:

We can combine those two sentences by placing a conjunction in between them, adding a comma, and removing some words. So, to fix this, we could write this:

There, that's better. We've combined those two, short sentences into one bigger sentence using a conjunction, and a comma. Some people just smush it all together, forming a run-on sentence. Here's an example:

It's just one long sentence that expresses two difference actions. The two sentences should be seperated.

Also, some people create comma splices, where they combine the two sentences with just a comma. Example:

What's the difference between this one, and the one we fixed above? There's no conjunction in the one above. We just run both sentences together, and combine them.

Okay, I know that was a somewhat short section, but I want to get to other things. We're going to get into things like descriptions, things not to do, and more. Let's start with an example 'story' I wrote (This is written just for this guide. I do not normally write like this.).

Yes, I know this is corny, but that's the point. Anyway, there are several things wrong with this paragraph/story. First one: Never EVER start a story with "Once upon a time...", unless you want it to sound like a fairy tale. "Once upon a time" is the most overused beginning to a story. Never use it.

Okay, next problem: You haven't described what a Lugia looks like. You may think, "Hey, this is a Pokemon communiy. They know what a Lugia looks like." Well, what about people who haven't played Pokemon and don't know what a Lugia looks like? They have to make up what a Lugia looks like. You don't have to give a complete description, just give things that will give the audience an idea of what it looks like.

Now, here's another problem: "Her name was Aya." There are two things wrong with this sentence. First off, don't introduce someone just by saying "Her name is...". It's too nooby, and not very professional. Remember, you want people to LIKE your story.

The other thing wrong with this is the name, Arya. If you've read Eragon or Eldest, then you'll recognize it right off the bat. The level of the person liking this story goes down immediately, because you copied a name. Now, names like Jason, or Amy, are fine, because they're a more common name, and you can't say that you copied some one else.

Okay, next sentence. "One day, she went off into the forest." Where is this forest? Is it near her home? Is it far away? Where is it? What's it look like? How big is it? See, there is no description, so people have to make up what it looks like, and it may not be like what you had in mind.

"There, she was captured by Team Rocket!" Okay, unless someone is talking, and they're excited, or yelling, or something, don't use a exclamation point to try to make something exciting. The good way to make something exciting, is to actually tell what happened. Don't just say "such and such was captured!" It doesn't make someone excited.

"They took her to their base, where they ran experiments on her." Description, description, description! Describe what sort of expreiments they ran on her. The people who read that, again, have to make up what sort of experiments they ran on her.

"She never lived to see the forest again! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" O_o Never, EVER, put it things like "MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Also, don't put emoticons in your story. Things like this also scream out "NOOBIE FIC!" They just decrease the level of liking your fic.

Okay, hopefully, this will help you guys get started of making corrections. If you would like some ideas, or corrections, feel free to PM me. If you want to learn more, I would suggest Butterfree's Writing Guide.

DISCLAIMERS

* George Bush does not in any way endorse, authorize, or support this guide. I was just using him as an example.

** George Lucas does not in any way endorse, authorize, or support this guide. I was just using him as an example.

*** Dell does not in any way endorse, authorize, or support this guide. I was just using it as an example, and I, in no way, claim to own Dell.

**** Toys'R'Us does not in any way endorse, authorize, or support this guide. I was just using it as an example, and I, in no way, claim to own Toys'R'Us.

***** AIM does not in any way endorse, authorize, or support this guide. I was just using it as an example, and I, in no way, claim to own AIM.

*Looks up and sighs* Disclaimers. Can't live with 'em, and you can't live without them.

its a good idea...no offence but i wont be using most of it...some of it for grammatical structure but otherwise i think ill just keep my writing style the way it is...

That's fine. I'm not offended. It's not just to help you; other sections could help someone else.

Oh, and maybe a mod should sticky this?

This post has been edited by LegosJedi on Mar 14 2007, 12:05 PM

this is an awesome guide, but you forgot one thing, with the punctutation

if the sentance is going to drag on, try and fine a place to finish it, by putting in ," said Bob. and then start the sentance again, or else it'll just look a bit horrible..

Okay, next problem: You haven't described what a Lugia looks like. You may think, "Hey, this is a Pokemon communiy. They know what a Lugia looks like." Well, what about people who haven't played Pokemon and don't know what a Lugia looks like? They have to make up what a Lugia looks like. You don't have to give a complete description, just give things that will give the audience an idea of what it looks like.

Then why are they at a pokemon forum? (This debate can go on forever, and while I do know that you should describe them a bit, you usually do it because it really improves the fic. It doesn't inform the reader, as why the heck are they are on a pokemon forum if they don't know? This can be the same in real fiction with concepts such as tables, chairs, and cars - a car is a car, but you can be more specific and describe it (rusty old Ford.) It doesn't help the story, it just makes the reader feel more informed.)

By using the name Jason or Amy, you also copy someones name. So... But really, Arya is white (i.e. Nazi Germany - Aryans.), so actually it is quite a fitting name for a Lugia. But thanks to Eragon, we can't use it... but that is good avice. It's not like Paoloni made up the name (Eragon is Dutch or German for Drake, I think, as well.)

But this is good advice...

Now,

This post has been edited by Frost X on Jul 31 2007, 12:30 PM

Okay, next problem: You haven't described what a Lugia looks like. You may think, "Hey, this is a Pokemon communiy. They know what a Lugia looks like." Well, what about people who haven't played Pokemon and don't know what a Lugia looks like? They have to make up what a Lugia looks like. You don't have to give a complete description, just give things that will give the audience an idea of what it looks like.

Then why are they at a pokemon forum? (This debate can go on forever, and while I do know that you should describe them a bit, you usually do it because it really improves the fic. It doesn't inform the reader, as why the heck are they are on a pokemon forum if they don't know? This can be the same in real fiction with concepts such as tables, chairs, and cars - a car is a car, but you can be more specific and describe it (rusty old Ford.) It doesn't help the story, it just makes the reader feel more informed.)

It's not really like that, y'know? LJ mentioned a Lugia, that's a common pokémon. Know even by people who don't play or even like Pokémon. But for example a less know Pokémon like... a Dunsparce. Many Pokémon players, especialy beginners may not know it.