Most people these days take time to write stories or fan fiction that they think is good, but can use work due to the lack of effort. For those who plan to make a story or are writing one, I make this guide to making the story exciting and attractive for you:
This is divided into sections based on the basic rules you should follow when making any written piece. They are no order of importance.
Grammar1.
Vocabulary: An important thing to know when writing is how to spell. If you can't spell, it will take you forever in the writing process. Use spell checks! Make sure the word suits the situation!
Different words have different feelings. For example, the word Big and Giant both mean a large object, but Giant gives you the thought of an extremely large object. Happy and enjoyed both mean the same thing but force a different feeling into the reader. Try to be as specific as possible with your word choice. Using general words like "nice" or "good" will lead to a dull piece. Be smart about the choices.
Spelling and word choice set up the mood of your piece
2.
Grammar: Make sure you can use English correctly. Otherwise you'll never get anywhere with it, as it will be seen as amateur.
Use punctuation correctly. A period (.) is used to indicate the end of a basic sentence. Most of your sentences should have this in a story. A question mark (?) indicates a question, obviously. An exclamation mark (!) is used to show a more powerful sentence with surprise or importance. You should only use an exclamation if it will really show the surprise or shock. Do not overuse it or risk being seen as overdoing the piece.
Then there is the comma (,). The comma is used to indicate a pause that is only about a half second. Use a comma to seperate two clauses, or two ideas. For example "Scarlet is smiling, therefore she is happy." The comma splits the idea of Scarlet smiling and her being happy, but shows it connects them to show they relate. Try not to overuse the comma and use periods when the two ideas don't connect at all or hardly. A good use of the comma is to indicate the tone of dialogue, like "'Hi!' said the girl, grinning with happieness." Be wise of the comma.
Quotation marks (") should be used whenever someone speaks outloud. These indicate the begining and end of speech. Incase all dialogue in these, but when someone says something inside their head it's probably more wise to put it in italics to not cause confusion.
Parenthesis () are used to indicate information not relevant to the story at all, but may be useful to understand the characters or plot. These aren't very common and should be avoided unless it is truly important.
A hyphon (-) can be used like a comma in some situations to tell more info. For example, "Scarlet ran as fast as she could - while panting- to get home."
Finally the colon ( : ) and the semicolon ( ; ) can be important. The colon is used before a list of more than two things. For example, "My mom bought so many things: bread, milk, eggs, cereal and lots more." The semicolon is similar to the comma but indicates a longer pause and shows the information isn't so connected to the previous idea. For example "The fox leaped up on its prey; there was no stopping him." The two ideas relate a bit, but could easily be made into two sentences. Whether you use it or not is up to you.
The Story1.
Point of View: The characters create your story. Whether they're human or not, you need to create a perspective of them. The big desicion is what point of view the story will be on. Will your character tell the story, or you as a narrator? If the first, the character must be present in every scene of the story and not know too much information of the plot. If the latter, you may freely go in any character, but you will have to spread your perspective out amongst them. You will be unable to get the emotions of some character so strongly. But if it's impossible to keep your character in every scene, than this is your only option. Think well over this topic as it will effect the story in its entire.
2.
Writing style: There are two main ways to write a story. One is the script style. This style is bad for basic stories, since it disallows good details on events. It should only be used for plays or dramas. The traditional writing style, with full paragraphs, should be used. Remember to describe your scenes to create as high of a perspective as possible. Don't over do it though, keep it simple. Don't let minor things intervene in the plot. More detail on good writing ways later
3.
The Tense: There are two ways to write a story: In the present tense and in the past tense. The present tense means you are describing it as if it was occuring right now. The past is describing as if it already occuered. If you are using the first person, past is probably better so you may give better foreshadows and hints. The present is okay for third person, but consider that the past has already happened, so that means the outcome is known by the narrator. This can be used highly to your advantage. But it is your choice, just be careful to never switch tenses. Stay the same throughout the whole story.
4.
Title: The title should catch the attention of your readers. Despite that people say "don't judge a book by its cover" a good cover or title makes for a good story. Sometimes something as simple as "The Cat" or "My Dog", as examples, can sum up a story. Other times you can use phrases, but I suggest no more than five words to make it the best. Consice titles make them more powerful.
5.
Length: The length of a story does not matter usually. Write until you think it's appropriate to stop. But don't go too far and give out too much, make sure there's a sense of ease and don't overwhelm the reader. On the contrary, don't make it too short so they don't understand what's happening. If you want the story to only be about one event or time period, make it as short as you can, without skipping over details. Leave out unnecessary sentences that explain things not needed to be explained, or not important. Make sure they set the right mood as well. For long novels, you can probably write about anything and it would be useful. The objective there is to not make it too short and make sure the reader is fulfilled when they read it all.
6.
Division: Most writers divide there work into chapters. This works, obviously, so it's an option in a story. The decision is whether to use them or not. Some stories may be better off undivided, like if it's one scene from start to finish. If it's longer, you can divide it as many times as you want, but don't cut a chapter off where it won't hook the reader. The ending of every chapter should encourage reading the next one. End in the middle of an exciting scene to make them read on to see the rest. End where you think is the most attractive. As well, every chapter should have one main objective. The chapter should not end until that objective is reached. It can go further, but keep that one goal constantly there. Don't pile up more than one goal into a chapter, unless they coincide.
Mood and Genre1.
The Mood: The mood of a story is the overall feeling one gets from reading it. A mood can be happy or sad, excited or depressed. Whatever it is, it gives the reader a true sense of how the plot feels. The mood can change in a story as well, not needing to be consistant. If you want to generate a mood, you have to use the correct words. A happy mood should be expressed with peaceful and joyful scenes. Use words like "pretty, light, dreamy" and soft words like that. Describe things in brighter colors. For a sad mood, keep with words that put the reader down a bit like "death, poisonous, crying". Make you sure you convey the mood you want.
