Writers Unite! (Story Writing Tips)

[Adder]

I meant limited (and above all) small areas of blistering. Obviously, you've got huge problems if about 10% of your skin is damamged from fire, probably less.
I've also said "I don't know many people who would know first hand if it's possible"... exept you, of course, Teal.

[Teal]

...Just pyrophobic, is all. The idea of burns just fills me with horror, whether they're real, implied or just fictional. *shrugs* :P

[MudokonGodWorshipMe!]

AAAAAAA I'M BURNING!

Sorry, i just accidently touched the radiator. owch.

Any of you written a story and then sent it to important people? I have!

[Oddkid]

Well basically I just need to ask a question about good ways to start off a story. Like something a little more in depth than "Once Upon a Time" or "A long long time ago in a galaxy far away"

I'm just staring at a blank screen word document but I'm having the hardest time in the world just putting down the first few sentences. I know that If I trudge through the first few paragrahs then I'll be set into smoother motion but as of now....I'm stuck x.x

[Adder]

I can't think of an easy way to start anything, and it's almost always the part you get stuck on for longest.

All I can think of is to be a little bit into the story when you start. That way, you can give a view of what's going on, then back-track to let people know why it's going on. (I've never played FF VII, but if I remember correctly it starts with something that you've got very little idea WHY you're doing it. Later in the game, you find out)

It's a pretty good way to grip the reader, since they start off with a little action and a few questions. They'll normaly keep reading to find out exactly what's happening... I hope.

[Teal]

*nods* Yeah, actually STARTING something can be a nightmare. What I often do is "start" from a little way in, just to get the creative juices going and actually get something onto paper, and a suitable "start" usually comes along after a while.

[used:)]

I used to just invent the scenario, the workld, the stuff, that kibnd of thing...only one probelm, I didn't have a story. S I basically invent a world where I can fit a story into wothout it going kaboom witht he complications.

[Shrink]

That's a problem a lot of people have. I find you need a story to begin with, then you form your creation around the story.
It's much harder otherwise.

If you're really struggling to think of a story, go for something generic, then alter it. Or get an 'old' story (shakespeare, frankenstein, or older, like Beowulf) and base your story upon that, changing and altering to make it original.

Know where your story is going before you begin writing it. Making it up as you go along isn't particularly brilliant.

[Adder]

I basically invent a world where I can fit a story into wothout it going kaboom witht he complications.

After trying to write about a character I didn't really know, then trying to make that character into a D&D character, then trying to control a D&D game, I ended up with a rough idea for a small section of a world.

And I can use this as a base. It's always good to know everything about the planet/reality your story is based in. Failing that, use earth. Go back in time if you need to, but use earth

[metroixer]

Why the hell can't I write a good story?

[Adder]

You'll have to give a sample so that people can tell where you're going wrong. YOu can't expect us to know everything about you, Metroixer. We're not all god.

[metroixer]

Hmm well you can read my devil's city story below this topic.

[Havoc]

I skimmed over your story a bit, and two things that stand out like a tree are:

1. You're dialogs. Their way to close to each other without anything inbetween.

"Sir what if he does not live through that?" "Why woulden't he?" "Lack of air sir." "It does not matter he's just another soul for the master to feast in."

That makes me stop reading in an instant. Not to mention it doesn't even say who says what, or what kind of emotion the characters are saying it with.

2. BORING and fast scenes...

She was induring horrific pain and before I knew it everything became silent and she died.

This makes me think... okay? So what she died? I don't care.
I think that, becouse you never described in what kind of pain she is. What goes trough her. I hear people being in horrific pain and dieing on the news every day. Doesn't do much to me anymore.

Thats just two things you might want to fix before even attempting another story. Expand your scenes a bit. Give details! Detail details details! It's the key to a good store. Even the color of socks he's wearing (as a figure of speeh...). You know what I mean. Good luck!

[Adder]

"Sir what if he does not live through that?" "Why woulden't he?" "Lack of air sir." "It does not matter he's just another soul for the master to feast in."

When two people are talking, you should start a new paragraph every time the other one starts talking.

i.e.:

"Sir, what if he does not live through that?"
"Why woulden't he?"
"Lack of air, sir."
"It does not matter he's just another soul for the master to feast in(on)."

(also, run it through MSWord or anything with a spell-check. Mistakes are underlined)

You can add little things to make the dialog a bit more gripping like... "Why wouldn't he?", he said, still with his back to the messenger.

[used:)]

This is a little off topic, but what's with all of these devil oriented stories? I'm even thinking of writing one.

[Adder]

Well, Devil May Cry fan-fics would be a reasonable share of it, "Goth" being another reason.

Of course, it may just be that devils are the new cool (like robots, ninjas, pirates, etc.)

