#TipsAndTricks

...a group for tutorials!

#tipsandtricks favourites

Writing Story Telling

Hey there, writers! Looking for more Writers Resources? Head on over to #Writers-Workshop, where they've compiled a vast amount workshops and how-to's for you!

To go directly to their Resource Page, just click here!

These are all of our user submitted tutorials and much, much more!

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A How To on Writing Fanfiction

WRITING FANFICTION

The Basics

1. Intelligence is required. No matter how interesting or humorous a plot you may have, it is always better to read a well-written, intelligible fiction than a thrown-together piece of junk riddled with spelling/grammatical mistakes.

2. Plot is important. There are such things as PWP's (see PWP section), but other than that, plot is what really makes a story. What is happening is what makes the reader go on and want to read more.

3. Creativity is a must. No one wants to read the same thing that they have seen from 50 other writers. Try to be original, and if you see an idea you really like, improvise it a litA How To on Writing Fanfiction by ~SasuMonkey More Like This

Writing a Harry Potter FanficTutorial to writing a Harry Potter fanfic.

When writing a Harry Potter fanfic, it's best to realize things you'll need first. A pencil, a pen, a notebook or something to write in, an open mind, patience, dedication, and time. Why would you need both a pencil and a pen? One is for writing and one is for correcting.

Before you start to write, you need to make a plan, have materials for research, and knowledge of Harry Potter. Brainstorming is a great way to pan out a plot for your story.

Answer these questions:

What Era?

You'll need to realize where you want to have your story in the Potterverse. Founders Era, Marauder Era, Pre-Hogwarts, TWriting a Harry Potter Fanfic by ~MariaHeart More Like This

Blank Character SheetIt is very important to get to know the characters of your stories/novels, as knowing the basics can provide description and characterization throughout your novel.

I have compiled a basic character reference sheet below in the hopes that you will find it of use.

Name:
Gender:
Age:
Profession:
Where he lives:

Appearance

Eye color:
Glasses or contacts:
Weight:
Height:
Type of body/build:
Skin tone:
Shape of face:
Notable features:
Hair color:
Type of hair:
Hairstyle:
Is he or she in good health?
If not, why not?
Physical disabilities:

Favorites

Color:
Music:
Movie:
Food:
Clothing:
Prized possession:

Background & FaBlank Character Sheet by *MeganLawler94 More Like This

The NonVerbal Thesaurus

NonVerbal:
Not spoken > Body Language.

Thesaurus:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Latin thesaurus, treasury, from Greek thesauros.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
n. pl. the•sau•ri (-sôri) or the•sau•rus•es
1. A book of synonyms, often including related and contrasting words and antonyms.
2. A book of selected words or concepts, such as a specialized vocabulary of a particular field.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009.

Dialogue is VISUAL
-- Not just a bunch of words.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Watch the aThe NonVerbal Thesaurus by *OokamiKasumi More Like This

Writing Tips - Ideas by *DarkDelusion More Like This

The Dreaded 2nd DraftDarling Mionette'sA Writer's Guide To The Second DraftOh noes. Let those be my first words in this tutorial. Now that I've gotten that out of my system, may I never mutilate the English language in that manner again. Welcome to my tutorial on the dreaded "Second Draft" of creative writing. If you've read my other tutorial (How to write - and love it), then you're well aware of why I call this the dreaded second draft, but if you haven't, then let me explain: I am a firm believer that all editing in creative writing should be left to the second draft. The first draft, should remain edit-free so as not to stem creativity.
Going into this tutoriThe Dreaded 2nd Draft by =DarlingMionette More Like This

How To Write - And Love ItDarling Mionette's
How to Begin To Write

Welcome to my tutorial on how to start writing. This tutorial isn't going to teach you the rules of grammar, or punctuation. Let's face it – there is a plethora of such tutorials already out there. Instead, this tutorial is going to teach you the tools you can use to get a head start on writing.

