He Who Hunts The Hunted
Group: Admin
Posts: 21
Member No.: 1
Joined: 17-March 06
|
Okay, so put any advice that can fit into story writing or poem writing here. If your advice goes into just fanfiction, post it in the fan fiction advice thread.
| QUOTE | * Villians: Give them a misson - In the day of Tolkien (may-he-rest-in-pace-God-bless-him) it was allright to have a villian be pure evil, with his/her only motive being to take over the world.But DO NOT godown that route, I beg of you! Instead, give them a reason. Instead of making them go 'Ooooo,I'm evil!' go 'This is what's right!'. Make them complexing villians, with a personality, a history, likes and dislikes, etc. In short terms, make them realistic.
* Give Heroes Flaws - As much as we would like it, there is no such thing as a perfect hero. Even in Marvel Comics, their superheroes have flaws. So, give you're heroes flaws. One example is a character in a novel I was working on(in other words, no longer. But that's a diffrent story): he's the leader of the Resistance, and general cliche would make you think he's a wise man. Well...he's not! He dosen't know combat tactics...his robotic hand isn't made of chrome,it isn't all shiny and crap. It's rusted, dirty and oily, and keeps falling apart. He's addicted to drugs too. But he has heart, wants to help people, and that is why he's a hero...with a hell lot of flaws.
* There is such thing as too much detail - Have there been times when you were reading a paragraph in a fan fiction and you said 'Okay, I'm glad that Bob got over his mother's suicide and all, but do I really need to know about his thumb sucking addiction?'. Well, that is a common errorr many expierenced writers (me included!) tend to make : we get so much into teh writing mood that we put in fifty times the amount of detail than we should. Just take a breather now and then, pause every page or so and just relax for like a few minutes.
| QUOTE (Perspective of FFONLINE.COM) |
Know when to use cliches. Lots of fanfiction by people just starting out, myself included, is just horrible to read, with wooden dialogue and over-blown Plot etcetc. Sadly lots of people then give up at this point. Don't. Take it on the chin and carry on writing. Cliches, like sterotypes, come with a nugget of truth/actually happen sometimes. They're also cultural signposts, pointing the way for your reader's brain. Sometimes you might actually want part of a story to be fairly straightforward, sometimes you might want to play around with things a little.
Read different genres, by different authors. Books are full of the most random hodge-podge of information that can come in handy later. Look at how the authors write, and what they're trying to say with it. While you're at it, nick their plots and see where you would take them. Ask yourself why you think that bit of the story needs changing, and you are a step closer to finding your writing style.
|
| QUOTE (SouthernComfort of FFONLINE.COM) |
Spelling and Grammar - You'll never believe how frustrating it is to read an otherwise good piece, yet stumble over awkward phrases and bad spelling. Word has an exceptional spell checker, and from what I've heard OpenOffice has a decent one. You might even give Word's grammar check a try - it's not great, but it can help.
The Plot Has You - Randomly throwing ideas onto a page will get you into trouble, fast. A solid story is more like a road trip - you have a destination in mind, there are things you want to see on the way, and occasionally there's a breakdown. Find a theme and stick to it, know beforehand the whats and whys of the great conflict that drives your story, pick a few ideas or scenes that should be seen, and at then end wrap everything up, put the story away, and start again with a new tale.
Your Characters, and How To Abuse Them - Real people have huge, sometimes debilitating, flaws; good characters have them too. Think of a person who has a heart of gold, the courage of a dozen men, yet lacks the motivation to actually do anything with his life; a person who has the skill and the drive to succeed wildly at her ambitions, but who's desire to be noticed for those skills and talents often overrides her common sense; a young man who's intelligent and hard-working, but by the whims of fate can never be satisfied with his life. I've just described three very real people, but imagine what kind of characters they would make.
After you have your characters built in your mind, exploit those flaws. Give them the hard time they deserve. It might not matter whether your characters overcome their flaws and find happiness-ever-after, of fail miserably and die ignobly; what matters is that their stories are multidimensional, and that they will stand out and be the vehicle that carries your tale to the end.
A Damn Good Read - Hunt down a copy of The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. Not only is it a good read, it's essential reading for building legendary stories. |
|
|
General Creative Literature Advice Thread
Help
Search
Members
Calendar
