Advanced
Filling out Scenes:
One of the biggest problems I see with new writers is lack of details. They write it like my example of exposition above.
Sarah witnessed her parents' murders while she hid in the closet.
If I read that I might say, Oh well that sucks for her. and read no further.
That's not what you want. Instead of summarizing what happened give every single detail. One practice I use is this: I write a sentence then I ask myself, Can I describe what happened better? You can turn that single sentence into a chapter if you want.
I almost always start with the setting. Where and when is this happening. But also, what is the mood of the environment the hero is in? Settings that reflect a character's mood add depth and richness to a story. It can even be used to foreshadow. When an author describes a dark moonlit forest filled with gnarled dead trees and strange sounds you don't get a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. At least I hope you don't. So let's add some details. If you have trouble adding details ask yourself what the character seems to fit into. Visualize them, any supporting characters and their surroundings. The characters seem to come alive for me, and they start interacting with their environments.
Soft, warm sunlight poured through the bedroom window of the big, welcoming house Sarah lived in. Summer in the small girl's eighth year had been dreamlike, filled with loving parents, innocence, and the occasional curious discovery of small animals in her sprawling backyard.
Not bad. It definitely has a mood to it. But the action has to be described too.
Sarah was playing with her dolls when she heard a large crash come from downstairs.
Wrong! That was a summary of what happened. Let's try that again. The home has a country feel to it, so why would someone be after her parents? A random robbery doesn't fit. So maybe her parents are running from someone. Maybe this isn't the first time this has happened.
Sarah tenderly dressed up her favorite doll, a worn bunny named Leo with stuffing peaking out of several areas and even more stitch jobs by mom. She jumped when someone kicked their front door open, splintering the creaky oak wood around the brass knob she had to reach up to when she opened it. Sarah's heart was pounding.
Not again! she thought.
She ran into her parents' bedroom. Her mother knelt down and scooped her up with tears in her eyes.
She ran over to the closet and put her in, Promise me that no matter what happens you won't make any noise or come out!
Sarah simply nodded afraid and crying. Her mother wiped them away and shut the door.
Her father ran into the bedroom and locked the door behind him. She couldn't hear them speaking in hushed tones. A loud bang came from the other side of the door. Her mother clung to her father's arm who stood bravely.
The door cracked and swung open. She could hear heavy boots leisurely make there way over to them.
Where is she? the voice said.
You're too late! her father said, She already left to study with Professor Lionel. You'll never get to her now!
She watched the strange tall man take off his leather coat. She tried to get a look at his face but her position wouldn't allow her and she was so scared if she moved that he might hear her. He wore a shirt that clung to his muscles. A tattoo of a snake wrapped down his right arm in a spiral. She could see him grab her father. A dark cloud seemed to come from his hands. He grabbed her mother. A loud crackling, sizzling sound surprised her and her parents fell to the floor badly burned around their chests. She put her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. A pain welled up in her throat. Her tears quickly blinded her. Instead she let herself scream inside. Wailing in pain and fear.
The sound of boots leisurely walked back out. Sarah could smell burning flesh. It took her hours before she built up the courage to open the closet door. She crawled over to her lifeless parents unable to control her cries. They were cold and she didn't know what to do.
Much less generic now and much longer. It took longer to write but I think it was worth it. We have even found out that the strange tall man is presumably after her for some reason, although even I don't know yet. Details make the story! Notice that that was the opening action or exposition? Keep asking yourself if you can describe this or that in more detail. Of course don't go into paragraph after paragraph about tiny details unless you can make it interesting. On that note, you can skip mundane everyday details like showering or eating unless it has a deeper meaning.
One way to make sure your story is interesting is to read through what you have written every so often. If you get bored with it the reader will too, if that happens rethink what you are focusing on. You may have gotten off track onto another subject.
Characters:
If plot is what makes you want to read a story, characters are what make you have to read a story. If you don't care about the main character you won't care if you finish the story.
To make your character someone people will care about takes a lot of work. The first step is to make them interesting. Stories about ordinary guys thrust into extraordinary situations don't work unless there is something extraordinary about them. You may be a little confused now. I mean something like they are very crafty even though they appear not to be. Maybe they have an admirable sense of justice or endearing kindness, or maybe they are stronger or faster than they appear to be.
Second, you should make your character likable as soon as possible. Within the first sentence of the story if possible. Write something so the reader can sympathize with them early on. Such as from my example above:
Soft, warm sunlight poured through the bedroom window of the big, welcoming house Sarah lived in. Summer in the small girl's eighth year had been dreamlike, filled with loving parents, innocence, and the occasional curious discovery of small animals in her sprawling backyard.
Damn! Second sentence. Oh well, if a reader's attention span won't go past a first sentence without a sympathetic character I won't feel bad if they don't read my story.
I enforced it further by talking about a worn out doll she plays with and then by showing her fear and pain to the audience.
Make sure the reader knows how the character feels and why. If it's obvious why the character would feel a certain way it would be more harmful than helpful to say why.