2.
Genre: The genre is the type of story it is. For example, is it non-fiction or fiction? Non-fiction is something that is real and a true fact. It actually happened or can be done. These books can vary from biographies to how-to-do books to actual stories. Novels can be non-fiction if they're based on real events.
Fiction is something you or the author made up. It's a molded story. When writing fiction, you should try to be as creative as possible. Don't wildly go out on it though, give it order. Also, whether doing fiction or non-fiction, you should do research on whatever you're writing about beforehand. Find out what it's like to live where the character does and how it's like. Don't make things up.
A list of genres is below. The one you write with is what will attract specific groups of people:
- Realistic fiction- A story that is made up but the conflict is very much possible. A story about a teenage girl is realistic fiction, as it's possible in real life. A lot of books are this genre.
- Historical Fiction- A story that is made up but happened a long time ago, or possibly only a few years ago. If a story is intentionally taking place in the past then it falls here. A story that was written in the past is not in this genre. It must be written now and taken place in years past, at any time period. A made up World War 2 book would come here.
- Science Fiction- A story that takes place in either the future or has aspects that are currently impossible or not real at this time. Aliens are an automatic science fiction. Space travel is always here, unless it is about Neil Armstrong or a real astronaut. A book about fairy tales or magic is NOT science fiction. The story must technological advances.
- Fantasy- A story that takes place in a made up world or contains activities such as magic, witchcraft and mystical creatures (not aliens). Fairy tales are usually fantasy, but large stories can be made in this category as well, such as Harry Potter. Anthros are fantasy. It can take place at any time, but if it's not in a realistic sense, then it falls here. I myself write fantasy.
- Fan-fiction- A story based on the world or aspects of another. Anything that is based on an already made series or aspect is fan-fiction. It's usually not a good idea to sink in this, as the credit towards you yourself is not as high as it is to the creator of the series.
- Poetry- Though not really a story, poems can be a genre of fiction if not real. Poems are pieces with a set design, with specific word arrangment and usage. They do not have to flow the same way as a story. They are much shorter but can carry as much information as a story if written well.
PlotThe plot is the story, or the sequence of events.
1.
Beginning: Your story should start with a catchy beginning, one that will keep the reader in the story. There are two ways to start, or lead, a story.
The first is the easy one; starting in the middle of a scene. Starting with dialogue or inside of an already progressing event will stick the reader to see the outcome and easily introduce your characters.
The second way is too start with power. Start with a line that summarizes the story in an exagerrated way, so the reader is drawn in.
After the lead, you should introduce your characters quickly as to not waste time. Describe them when the time is right and incorporate it well, not randomly.
2.
Conflict: The conflict should be the center of your plot. Early on you should introduce the conflict mildly and make it larger through events and desicions of the characters. There are two types of conflicts, external and internal. External conflicts take place phsyically onto the characters, such as a villian or the weather. Internal conflicts are desicions that wreck the characters on the inside and are more emotional than painful. The desicion of what will be the main conflict type is important to make the story you want. There may be more than one conflict, but only one central conflict that binds them all.
3.
Rising Action: As the story progresses, you should increase the power of the conflict. Set up small scenes that will be important to move the plot along. As you get closer to a climax, the conflict should begin to peak and begin to reach its maximum point where the character is most involved in it.
4.
Climax: The climax is where the conflict reaches the highest point and is now an inevitable problem. The character should react drastically at this point or be effected drastically. This is the point where the plot turns around. It's usually only one scene or chapter, but the climax can be as long as necessary. In the climax you should describe the scene with strong word descriptions. Make the scene forever stay in the reader's mind.
5.
Resolution: After the climax, the story should ease up a bit on the main character. If necessary, you may have more than one climax and steps may be repeated. But after any climax, things should seem calmer. Bring together what happened so far and make sure it's clear to the reader and how the character reacts to it. What will come out of the climax?
As the story comes to an end, make sure all problems and conflicts are solved, unless you plan to make a sequel, but try to make it a little hidden. Make sure you catch the character's emotion and the main character should've changed in SOME way by the end of the story, like new beliefs or thoughts on people.
The ending should follow the same rules as the beginning. You may end in the middle of a scene or with a powerful line. It doesn't have to be the same as the beginning. Make sure the ending brings a good closure and satisfies the reader, so they're happy with the ending even if it wasn't what they wanted. The last line is the line that brings it all into a sentence, so make it count.
Tips1.
Describe: All scenes should be clear. Make sure the reader understands. A good way to do this is compare an event or an object to another thing, like comparing a light bulb to the sun. Compare them to things everyone knows and can relate with to create understanding. Use similes and metaphors for comprisons, use imagery to describe. Draw an image with words to your reader
2.
Good Plot: If your plot is boring, no one will read. Even if isn't full of action, you can make it exciting with connections to the reader. Connect and bond with them using philosophies they understand. Describe them well. Make sure you think ahead and create irony and foreshadowing which are signs of a good author.
3.
Make mistakes: Don't be afraid to screw up. Ask people to critique your work so you can improve. No author is perfect. Write freely and don't be afraid to share it or get critiqued. The point of writing is to share your feelings in words, so do it.
4.
Have fun: The whole point of writing is to have fun! Write whatever you want! It can be about anything or anyone, as long as you enjoy it. If you don't enjoy the story, than you won't write it as good as if you loved the story you were making. Writing well only makes others enjoy it as much as you. Spread your word freely. Try to finish your works and not quit on them. Make them exciting so you won't get bored. If you get bored, so will your reader.
Just have fun!
If anyone wants to help me expand on the grammar or anything, please do. I am still revising this, but just posted it as soon as I could. I hope I can help ^^;