You Are a Writer

First things first: acknowledge that you are already a writer. What? You're not? You could have fooled me. Let's face it; from the moment we're born, we're unwittingly taught to become writers. Language is one of the first tools we learn, and along with that, story telling. You may haHow To Write - And Love It by =DarlingMionette More Like This

Character Profile Form- Short

Character Profile Form- Short by =Fyuvix More Like This

Character Profile Form

Basic Statistics

Name:
Nickname:
Meaning of name:
Origin of name:
Age:
Sex:
Blood type:
Nationality:
Ethnicity:
Race:
Sexual Orientation:
Current status:
Political Party:
Police/Criminal/Legal record:
Socioeconomic level as a child:
Socioeconomic level as an adult:
Birth date:
Birth place:
Current residence:
Occupation:
Title/Rank:
Hobbies/Pastimes:
Talents/Skills/Powers:

Past History

Hometown:
First Memory:
Most important childhood event that still affects him/her:
Why/How?
Other memories/events that still affects him/her and why/how:
Past failures s/he would be embarrassed to have people know about and why:
BiggCharacter Profile Form by =Fyuvix More Like This

Character Balance Meme by =Fyuvix More Like This

Fishing for INSPIRATION?

Fishing for INSPIRATION?
~~~~~~~~~~~
Your imagination is a pond that you fish your ideas from. Like any fishing pond, what you catch depends on what you've stocked your pond with and how much you put in there. If you fish for only the occasional idea, your little ideas have time to breed creatively until they overflow the pond, leaping right out into your hand -- and onto your keyboard. If you fish a lot, you will have to restock -- Frequently.

A Dry Pond = Writer's Block

What's in YOUR Imagination?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What do you KNOW?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What do you love to Do, to Study, to Think About, to Talk About...? Make a lisFishing for INSPIRATION? by *OokamiKasumi More Like This

Story Writing for BEGINNERS

Story Writing for BEGINNERS

-----Original Message-----
I want to write a story. I have a couple of ideas, but no idea what to do with them, or even how to begin! Help?!
-- Newbie Writer
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So when you wanna write a story, where do you begin? With your PASSION!

Write what you KNOW & LOVE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What do you KNOW, really? What do you love to Do, to Study, to Think About, to Talk About...? Whether it's cave-diving, model trains, skate-boarding, sewing, horses, mythology, ghost legends, or particle physics your passion is where you will find your most unique and powerful work.

Make a list of all the things you Story Writing for BEGINNERS by *OokamiKasumi More Like This

High Speed STORIES

High-Speed STORIES
When you absolutely, positively, HAVE to get the story done.

The trick to speed-writing is to Plan the story out first, more commonly known as PLOTTING.

"Diabolic" was written in 30 days -- all 15 chapters at 2500 to 3000 words per chapter, adding up to around 80k (thousand) words. A novel is 90k to 100k. I was able to do this because I already knew my main characters really well, (Vincent and Sephiroth of Final Fantasy VII,) and I knew where my story ENDED. Basically, once I knew where I wanted to go, all I had to do was figure out how to get there.

Note: If you're interested, DIABOLIC can be found at Media Miner. The High Speed STORIES by *OokamiKasumi More Like This

Your Character TOO Special?

Is your Special Character
TOO SPECIAL?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Are you indulging in a few too many "special traits"? Is your story really an excuse to show off your Super Special Character? Are you committing a MARY-SUE/GARY STUE?

--> Dead give-away: Your favorite character is YOU only BETTER!

Who is Mary Sue/Gary Stue?

According to SubReality.com:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mary Sue / Gary Stue is any original or deeply altered character who represents a slice of their creator's own ego; they are treasured by their creator but only rarely by anyone else. A Mary Sue/Gary Stue is a primadonna (usually, but not always badly-written,) who saps life Your Character TOO Special? by *OokamiKasumi More Like This

Writing DESCRIPTION

Tricks for Writing DESCRIPTION

------------- Original Message -----------
"I think the biggest problem I have is lack of detail. I can see things in my head, but other than the general surroundings, I'm always too intent on what my characters are thinking, or doing, or about to do to remember to add the details necessary to paint a really clear picture of where they are and their environment." -- Wanna Rite Reel Gud