We like characters because they have some admirable quality. No matter how strong they are on the outside it doesn't compare to inner strength. Whether it's their will to stand up to impossible odds or their ability to forgive. Make them strong inside. It doesn't matter how.
Do not go to far with it though. The classic Greek hero was strong morally and emotionally. He had no faults. Boring by today's favored styles of writing.
While the character struggles to achieve their goals outside they should be struggling inside. It could be with moral issues, bad memories, anything as long as it's interesting.
My favorite character, Blood Wolffe, has to struggle with his memories of being experimented on to horrific extent. He has to struggle with the fact that he will always be an outsider no matter how badly he wants to be a part of something.
The Dark Brooding Character:
I bet a lot of people are excited now. We have all seen them. They litter the streets. Most everybody secretly wants to make one but doesn't want them thrown into the heap of all the other generic ones. If you say you don't want to make one you are a filthy liar! But how come so many of them don't work?
Just like the good guy the bad guy has to have an inner struggle as well. Some redeeming quality in them. The hero that is always depressed must find happiness in some action(s). They must try to better themselves. That's it.
Although Blood Wolffe's memories are painful and he will do anything to avoid them he still fights the seemingly untouchable corporation that caused it. Even though he doesn't fit in (sometimes due to his own actions) he tries.
Classic villains have made a comeback recently. That is the villain who is pure evil. They definitely work in a comic book atmosphere although nothing is more compelling than a hero not totally right and a villain not totally wrong clashing. It easily brings about inner conflict in the main characters.
Character Development:
The main character(s) almost always must grow in the story. They must learn something or their attitude must alter slightly (or a lot) through their experiences. Whether for bad or for good.
Large groups of characters:
This one can really apply to writers here. One of my first stories was The New Empire. It was about a large group of heroes fighting in a world where the Council had already taken over everything and reigned supreme. I wish I had known about this rule although I came close to applying it.
If you are writing a large cast like a super group write it as if the super group itself is the character. There can be characters that stick out here and there and have relationships with one another but stick to that rule. If you separate the people too much it becomes confusing. When times are rough even their home can be written with a sad or desperate undertone.
Symbolism:
Symbolism can come from anything. Crows can mean death. Water can be rebirth. Fire can be evil. White can mean innocence. You can even mix any of those to mean anything. You just have to write it as such. My favorite method is to write it as if the symbol brings the meaning behind it. The crows bring death with them for example. Symbolism is best used when it is riddled throughout the story.
Foreshadowing:
Symbols are almost exclusively used to foreshadow future events. But we all know the classic example of the soldier showing a picture of his wife and then almost immediately dying. Be careful not to make it to obvious. I like to give as subtle clues as possible that make the reader have to read back over it to see it. But obvious enough so they remember when the even happens.
Moral:
The moral is the underlying message that the story shows the reader. With Blood Wolffe it could be either about not fitting in or my personal favorite, standing up against impossible odds.
Writing in Open RP
All of the rules above apply. However you must respect other people's creations.
Just as you wouldn't want someone thrashing your character mercilessly don't thrash theirs. It is extremely rude. If you are RPing a fight throw as many boulders and flaming energy balls as you want. Just don't expect every one to hit and one-shot Player controlled characters.
You control nothing but what you have created! Take your hits and they will most likely reciprocate.
Exceptions are when you are battling non player characters that were created by someone else for the specific reason of people having fun destroying them. Other than that exceptions are rare.
Don't ever take control of a situation someone else created. That is showboating and again, rude.
On the same token, don't let anyone get away with doing it to you. But settle it via private messages.
Never compare your character to someone else's. Saying your character is more depressed or more courageous is very bad!
If you are unsure of something you want to write use the private messaging system. Just click on the poster's name and you will see it as an option near the bottom of your screen on the left hand side.
Follow those simple rules and you are well on your way to becoming a great person to RP with.
Well, that's all I have for now. I will add to it more later if I think of anything that might help.
One last thing. Do not get discouraged. Writing is an acquired skill. I hope this guide has helped. Good luck!
I have found that writing is an extremely rewarding experience. You may have too. I love it when the action scene I am creating makes my heart pound or when I have tears in my eyes when my hero suffers something incomprehensible. I can't even count how many times I wished I had his iron will and fierce determination.
Writing can also be very frustrating though. You keep trying to make that passage better but it only seems to get further away from its potential. I certainly remember how intimidating it was to put my first story out there. I still feel it every single time I post or show someone I know (and trust) the next chapter of my novel.
It may feel overwhelming, but writing can be learned. In fact it has to be! Do you think Shakespeare belted out all of his works without any doubt or revisions? Certainly not.
If there is one thing I can not stand it is someone getting discouraged from writing. I wonder what the world could be losing if they do.
So I am writing a guide to help us with the basics of writing. I say us because if I do this right I will come back to it myself when I am stuck. I'm not the best writer in any form but let's hope I do alright. Enough chit-chat! Let's start with the basics.
