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what separates a writer from a consumer is that a writer wants something so badly he is able to put in the effort to will it into existence, ideally this is something he can't get elsewhere.
Writing is about discovering your own set of “rules” and defining your identity.
Writing is about discovering your own set of “rules” and defining your identity.
Getting started on a story can be the hardest part since you don’t know much about it. Get started ASAP and ride the wave of initial enthusiasm towards someplace manageable. Because it will fade when the idea loses it's novelty to you.
You balance that out by discovering new things through the writing process. the best way to get ideas for your story is writing the story. You can get even more ideas when your story has various elements that can connect and bonce off each other.
The beginning of a story should act as a thematic thesis statement for the rest of the story while introducing a FEW major elements of it. such as the main characters motivation or the central conflict. the reader doesn't have to know everything at once.
The only difference between a boring exposition dump and an intriguing mystery is how the information is given out.
Make readers ask questions before you give them the answer.
Make readers ask questions before you give them the answer.
If you’re writing anything more complex than a short story then you should look into scrivener or other word processer alternatives to MS word. Something that let's you move around various files like pic related.
Try to Write every day to maintain momentum, it can be easier to start a writing session as well as pump out a bigger word count when you've done some writing yesterday.
Sometimes it’s good to skip over parts of your story that you’re having trouble with in order to keep momentum, though doing this and not returning to fill the blanks you skipped over can bite you in the ass when you need information from earlier in the story but don't have it.
When facing writers block it can be useful to break down/identify the problem into a series of questions example: what is this piece of information I need for the plot to progress? What is this character’s motivation? This makes it feel less overwhelming
when you’re stuck it can be beneficial to take a walk/bike ride/ shower when writing to “refresh” yourself but before you do that, do the previous tip and let the question linger in your mind while the walking gets your blood flowing.
Sometimes for me the “break” can be completely useless if I didn’t bang my head against writers block once or twice before hand.
The main character, a central conflict, the world the story takes place in, are all good starting points for a book.
Ask yourself, what is the central conflict of my story?
If your central conflict is something big then it should go hand and hand with the world building. Large conflicts of a social, political, or economic nature can manifest themselves into society in many ways.
If your central conflict is something big then it should go hand and hand with the world building. Large conflicts of a social, political, or economic nature can manifest themselves into society in many ways.
Ideas are like jigsaw puzzles. You can't put them all down right now but you write them down so you don't forget them or can prepare your story for the introduction of a new element through foreshadowing.
It's a very satisfying feeling to finally implement a idea you had months ago into your story.
Plant various seeds for later use in the story. Sometimes tertiary worldbuilding info can be the inspiration for something more important in your story.
plus a story feels more real when the reader know's about elements before they are directly important to the plot.
plus a story feels more real when the reader know's about elements before they are directly important to the plot.
for example there's this throw away filler villain faction cult called the "fallen" that pops up in the web serial novel worm. but in the sequel called ward the circumstances of the world mean that the "fallen" is much more important to the plot. https://worm.fandom.com/wiki/The_Fallen
characters are typically the conduit through which a reader connects with a story. A story can take place in an outlandish fantasy world but a reader can still connect to it if that world is inhabited by well written characters who are effected by what happens in it.
Remember writing allows you do things movies can’t, strive to do MORE than creating a movie in the reader’s head. Try to use all 5 senses, sight, smell, sound, sense and taste. As well as accounting for how characters will internally and externally process all that information.
When writing remember that the reader has to construct a mental image of your characters and world so give them interesting descriptions that stick out.
There are two types of physical character description connotative vs denotative. Conative will entails giving an idea “she looked like a doll” and have the reader fill that space with an image that fits the idea.
denotative descriptions will entail you having to describe their various features like she had a round face and squinting eyes.
a conative one is quicker but a denotative is more precise. though you don't have to do one exclusively.
a conative one is quicker but a denotative is more precise. though you don't have to do one exclusively.
If you want readers to pay attention to a specific detail try removing surrounding less important details. Or repeat that detail in different ways.
The average reader won’t fully appreciate your masterpiece. There’s going to be a lot of things they “won’t get” even if you try to make it obvious, but even then, they can come out the experience enjoying the book.
This doesn’t mean that you that you shouldn’t lace your books with a deeper meaning because the reader will make a special connection with the deeper meaning he is able to find. And the one reader who will find a lot of the deeper meaning will bug his friends to read your book.
If you’re writing a fantastical story you can do anything. This can afford you many tools to solve narrative problems. for example in worm The main character Taylor can receive visual information from bugs allowing for her to describe of large battles in a first person story.
But on the other hand if done poorly it can also be a way to cheapen your story. For example if a character comes back to life through a Method that the readers didn't know about.
The introduction of certain powers can limit the amount of ideas your story can peruse. You can’t have a murder mystery if the mc can read minds. You can’t have a story about mourning if the mc can bring people back to life
This can be rectified by giving powers limitations.
This can be rectified by giving powers limitations.
A long chunk of dialogue can be broken up by describing various gestures characters make during the conversation.
a addendum to tweet number #3. There are certain elements of a story that should be planned. such as plot twists.
Know your medium, books are better at being internal but are worse at being external compared the movies and tv. since books are essentially a long string of words the experience can replicate the feeling of being inside someone's mind better than any medium can.
Sometimes readers will resonate more with elements of your book that you didn't feel were important.
If you spend alot of time writing you'll tend to look at the deeper symbolic meaning of real life events.
