Hi, I'm Caithyra and while I have not posted anything on Serebii, I have an FF.Net account. I'm a very lurker-type reader, and one of my hobbies is to read and share writing tips, and I thought to start a thread for it.
Basically, everyone writes down their greatest writing tips, whether or not they're asked for, though one can also ask for a special type of tip.
Here's some of my tips:
Take a second look at canon and fanon. Fandom is often accused for seeing what's not there, and to a certain extent it's true. In fact, some fanon conventions are treated as canon. In Inuyasha, it's that youkai call each other mate and leave mating marks, even when their corresponding animals and legends do not. In Pokémon, it's that all trainers start their journey at age 10, even though only Ash in the anime states that he leaves at 10, while in RBY Red starts at 11, in the manga, Platinum starts at 13, and in Colosseum/XD/Emerald (can't remember which) an adult character contemplates going on a journey. Then there's the fact that in the games, characters of different ages (from elderly to youngster) seems to be at the same point in their journeys.
And, well, Liza and Tate are clearly younger than May and Brendan, yet they have reached a point when they're gym leaders, suggesting that the 10-13 bracket isn't as set in stone as fanon say. So really, don't let yourself be confined to fanon rules and regulations.
Don't be scared of the Big Bad Mary Sue. Mary Sue is the Big Bad Wolf of fan fiction. Readers looooove to Cry Wolf at slightest rustle in the bushes, because they've been told that there's wolves in the wood. Tales are told about the Big Bad Wolf as villains to be killed off. Mobs with fire and pitchforks rushes out into the woods to courageously stab the creature into submission.
Yet, just like the Big Bad Wolf doesn't exist anywhere but in our imagination and fairytales, the Big Bad Mary Sue does not as well. Of course, there are wolves, and they have been known from time to time to kill humans and domesticated animals, but you don't need mobs, fire and pitchforks to deal with it. Either create a space where it can live freely (a separate fan fiction archive, for example), or painlessly kill it with a well-placed bullet (constructive criticism. That also points out good parts of the character to be salvaged and fed to new, more rounded characters).
Though I personally tend to liken Mary Sues to Black Holes, as Mary Sue is such a gendered term, that the character only needs to be original and female to be labelled a Mary Sue (don't believe me? A few months back, there was a lively discussion in Meta Fandom on this, google it if you want to. Also, all this Suethor prosecution have been likened to internet bullying, when people only pile on the negative, never thinking that behind the story, there's an author who is a real person).
Anyway, don't be scared of Black Holes, because they happen even to the most brilliant of galaxies. Besides, if you worry too much about your character being a Mary Sue, usually one of these things happen:
Sometimes the obvious choice is the right one. Remember the phrase "it's never that easy"?, well, sometimes it is. If you're going to rob someone, check to see if the front door is unlocked before you climb to the second story window, pick its lock and then diffuse the alarm while hanging upside-down.
In the same way, sometimes it's better to let a story take an obvious course rather than do a plot twist, because if you're too invested in surprising your readers, you will end up with an unbelievable series of events.
It also destroys your readers' sense of anticipation, because if they cannot sometimes predict a series of events, then the story wont keep together in their minds.
So let feel the satisfaction of being right for once. And in the same spirit...
Foreshadow major events. It keeps things from becoming too unbelievable. If your story contains a near-apocalypse by the use of Arceus' plates, then show early on that the plates are dangerous in some way (high energy laboratory readers, or why not just blow up the lab and its surroundings?).
If your character wont go down that road. Don't force them. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. The same is true for character and interactions. If your character is impatient and go-getting with little regard for authority, then they will most likely lose patience with Volkner's boredom and blow up at him, telling him that if he's so bleeping bored, why don't he just quit being a gym leader then and there, and let someone who likes being a gym leader try it. Your character would not silently support his lukewarm personality, no matter how much you need them to for plot-reasons.
Which leads to the next tip...
