Tips on writing.

[Keanumoreira]

Hey guys, I'm just calling out all the writers of Nexus for some tips on how to write like a master. I'm already a good writer, and have posted stories on the site, however, there are some areas of writing that I don't quite understand how to tackle. If anyone reading this has any good tips on how to make good character and vocabulary development, please, please, please leave something down.

 

Thanks you guys for your time, I really appreciate it.

 

-KeanuMoreira

[Vindekarr]

I'm no master, but though new I've gotten a fair deal of acclaim for what I've written.

 

The key pivot point is your audience. Work all your storytelling around them and their emotions, people are smart and emotional, so take advantage of that and make a world they can immerse themselves in, make them laugh and cry.

 

A really masterful writer also creates great characters.

 

I'll post more a bit later-Ive got a bit of work to do right now, but my biggest advice is to read some books by the following authors, see first hand how these masters work: Dan Abnett(british, present day mixed scifi/ classic fantasy scifi) George Orwell(british, 1940s, social commentory) JRR Tolkien(1950s, british, high fantasy) if you've got the time, Fyodor Dostoyevski and a bit of William Shakespear.

 

These are the best writers I know of, I really recomend you read some of their work-in particular The Lord Of The Rings(Tolkien) either The Saint or Eisenhorn by Dan Abnett, and 1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell. The other two are optional, but totaly recomended. It will give you a good idea first hand of how a master writes, and give you some inspiration about world and character. I'll post more later today.

[Keanumoreira]

I'm no master, but though new I've gotten a fair deal of acclaim for what I've written.

 

The key pivot point is your audience. Work all your storytelling around them and their emotions, people are smart and emotional, so take advantage of that and make a world they can immerse themselves in, make them laugh and cry.

 

A really masterful writer also creates great characters.

 

I'll post more a bit later-Ive got a bit of work to do right now, but my biggest advice is to read some books by the following authors, see first hand how these masters work: Dan Abnett(british, present day mixed scifi/ classic fantasy scifi) George Orwell(british, 1940s, social commentory) JRR Tolkien(1950s, british, high fantasy) if you've got the time, Fyodor Dostoyevski and a bit of William Shakespear.

 

These are the best writers I know of, I really recomend you read some of their work-in particular The Lord Of The Rings(Tolkien) either The Saint or Eisenhorn by Dan Abnett, and 1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell. The other two are optional, but totaly recomended. It will give you a good idea first hand of how a master writes, and give you some inspiration about world and character. I'll post more later today.

 

Thank you Vin, your post is appreciated, and please do, I feel as if I'm getting nowhere in improvements.

[Vindekarr]

Ok, I'm back.

 

My first tip stands-do some research on modern and previous greats by reading the great books of the past. Not only are the ones I listed great reads, but they'll give you a great insight into good writing and worldbuilding.

 

Your audience though are very important. One way you can write well is to envolve them, make them feel like part of the story. Another thing you can do is writing in first person as I do. But really, it all depends on what you're writing.

 

I write in a very world-and-character based way. I need to be able to put across what my characters are thinking and feeling in more detail and with less bulk of text than I could writing in third person. If I did write as I do in third person, it would be paragraphs longer than need be and that is a bad thing. You want to be able to tell your story at a set pace or you'll either be rushing through it or presenting a long winded rant and holding back the action.

 

Dan Abnett does pace very well-and his characters are extremely human and easy to empathise with. This is particularly evident in The Saint, which is about a group of totaly ordinary human soldiers in a world of immortal superbeings and magic.

 

Empathy is another important thing to work with. Work WITH your audience and treat them with respect, but dont write what you think they'll want to hear. You need to hit a certain balance-it's like riding a bike or handling spiders, hard and painful at first, but once you've learned it, you'll never get bitten again. Likewise the emotional balance you need for good writing. You've got to make it enjoyable enough in the gaps between massive plot events that when you do something the audience doesnt like, such as killing off a protagonist as I often do, that they dont hate you for it.

 

An example is that you could imagine a cost of respect when you do something they dont like-build that respect with enjoyable main story, and good subplots, then spend it on big shock n awe moments. An example of this working is again, Abnett. An example of this not working is the bungie novel Contact Harvest. They do it sooooo well until the last 5 chapters, then it's like they sacked the author and replaced him with a teenager. It goes from respectable Halo scifi to tawdry sex scene in an instant.

 

This brings me to my next point. Draw out early what you want from a character. I often develope my main character then write the book and world around them, rather than the other ways to do it but that's not the only way to go. If you want a character to act certain ways in certain situations, EXPLAIN IT! Your audience will be annoyed otherwise. Avoid WTF?! moment at all costs.

 

The best way to avoid excessive wtfs is to have everything explained by good back story. If a character for example has a particular, unusual fear that effects how they interact with other characters, EXPLAIN IT!. EG, I have a pathologicaly shy character in my current project, but I had to explain that. Because I did, it WORKS.

 

Also, be careful about sex. It's a plot tool just like violence and religion, but like any tool it has enormous power but can be misused. It's a common misconception that simply having one sex scene, no matter how bad, is OK. But it's jsut not. It's got to be sensitively done or you'll piss your audience off. In writing sex scenes you're invariably giving away some of your own sexual preferences, and you dont shout those off the roof with a megaphone do yer? So dont shout them out of a novel by having gratuitous sex. Sex is a useful tool especialy with dark or abused characters, but it's gotta have meaning, it's otherwise something you should ONLY ever detail and portray if it's got real story significance or is an extremely important part of that charcater's developement.

 

Because otherwise you do what Contact Harvet did, an out of the blue, unexplained and REALLY tawdry and unrealistic sex scene that served only to make the all importat audience, angry.

 

Finaly, RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH! Read magazines like New Scientist, visit wikipedia and explore science and physics, watch the science channel, if it's scifi, research science dammit! if it's fantasy, research medieval history. Chances are that some of your audience are smarter and more educated than you are, so dont EVER underistemate them.

[Keanumoreira]

Very good advice. Thanks again Vin, I can't ever repay you for this golden knowledge. :happy:

[Vindekarr]

You owe me nothing, it's the job of those with experience to pass it on.