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| Tips & Advice Share your tips, tricks and advice. |
01-08-2005, 10:40 PM
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#1
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Wordsmith
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: New York
Posts: 5,240
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tips and such
Hm, this may not be a good idea, but I thought just a general thread for writing tips might be appreciated. Like where people would just post small tidbits that they noticed worked, or didn't.
To hit it off:
Write about something you can relate to. You're going to show that you don't know what you're talking about if you don't do the correct research, or don't understand what your character is feeling. I've seen it in a ton of stories, and it detracts.
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Ruthless comments encouraged!
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01-09-2005, 03:51 PM
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#2
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Adept Writer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 853
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del
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01-09-2005, 04:02 PM
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#3
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Prolific Writer
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 304
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in addition to the comment about dialogue tags, 'said' is considered an invisible word. you see it, understand it, but it doesn't register for long. don't use tags alot, and when possible, don't go out of your way to find interesting alternatives to 'he said'. just get on with it. your dialogue should convey emotion, not the tags.
regarding character development-don't use mirrors. don't use mirrors as an opportunity to tell us about your heros sexy dimples, or steely blue eyes, or any other hackneyed fantasy detail. don't do 'information dumps'.
regarding science fiction and fantasy-i don't get this, but dammit it happens alot. im talking about stupid-ass names for characters and locations, and i mean really bizzarre stuff that is hard to pronounce. i can't think of any right now, but i'm sure everybody knows what i am talking about. play morrowind the video game, you'll get an idea. the problem with strange names that are hard to pronounce and/or sound ugly is that they are not memorable.
another related problem is the tendency of some folks to include too many of these geographical/technological/character names all at once. it's quite enough to be introduced to a new concept--give it time, let it be memorable, then give out more details. don't turn your fantasy/sci-fi novel into something that sounds like a damn tourist map.
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01-09-2005, 06:06 PM
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#4
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Adept Writer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 853
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del
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01-09-2005, 06:10 PM
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#5
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Adept Writer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 853
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del
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01-09-2005, 06:17 PM
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#6
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Adept Writer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 853
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del
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01-09-2005, 06:21 PM
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#7
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Adept Writer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 853
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del
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01-09-2005, 06:30 PM
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#8
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Adept Writer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 853
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del
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01-09-2005, 06:34 PM
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#9
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Adept Writer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 853
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del
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01-09-2005, 06:40 PM
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#10
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Adept Writer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 853
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del
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01-09-2005, 06:49 PM
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#11
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Adept Writer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 853
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del
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01-09-2005, 07:06 PM
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#12
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Adept Writer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 853
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del
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01-09-2005, 07:10 PM
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#13
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Adept Writer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 853
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del
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01-09-2005, 07:14 PM
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#14
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Adept Writer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 853
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del
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01-09-2005, 07:23 PM
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#15
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Adept Writer
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 853
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del
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