The story is either plot or character driven. Decide this in the first paragraph. Agatha Christie wrote wonderful, plot-driven stories with colourful characters. Sure, the crimes were often of the crime passionel type, but her stories were plot-driven at the core. And one reason why they were wonderful, was because of the characters, despite the fact that the characters never developed much.
No, Hercule Poirot is always that brilliant, pedantic drama queen. Hastings is always the average British man. The narcissistic, capricious actress is always narcissistic and capricious, from the day that she laughingly invites Poirot to supper, to the last letter before her execution ("P.S. Do you think they will put me in Madame Tussauds?").
The story does not develop with the characters. The story develops as we learn more about the characters and their actions. The characters supremely stay the same, not matter what, but the way we view them changes (read Death on the Nile twice, and you'll have a completely different view on the victim).
By contrast, character-driven stories develop in time with characters. New plots and twists become open as the character is mature enough to go to those places.
And on characters...
Have a colourful cast of characters. Even in plot-centric stories, there should be good chemistry, and you wont get good chemistry if all the characters are the same.
Which leads me to point something out to readers:
Character's values and morals=/=Author's values and morals. Even if the author have a racist, classist and sexist character doesn't mean that the author is racist, classist and sexist. You see, unless the story keeps proving the bad character right (heroic characters agree, the story ends with the bad character winning and so on), chances are that the author thinks that the character is spewing exactly as much crap as you do.
Even if the hero is sexist, they are often proved wrong (Sherlock Holmes is sexist, but was bested by Irene Adler, not that it did much to change his views, because like a real sexist, he viewed it as a fluke.).
Watch Disney's Mulan. Despite having tons of sexist characters, in the end, Mulan still showed that she was just as good as the guys, if not better because she didn't have a one-track mind. Sure, the overall message of the movie has some problematic blemishes, but you can't deny that the guys keeping women, and therefore Mulan, from the army were wrong, and that they're lucky that Mulan didn't listen.
Which means that when you notice a blatantly bigoted character in a story, and the story does not prove said character right, chances are that said character is there to provide either realism or flavour.
Things happened before once upon a time. One of the problems with writing is to know where to start, and unless you start at the beginning of the universe, things probably happened before the start of your story.
Characters had other friends. Characters had family. Characters lived somewhere else. Not just that, but things happened before the start of the story to your hero! Even if the story starts at the hero's birth, the hero's parents probably has some foundation to add.
More writers should make use of this opportunity, because it's seriously rare for a childhood friend who did not follow the character on a journey to contribute to the story.
If you want to write it. Write it. There will always be people who dislike your work, some with valid concerns, and some who wants to force you to do work that they like. If you want to do eevee-starter, do it. If you want to do whatever, do it. If you worry too much about readers and reviews, you'll just feel hampered as you write.
Originality isn't all what it's cracked up to be. I have a story that I've been told is very original for its type. It surprised me, because I had simply looked at canon, found a few things and decided to run with it. To me, it was an obvious story to be told, and I'm pretty sure that there's at least three or four or more out there like it. But then again, many writers of that story-type have focused a long time at one aspect of canon, so perhaps there was a lot of canon left unexplored.
So in the end, it's not an original story, it just feel fresh to the readers. And it's a very important difference there.
If I wanted to write a completely original story, it would be about Amaryl (Winx Club, extremely minor character) going on a pokémon journey in Spira (Final Fantasy X/-2) with her starter Mogu (Fancy Lala, one of two mascots). What do they have in common? Transformation sequences and songs, but, well, not much else.
Would such a story be good? I don't know, but it certainly would break a lot of suspension of disbelief.
A fresh story is simply something that's been told before, yet it grabs the reader and makes the reader feel like the story is original. If you read Final Fantasy VII fan fiction, maybe you've read 'Sink to the Bottom With You' and 'Faith and Feather', both which focus on the same characters, both which have similar flavour, both which have many of the same readers, yet they both feels fresh when you read them, because they take your imagination and runs with it.
And that's really what many reviewers mean when they speak about originality. It doesn't have to be original, all it has to be is a good story.
