Community Writing Tips

[Grendizer]

This seems to be the best place available to put this, but if it isn't I would kindly ask the mods to correct my error. A lot of people have been asking for proofreading and such, but I know many don't have time for this. In light of that, I thought I'd offer this central space for helpful tipsters to tip.

I'll begin with a tip of my own. It's called the Character Triangle (well, I call it that). Lejos Egri invented it, and I recommend every writer on this forum read his semminal work, The Art of Dramatic Writing. The central idea here is that at least two of the three dimensions in the character sheet must contain elements in dramatic tension with each other. For instance, a person could have a talent (Physiology) the growth of which is hampered by a poor attitude (Psychology). This creates character depth and allows for a goal for growth and/or change. Without change, your character is dead on the page; something has to give. It doesn't have to be huge. It could be as small as a man getting rid of a phobia, or an android getting an upgrade it asked for that changes everything for its owner, or even some guy losing a limb and dealing with that. Change something -- anything, and use this sheet to figure out how that will influence the character and thereby the story. For example, in my story A New Purpose, one of the characters moves from insecurity to security; how and why he gets there creates the story.

Character Creation Sheet for: [Character Name]


Path of change: [Starts As ==> Ends As]

Physiology

Sex:
Age:
Height and weight:
Color of hair, eyes, skin:
Posture:
Appearance:
Defects:
Heredity:

Sociology

Economic class:
Occupation:
Education:
Home life:
Religion:
Race, nationality:
Place in community:
Political affiliations:
Amusements, hobbies:

Psychology

Sex life, moral standards:
Personal premise, ambitions:
Frustrations, chief disappointments:
Temperament:
Attitude toward life:
Complexes:
Extrovert, Introvert, Ambivert:
Abilities:
Qualities:
I.Q.:
Quirks, Mannerisms:


I hope this helped someone, and I hope others join in with their tips as well.

[gynoneko]

Excellent post! I'll be sure to use this guide for my characters in the future. I'll have to check out that book too.
Thanks!

[Grendizer]

By all means, Robotman. That goes for anything I would post in this thread in the future as well.

And you're welcome, gynoneko

[Grendizer]

Thanks, Robotman.

Something to be aware of, if you want your stories to be read by as many folks a possible, is formatting.

• The writer should use paragraphs; don't write an entire story in a single block of text.
• Be aware that indenting doesn't work in forum posts, so paragraphs are created by pressing "enter" twice.
• Paragraphing can be used to control pacing, where long paragraphs and/or long sentences slow the action down, and shorter paragraphs and/or sentences do the opposite, speeding things up.
• Writers should also use paragraphs to separate speakers, so that dialogue is easier to follow.

Following these points can make your story easier to read and therefore more enjoyable to a larger number of people.

[petey]

Thanks, Robotman.

Something to be aware of, if you want your stories to be read by as many folks a possible, is formatting.

• The writer should use paragraphs; don't write an entire story in a single block of text.
• Be aware that indenting doesn't work in forum posts, so paragraphs are created by pressing "enter" twice.
• Paragraphing can be used to control pacing, where long paragraphs and/or long sentences slow the action down, and shorter paragraphs and/or sentences do the opposite, speeding things up.
• Writers should also use paragraphs to separate speakers, so that dialogue is easier to follow.

Following these points can make your story easier to read and therefore more enjoyable to a larger number of people.

This.

And just to make the 4th point clear, when someone new is speaking, start a new 'paragraph'. If there are only two characters in a scene, you can just do the new paragraphs and avoid finding 50 ways of writing 'she said'.

Character-wise, I have one piece of advice: The monster never sees a monster in the mirror. Even if your character (antagonist, probably) is doing terrible things, they should believe, at a minimum, that their actions are justified. If they believe they're doing the right thing, even better.

[Grendizer]

And just to make the 4th point clear, when someone new is speaking, start a new 'paragraph'. If there are only two characters in a scene, you can just do the new paragraphs and avoid finding 50 ways of writing 'she said'.

Character-wise, I have one piece of advice: The monster never sees a monster in the mirror. Even if your character (antagonist, probably) is doing terrible things, they should believe, at a minimum, that their actions are justified. If they believe they're doing the right thing, even better.

I agree. In fact, unless it describes something both important and something that can't be communicated in dialogue, dialogue tagging should be limited to 'said,' because it is invisible to the reader, and therefore fast. The dialogue should do the lifting. You don't need to write 'he said angrily' if the words are venomous. But something like 'he whispered' is useful because it is economical and it can't be expressed by the dialogue alone (after all, the listener could respond with "speak up!" but what if he or she actually heard it?).

[gynoneko]

Another not-as-well-known bit of writing knowledge...

if you have a character who is saying a lot, as in paragraphs of dialogue uninterrupted (this can be important at times, but can not be overused as it tends to slow down the action), you can end the paragraph without using quotes, and start the next one with quotes.

Kinda like this:

Code: Select all

"...it took me three years to find a cure.
"The government was anxious to get their hands on it..."

You can do this for each paragraph where they continue talking, but always end the final dialogue paragraph with end quotes.

Also, besides things like "I said" or "he whispered" or "she yelled", you can also say things like "he spat" or "I barked" or "she purred". This gives more descriptive essence to the dialogue that really build up a great feel to the work.

Hope this helps some too. Great advice on this thread so far!