If a writer falls
Advice for witty authors.
Okay,
personally, I'm not a fan of the stories on witty. Just not
really my taste. However, I've noticed some common...
trends, I guess, amongst the stories and the structure, grammar
and layout of them. So, I decided to offer a few little
tips on how to improve the quality of your stories and to make
it easier for people to read them.
1) Don't have your story center
aligned!
It looks incredibly untidy to start with, and can make the
reading of your work confusing for others.
2) Start a new line every time someone new
speaks.
This is a basic writing rule, and I'm kind of surprised
that most peoples English teacher has not taught them this.
3) Use quotation marks to indicate speech.
Again, basic writing rule. Italics do not
indicate speech. Parenthesis - these: ( ) - do not
indicate speech. These little guys do: " "
4) Place a comma (or exclaimation point/question mark)
before the closing quotation mark.
This again relates to speech and is another basic
writing rule.
"This is an example showing how that is done," she
said.
5) Don't have run-on sentences.
If a sentence can be broken up into smaller sentences, do it!
It makes the story so much easier to read.
6) Paragraphs!
Don't have the entire chapter of your story in one long
block. Break it up into chunks of 5-6 lines. It makes the story
easier to read and follow. The easiest point to do this may be
at a scene change or after speech.
7) Use simple descriptions and leave room for the
reader to imagine parts of the setting.
You don't have to elaborately describe every single part of
the room, or what the character is wearing! You don't have
to state exactly what their wearing, or what their feeling. Use
more subtle hints as to their state. My teacher often tells us
to show the reader, without being explicit in our
descriptions.
You also don't need to lay out the steps for the
character's actions - i.e., you don't need to run
through how they get ready for school ('I got out of bed
and get into the shower, shampoo and condition my long blonde
hair, use my cleanser on my flawless skin and shave my long
tanned legs. I then get out and towel off, walk back to my room
and get dressed. I put on black Hollister skinny jeans, a pink
crop-top from Abercombie and my Sperrys. Then I go back to the
bathroom and dry my hair and put on foundation, mascara,
eyeliner, lipgloss and eyeshadow.' etc, etc). It's
monotonous and nobody really needs to know.
8) Proofread, for the love of God.
So many times a good story has been absolutely ruined for me
(not necessarily on here, usually on wattpad) because the
author has made several silly spelling errors or has repeated
information due to not proofreading their work. All it takes is
a couple of minutes after you've finished writing to read
it back to yourself. Many people also find it helpful to read
it out loud to see if the sentences flow.
9) SENTENCES START WITH CAPITAL LETTERS AND END WITH
FULL STOPS.
I think this one is pretty self-explanatory.
10) Make your chapters more than a few lines
long!
That is not a chapter. That is a paragraph. Each chapter should
have something happen in it - an event, whether
big, small, good or bad. Just make the chapter
interesting.
Far away, the little girl closed her eyes, and never opened them again.
The trajedy was that nobody noticed.
As a writer, I need an enormous amount of time alone.
She's a writer
She's a reader
She's a music lover
She loves to escape into a world
Where her pain no longer exists
I'm back and I have missed you all.
ACT and DECA is over.
The main thing keeping me from witty.
Post ideas for a new story.
I promise, I will finish this one.
xoxoxo, wittycause
i'm a writer.
format credit: notyouraverageteenagegirl
Advice for writers:
Find little inspirations:
I just wrote a short poetic piece after using my now cigarette-flavoured (ugh) lip balm. I've written pieces after songs hit me in a certain way, when someone says something that makes me stop and think, after seeing something particuarly interesting. In short, inspiration can come from anywhere. If something triggers something in you, GET THAT FEELING OR IDEA WRITTEN DOWN SOMEWHERE. Scribble it in the back of your note book, save it on your phone, write it on the back of you hand or up your arm.
Keep all drafts of what you write:
Even if you re-read and decide you don't like part of it, copy that part into another document before re-writing. You might come back later and realise that some of that would work in well somewhere else, or phrases are better than you first thought.
Avoid using cliches as much as possible:
Use your imagination and come up with unique or new ways to describe things. It makes your work more original and more interesting to read, and potentially expand your vocabulary. Reading the same descriptions over and over in different stories get really old and can turn readers off.
Be consistent within pieces:
Don't randomly flip between first and second person, or past/present/future tense. There may be points where changing is appropriate, like at the end of chapters or the change of scenes, but try to avoid changing at every scene change or end of chapter, as it can confuse readers.
Use point of view appropriately:
You should write in third person (he, she, they, etc.) unless first person (I, we, etc.) offers a really strong, interesting view of your story.
Write from experience:
Writing about things you're familiar with is so much easier than things you know nothing about. It also adds realism, which helps readers to really connect with your story and characters. At the same time, don't allow your familiarity with a situation blur the lines of what should be there and what is actually there.
(on a related note) Do some research:
Learn about the topic you're writing about. This can be as simple as people-watching, learning mannerisms and habits of people, or as intense as sitting down and googling things like you would for an essay.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, USE SPELLCHECK AND LEARN GRAMMAR RULES.
Know the difference between their/they're/there, your/you're, than/then and when to use much vs. many, less vs. fewer. Start a new line every time someone new speaks and after they've finished speaking.
Don't get too obsessed with speech tags:
'Said' is fine. If every line of dialogue is marked with 'questioned', 'exclaimed', 'asked', 'yelled', 'mentioned', 'noted', etc., it detracts from what is actually being said and the context around it.
'Story' and 'plot' are different things:
The story of a piece is all events without causality or linkage. Plot is the events with how they interlink and how one event cause or influence another. If you've ever asked a young child about their day, they will rattle off a list of things they did and saw; for example,
I went to school and did art and had recess and played in the mud and Miss Lewis got mad and drew a picture and climbed a tree and got told off and fell over and my pants ripped and mum yelled and....
This is the story of their day. An older child will be able to tell you what they did with how the events caused or influenced each other,
'I went to school and had art class. At recess, I played in the mud and got dirty, which my teacher got mad at me for. I had to draw a picture of why we shouldn't play in the mud. At lunch I climbed a tree and fell after the teacher yelled at me, ripping my pants on the ground. When I got home, mum yelled at me for being dirty and tearing my pants.
Writers
don't just write;
they create alternate realities,
places of peace and joy,
idealistic worlds,
somewhere they can escape to
when the real world lets them down.