There's not one true way to write. It's true. When I was starting out, I was told that if I start a chaptered story, I should stick with it, through thick and thin, until it was finished. Never to touch another before that one is done.
Unfortunately, my imagination isn't monogamous by any stretch of itself. Soon I developed Writer's Block after Writer's Block, as the story I currently worked on became complacent in my mind (after all, I was paying attention to it) while others started to jump up and down and trying to get my attention.
"No!" I said to them. "I'm doing Story A, now!"
And Story A, who was content with the way things were, didn't even try to get my attention, causing a tumult to break out, in which it was pushed to the back of the story crowd.
And thus, with multiple stories clamouring over me in search for attention, I'm unable to find and work with Story A.
So I learnt to simply write whichever story is at the front-line. Then my computer broke down, sent for repair, and got back. And stupidly enough, I read a writer's guide that said that I had to pay attention to my present stories, and not write new ones.
Back to the drawing board. *Sigh*
But then, many others have benefited from using the approach that failed me, which means that what works for one writer, doesn't necessarily work for all.
And those are my best writing tips. Any contributions would be great!
Also, I hope this doesn't break any forum rules (I checked, and I think I'm in the clear, confirmation would be nice).
Basically, everyone writes down their greatest writing tips, whether or not they're asked for, though one can also ask for a special type of tip.
Here's some of my tips:
Take a second look at canon and fanon. Fandom is often accused for seeing what's not there, and to a certain extent it's true. In fact, some fanon conventions are treated as canon. In Inuyasha, it's that youkai call each other mate and leave mating marks, even when their corresponding animals and legends do not. In Pokémon, it's that all trainers start their journey at age 10, even though only Ash in the anime states that he leaves at 10, while in RBY Red starts at 11, in the manga, Platinum starts at 13, and in Colosseum/XD/Emerald (can't remember which) an adult character contemplates going on a journey. Then there's the fact that in the games, characters of different ages (from elderly to youngster) seems to be at the same point in their journeys.
And, well, Liza and Tate are clearly younger than May and Brendan, yet they have reached a point when they're gym leaders, suggesting that the 10-13 bracket isn't as set in stone as fanon say. So really, don't let yourself be confined to fanon rules and regulations.
Don't be scared of the Big Bad Mary Sue. Mary Sue is the Big Bad Wolf of fan fiction. Readers looooove to Cry Wolf at slightest rustle in the bushes, because they've been told that there's wolves in the wood. Tales are told about the Big Bad Wolf as villains to be killed off. Mobs with fire and pitchforks rushes out into the woods to courageously stab the creature into submission.
Yet, just like the Big Bad Wolf doesn't exist anywhere but in our imagination and fairytales, the Big Bad Mary Sue does not as well. Of course, there are wolves, and they have been known from time to time to kill humans and domesticated animals, but you don't need mobs, fire and pitchforks to deal with it. Either create a space where it can live freely (a separate fan fiction archive, for example), or painlessly kill it with a well-placed bullet (constructive criticism. That also points out good parts of the character to be salvaged and fed to new, more rounded characters).
Though I personally tend to liken Mary Sues to Black Holes, as Mary Sue is such a gendered term, that the character only needs to be original and female to be labelled a Mary Sue (don't believe me? A few months back, there was a lively discussion in Meta Fandom on this, google it if you want to. Also, all this Suethor prosecution have been likened to internet bullying, when people only pile on the negative, never thinking that behind the story, there's an author who is a real person).
Anyway, don't be scared of Black Holes, because they happen even to the most brilliant of galaxies. Besides, if you worry too much about your character being a Mary Sue, usually one of these things happen:
Writer's Block. A major case of Writer's Block because you worry about the little things too much to get the whole picture.
Anti-Sue. You have piled on so many negatives that no one, not even you or the reader, wants to give the character any time of day. Your Sue isn't just physically unattractive, but has such an odious personality that the only story in which the character would be tolerated, is in a story in which the character is bashed or hated on continuously. If not, the reader wonder why the heck they're supposed to root for such a bleeping idiot.