[used:)]

I am no Devil May Cry fan, hell I dopn't even know what that is. But I am slightly on the "goth" side, sort of being really interested in Hell, Daemons, other planar activities. I also just posted my work in progress, Far Far Away, don't be fooled that it is like When We Were the Molvenie, it will change directions quite fast.

[Doublehex]

As someone who is currentley writing a Sc-Fi novel,and an expierenced writter in general, here are some tips I can throw out to you guys:

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 my novel: 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,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.

[Adder]

To anyone writing poetry:

If you're trying to write a poem in a fixed form (like making the lines rhyme, or something daring like a Sonnet), do not let the form ruin the poem.
I have actualy become frustrated with my own poems because I tried giving them a structure, or tried "fixing" the structure, only to destroy the poem.

Also, for end rhyme to work the lines need to be the same length (in sylables or "beats"). You can get a rhythm going (maybe one line of 8 sylables, the next of 10, the next of 8), but try to stick to it. Poems that just have line returns thrown in where words rhyme really don't work.

[salty pretzils]

Hey, Metroixer. Perhaps you've heard this before, but a very important rule to avoid uninvolved scenes can be SHOW don't TELL. Of course, this doesn't have to apply in every scene, but it's something nice to keep in mind. For example, instead of saying 'he was angry with her', you could say something like 'he grated his teeth and glared at her'. Not the best example ever, -_-;, but I hope it helps.
Keep it up.

[oddveteran93]

I'm thinking of writing an interesting sci-fi story. I just need to know if it would be better to start off in the middle of something and I start explaining the story from "a long time ago" when everything started or just write it normally.

[Munch's Master]

I'm thinking of writing an interesting sci-fi story. I just need to know if it would be better to start off in the middle of something and I start explaining the story from "a long time ago" when everything started or just write it normally.

Personally, I'd say it depends on what you want to happen in the story. If its going to be a sci-fi action story, I think it'd be better to start halfway and slowly fill in the past (eg. like Star Wars) . If its more suspense/mystery/supernatural horror, then start at the beginning (That's pretty obvious I know, but I'm just saying). That's what I'd recommend.

[oddveteran93]

Ok, thanks for the comments, I'll start tomorow.

[Bullet Magnet]

I'm writing a story, and I really need feedback. I can't find anyone to read it and I need to be told if I'm on the right track. This is the first chapter:

http://www.oddworldforums.net/showthread.php?t=13690

[Zozo the Zrilufet]

I'm just wondering, what's considered 'Mary-sue' in Oddworld fiction? I know some obvious things like pairing a character up with Abe or Stranger or whatever would be Mary-sue-ish in all fanfiction, but is there any specific things? I'm just wondering because I do fanfiction on DA n' stuff.

[Adder]

Well, after consulting Wikipedia on what "Mary-Sue" means, I'd give this advice:

Be origional.

Oddworld is an entire planet, and we only know what Abe did in a small portion of it. Okay, so your character is unlikely to be the next blue mudokon who's fate is to save the entire race... but if you can come up with an origional story based around the next savior, go for it.

Using Abe, Munch, Stranger or any other big-name character as one of your main characters is not a good idea, IMO. Use other ones. Make one up. Make a whole village up, why not?
It's fan-fic, so you are limited a bit, but as long as you avoid a re-write or "what happened next" situation I'm sure it'll be origional enough to be respected.
Then all you have to worry about is if it's good enough to be respected. ^.-.^

[Havoc]

I would like some help please!

I'm very slowly starting on a new project, but for it to actually work I need to do a lot of preparing stuff because the story plays in an alternate universe. The main question being, how do you come up with an entirely new world without being cliche. It needs to be based a lot on our current earth, but with some things totaly different. The political system and stuff being the main issue. Does anyone have ideas or maybe websites that help in creating entirely new worlds for stories?
Thanks a lot .

Havoc

[Adder]

Umm...
Any fantasy resource would probably do. D&D allows you to create whole worlds out of nothing more than your imagination... although you need to do all the grunt work yourself.

If it's only the social side that's changed, you might just need to mention some historical event that took place differently {i.e. Hitler won, or the cold war turned nuclear} and then explain the consequences {i.e. How your world is different}.

I somehow doubt there's a full, fill-in-the-blanks create-a-world resource. Your probably gonna have to decide what's different and jot it down yourself.

[scrab queen]

Help please!
I'm writing a huge-funny-freakin'-sweet-fanfic-mixy-thingy, and i'm wondering where do I put it? oddworld fanfiction or non? It includes the following creations: kabutroid's planet zebeth, metroid, halo, inuyasha(maybe), oddworld, and red vs blue. as you can see, oddworld is outnumbered, but it's still oddworld. where do I put it?

[Oddys]

Uhm. Oddworld, I think.