The way to deal with that is by writing what you can. When you're done, go back and put in all the rest. Also, in situations like this, a beta-reader is your best bet at seeing where you skipped something.

As for What to descWriting DESCRIPTION by *OokamiKasumi More Like This

Character Design 101

When it comes to character design, there's more to it than just the appearance of a character. While the looks of a character can tell a lot about said character, we all know that looks can be deceiving!

A lot of people seem to think that designing the appearance of a character is a character design. It is, when it comes to visual design. But what is the character like?

When people do give attention to that question, they'll often come up with characters that are either loved or hated by everyone, that have epic superpowers or superhuman abilities that no one (not even God) can ever hope to topple, and if they do somehow get beaCharacter Design 101 by ~Heartless-Bowser More Like This

Story Telling 101Story Telling 101 – A Complete Class in Creation and Story Telling

#WELCOME

Welcome everyone, to the first edition of Story Telling 101, in which I will teach you to write your very own story, from beginning, to end. In this guide, we'll cover everything from internal plot techniques, to the actual creation of story and of characters. This guide will also be a workshop, meaning that, by the time you've finished this entire class, you will have created your very own story, in which you can write comics, books, or plays with. (Please note, I'm teaching Fiction only!)

Please be aware, that this course will be demanding of you, and that cStory Telling 101 by *MidnightSoiree More Like This

Writing Tips - Organisation

Writing Without Confusing Yourself (Or Your Readers)

Writing is a very personal, individual undertaking. Everybody approaches the activity a bit differently from the next guy. Some people can come up with concept, plot, characters, and everything else and just sit down and write. Others need to take time to figure out what's going on; what's going to happen in the story, and how it all fits together. Others still will find themselves getting stuck somewhere along the middle, losing track of everything or changing an idea mid-way through, or never know how to end. These are the people for whom this has been put together. Those of you who can Writing Tips - Organisation by ~Mae-Jay More Like This

5 Easy Steps To...Make Your Editor Not Hate You

1. Reread it yourself. If you can't stand doing this, then what makes you think anyone else is going to want to.

So, if you really don't want to reread it right away, try waiting a while - a few days, or a few hours. I also suggest reading it aloud, or saying it in your head (not everyone can do this, though I don't understand how they can't..)
You'd be surprised at how many errors you can catch this way.

2. A huge pet peeve of mine that almost every amateur writer I've seen does and yet is a basic english lesson, at the very least taught in Gr.11, though I think I've seen it before -
It's and Its
It's is 5 Easy Steps To... by ~AleriaCarventus More Like This

Punctuation's Most Wanted by *phantom-inker More Like This

130 Writing Prompts by ~undefinedromance89 More Like This

Writing Style--The Bottom Line

Writing Style - The Bottom Line

“Words are like sunbeams.  The more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.”       - Robert Southey

“Prose is architecture, not interior decorating.”       - Ernest Hemingway

Writing style is made up of two things: cadence and variation.

Good style is clear, readable, and invisible.  Its purpose is not to attract attention to itself but to transport readers into the world of your story.  If your readers notice your style without purposefully intending to study it, your style needs to be improWriting Style--The Bottom Line by ~illuminara More Like This

On Writing - Getting Published by *mree More Like This

How to name your characters

NAMING YOUR CHARACTERS

There are many problems that a writer can come across when selecting a name for a character, here I hope to deal with some of the major pitfalls, and hopefully give some useful tips…

~ Unique and different names are not an excuse to ignore good characterisation. Would you take these characters seriously?

Randilynia McDanovich
Southern. D. Wattserfield
Floyd Picasso
Ise Speranza
Nine Purple

These are all names that I came up with off the top of my head or based on words about my desk. It is not difficult to come up with a new, unique name. But that doesn’t instantly make your character interesting orHow to name your characters by ~Xancsia More Like This

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