Non-Character. Your character is the equivalent of the grey colour; what happens when you mix a little bit of every colour into one dreary colour. Stubborn enough, but not too much. Nice enough, but not too much. Clumsy enough, but not too much. Has a sad past, but not too sad. Has a happy family, but not too happy. Yawning yet? There's little to no reason why there's a story about a character so dull, it makes spoons look sharp. There's just nothing defined about this character, nothing extraordinary, nothing interesting.
So, don't worry too much about them. If need be, you can always go back and assign some action to another character if you feel that it's too much on one character's shoulders.Anti-Sue. You have piled on so many negatives that no one, not even you or the reader, wants to give the character any time of day. Your Sue isn't just physically unattractive, but has such an odious personality that the only story in which the character would be tolerated, is in a story in which the character is bashed or hated on continuously. If not, the reader wonder why the heck they're supposed to root for such a bleeping idiot.
Non-Character. Your character is the equivalent of the grey colour; what happens when you mix a little bit of every colour into one dreary colour. Stubborn enough, but not too much. Nice enough, but not too much. Clumsy enough, but not too much. Has a sad past, but not too sad. Has a happy family, but not too happy. Yawning yet? There's little to no reason why there's a story about a character so dull, it makes spoons look sharp. There's just nothing defined about this character, nothing extraordinary, nothing interesting.
Sometimes the obvious choice is the right one. Remember the phrase "it's never that easy"?, well, sometimes it is. If you're going to rob someone, check to see if the front door is unlocked before you climb to the second story window, pick its lock and then diffuse the alarm while hanging upside-down.
In the same way, sometimes it's better to let a story take an obvious course rather than do a plot twist, because if you're too invested in surprising your readers, you will end up with an unbelievable series of events.
It also destroys your readers' sense of anticipation, because if they cannot sometimes predict a series of events, then the story wont keep together in their minds.
So let feel the satisfaction of being right for once. And in the same spirit...
Foreshadow major events. It keeps things from becoming too unbelievable. If your story contains a near-apocalypse by the use of Arceus' plates, then show early on that the plates are dangerous in some way (high energy laboratory readers, or why not just blow up the lab and its surroundings?).
If your character wont go down that road. Don't force them. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. The same is true for character and interactions. If your character is impatient and go-getting with little regard for authority, then they will most likely lose patience with Volkner's boredom and blow up at him, telling him that if he's so bleeping bored, why don't he just quit being a gym leader then and there, and let someone who likes being a gym leader try it. Your character would not silently support his lukewarm personality, no matter how much you need them to for plot-reasons.
Which leads to the next tip...
The story is either plot or character driven. Decide this in the first paragraph. Agatha Christie wrote wonderful, plot-driven stories with colourful characters. Sure, the crimes were often of the crime passionel type, but her stories were plot-driven at the core. And one reason why they were wonderful, was because of the characters, despite the fact that the characters never developed much.
No, Hercule Poirot is always that brilliant, pedantic drama queen. Hastings is always the average British man. The narcissistic, capricious actress is always narcissistic and capricious, from the day that she laughingly invites Poirot to supper, to the last letter before her execution ("P.S. Do you think they will put me in Madame Tussauds?").
The story does not develop with the characters. The story develops as we learn more about the characters and their actions. The characters supremely stay the same, not matter what, but the way we view them changes (read Death on the Nile twice, and you'll have a completely different view on the victim).
By contrast, character-driven stories develop in time with characters. New plots and twists become open as the character is mature enough to go to those places.
And on characters...
Have a colourful cast of characters. Even in plot-centric stories, there should be good chemistry, and you wont get good chemistry if all the characters are the same.
Which leads me to point something out to readers:
Character's values and morals=/=Author's values and morals. Even if the author have a racist, classist and sexist character doesn't mean that the author is racist, classist and sexist. You see, unless the story keeps proving the bad character right (heroic characters agree, the story ends with the bad character winning and so on), chances are that the author thinks that the character is spewing exactly as much crap as you do.