The Basics
Grammar:
I would say the absolute most important thing to remember is grammar. If you learn nothing else from this then learn to use spellcheck! It separates a post that looks like a kid wrote it from an educated adult. Nothing is harder to read than a sentence that reads like this:
he says oh ya than he punched the guy
Aaagh! That was hard to write. Some very important rules were broken there so let's go over them.
Capitalize every sentence. Always capitalize I. Never start a sentence with and. End every sentence with a period or an exclamation mark. I believe that question marks only belong in quotes, but they can be used if the narrator is talking to the reader. But I don't like that style. I digress. If asking a question in shock and disbelief you can put a !? at the end.
Commas are put there when there is meant to be a pause in speech. Don't overdo them though. They can be tempting little devils so be careful. They belong in lists, before quotes, and occasionally natural breaks in speech. Examples:
She punched, kicked, and bit the foolish mugger.
John said, I don't know, what do you think?
If you are writing in the past tense keep it in the past tense. At least for the whole sentence. Writing, or stories with multiple tenses is possible but more advanced. We will get to it later.
Every single time someone speaks quotation marks go around the speech. If your character quotes someone else those little single quotation marks go around the quote. Example:
John said, Heather said, 'Why did I eat that?' and then she exploded.
What do you mean she said 'Why did I eat that?'
It can be confusing, but Microsoft word will correct most noticeable errors. If you don't have it Google Toolbar has a spellcheck that you can use on any text you type in the web.
Paragraphs can be a little tricky. Every time someone speaks press enter/return at least once. Twice is nice. Every time the person/place/thing/event you are writing about changes start a new paragraph. It is up to you to figure out when that should be. If you have real trouble with it still look at your paragraph. After about four to six sentences start asking yourself where a break would fit in nicely.
One pet peeve of mine is words that people mix up with each other that sound the same. It's an easy fix though.
Their Possessive. That is their house.
There The pronoun for place.
They're Short for they are.
You're Short for you are.
Your Possessive. That is your bazooka.
Then Past tense, time. That was then, this is now.
Than Used to compare things. I would rather run than fight right now.
Here A place.
Hear Perceiving sound.
If you are not sure how to spell a word use spellcheck. If that fails you, type the word into Google. Google gets it right most of the time or it shows up in a site that gets it right. It may take some persistence though.
Words to Avoid:
Unless it is your character speaking and they're unsure of something do not write Um or any other variation of the word. I don't recommend it even if the narrator is speaking to the reader. This is because Um is not a word. It's what you say when you can't think of anything. You have all the time in the world to think of the most clever quip possible when writing. Why write Um!?
The same thing goes for yeah. It belongs only in quotation marks.
Avoid using words repetitively. Repetitious over-repeating of words repeatedly sticks out annoyingly and ensures no repeated reading.
Those add up to a tiny drop in the ocean that is the English language. But don't worry. If you can read this you already have at least half of it down. If you can't read this then it was pointless for me to write this sentence.
Plot Structure:
Conflict makes plot! Without some kind of conflict there is no plot! Whether it is inner or outer doesn't matter.
Plot is what makes people go, Oooh, I want to read this. There is a tried and true path that many stories take to keep the reader hooked. I can't draw on the forums but here goes an attempt at something like it.
.................................................. ....Climax
.................................................. ......./\
.................................................. ....../..\
................................Rising Action....../.....\ Falling Action
.................................................. .../........\
.................................................. ../...........\
Exposition (inciting incident)............./..............\ dénouement or catastrophe (resolution)
The exposition is kind of like a teaser. It's a little bit of action at the beginning of the story to spark the bigger, farther reaching events to come. Instead of taking example from another story, let's make up a summary of our own.
Our hero (We will call her Sarah), or protagonist in literary terms, runs away from home. No, that's not good enough. We need details. Sarah witnessed her parents' murders while she hid in the closet. We are getting there. The only identifying mark she saw was the tattoo of the killer. Now she is on a quest of vengeance the only way she knows how. Becoming a hero. It is a little generic but it has promise.
Rising action is the most important part of the story. This is where you get to know and care about the main character(s) and outcome. There can be action scenes riddled throughout it but none should outdo the climax. Character development is more important than action. It doesn't matter what the stakes are if you don't care about the character. We will get to that later though.
The Climax is the grand finale. The part where the bomb is counting down, the giant robot is destroying the city, the world is in peril and all hope seems lost. This is where your character uses lessons learned to success or failure if it is a tragedy.
Falling action is easy to miss. It starts immediately after the climax and is a bit of a connector to the resolution. It's the part where the hero has just saved knocked the missile away from destroying the city and the previously invincible army is now just a shadow of its former self, easily being swept through.
Resolution wraps up details. After the war ended, the cities slowly rebuilt themselves, an awards ceremony was held for the heroes and so on.
Follow that pattern and you can at least write one of the cardboard summer action movies that Hollywood pumps out every year.