Even if the hero is sexist, they are often proved wrong (Sherlock Holmes is sexist, but was bested by Irene Adler, not that it did much to change his views, because like a real sexist, he viewed it as a fluke.).
Watch Disney's Mulan. Despite having tons of sexist characters, in the end, Mulan still showed that she was just as good as the guys, if not better because she didn't have a one-track mind. Sure, the overall message of the movie has some problematic blemishes, but you can't deny that the guys keeping women, and therefore Mulan, from the army were wrong, and that they're lucky that Mulan didn't listen.
Which means that when you notice a blatantly bigoted character in a story, and the story does not prove said character right, chances are that said character is there to provide either realism or flavour.
Things happened before once upon a time. One of the problems with writing is to know where to start, and unless you start at the beginning of the universe, things probably happened before the start of your story.
Characters had other friends. Characters had family. Characters lived somewhere else. Not just that, but things happened before the start of the story to your hero! Even if the story starts at the hero's birth, the hero's parents probably has some foundation to add.
More writers should make use of this opportunity, because it's seriously rare for a childhood friend who did not follow the character on a journey to contribute to the story.
If you want to write it. Write it. There will always be people who dislike your work, some with valid concerns, and some who wants to force you to do work that they like. If you want to do eevee-starter, do it. If you want to do whatever, do it. If you worry too much about readers and reviews, you'll just feel hampered as you write.
Originality isn't all what it's cracked up to be. I have a story that I've been told is very original for its type. It surprised me, because I had simply looked at canon, found a few things and decided to run with it. To me, it was an obvious story to be told, and I'm pretty sure that there's at least three or four or more out there like it. But then again, many writers of that story-type have focused a long time at one aspect of canon, so perhaps there was a lot of canon left unexplored.
So in the end, it's not an original story, it just feel fresh to the readers. And it's a very important difference there.
If I wanted to write a completely original story, it would be about Amaryl (Winx Club, extremely minor character) going on a pokémon journey in Spira (Final Fantasy X/-2) with her starter Mogu (Fancy Lala, one of two mascots). What do they have in common? Transformation sequences and songs, but, well, not much else.
Would such a story be good? I don't know, but it certainly would break a lot of suspension of disbelief.
A fresh story is simply something that's been told before, yet it grabs the reader and makes the reader feel like the story is original. If you read Final Fantasy VII fan fiction, maybe you've read 'Sink to the Bottom With You' and 'Faith and Feather', both which focus on the same characters, both which have similar flavour, both which have many of the same readers, yet they both feels fresh when you read them, because they take your imagination and runs with it.
And that's really what many reviewers mean when they speak about originality. It doesn't have to be original, all it has to be is a good story.
There's not one true way to write. It's true. When I was starting out, I was told that if I start a chaptered story, I should stick with it, through thick and thin, until it was finished. Never to touch another before that one is done.
Unfortunately, my imagination isn't monogamous by any stretch of itself. Soon I developed Writer's Block after Writer's Block, as the story I currently worked on became complacent in my mind (after all, I was paying attention to it) while others started to jump up and down and trying to get my attention.
"No!" I said to them. "I'm doing Story A, now!"
And Story A, who was content with the way things were, didn't even try to get my attention, causing a tumult to break out, in which it was pushed to the back of the story crowd.
And thus, with multiple stories clamouring over me in search for attention, I'm unable to find and work with Story A.
So I learnt to simply write whichever story is at the front-line. Then my computer broke down, sent for repair, and got back. And stupidly enough, I read a writer's guide that said that I had to pay attention to my present stories, and not write new ones.
Back to the drawing board. *Sigh*
But then, many others have benefited from using the approach that failed me, which means that what works for one writer, doesn't necessarily work for all.
And those are my best writing tips. Any contributions would be great!
Also, I hope this doesn't break any forum rules (I checked, and I think I'm in the clear, confirmation would be nice).
