Point 1: A good idea does not necessarily make a
good story - We've all probably sat back, saw or read or
something that might draw our interest and think ' Hey, that would make
a cool story! '. Trouble is, the distance between an idea and a
finished story is quite long with many bumps along the way.
All stories have three
basic parts: the beginning ( or ' hook'), the plot and the
ending. Every author will sit down with an idea on what he wants
for the story and the basic tone the story takes. Ahh, but then
comes the hard part: the first three or four lines of the tale.
How do you get the reader ( which is the author at that point) immersed
into the story? There's a variety of ways but the way chosen sets
the tone for the story.
Some time later,
you've finished your story but it just doesn't seem as good as the idea
you started with. Does this mean you should hit the DELETE button
and flush the story into an electronic garbage can? Not
necessarily....read it over more than once. Is your dialogue
good? Do the characters sound like you wanted? If so, file
it and move onto your next story. Never fall into a trap where
you constantly go back and try to fix and tinker with your tale over
and over.
Point 2: Read your story back to yourself before
posting to the world - You've just finished your first story
and you're pretty pleased. First instinct - share it with the
world : submit it to LTBSA, post it to Yahoo groups, email it to
friends and so on.
Hold on.
Before you go
and take that step, reread your story back to yourself. Run
Spellcheck on your story ( unless you've won Spelling Bees all your
life, there might be a typo or two.), check to make sure your
paragraphs are spaced, your punctuation is ok and everything looks
ok. A general thumb I use: If it looks awkward/odd to me, it'll
probably look that way to a reader.
Keep in mind a
couple of things:
1)
Feedback can vary from author to author a lot in this genre but
remember this: You're writing for the person you see in the mirror
every morning : YOURSELF. Don't try and write stories to make
others happy - you'll hate yourself in the long run.
2)
Just like riding a bike, you get better the more you write. A
pretty simple notion but true nevertheless. You get more
comfortable with writing certain situations, figuring out the best way
to reach a story's climax and so on.
Point 3: Details, details, details and more details - This is something I strongly believe in so if I wax poetically, forgive
me.....
When a
reader reads any story, his mind is trying to imagine visually
what your words are saying. In essence, all stories start out
like a blank artist's canvas and the words fill in the numbers to give
the picture.
( By the
way, if you think I just insinuated that writing is fairly easy, scroll
down....I talk about that too)
If
you have a person walking into a room, encounters villain, is
transformed after struggle ( long/short) and story is resolved, you
have a tale that is interesting as watching paint dry.
For
some authors, that's their style. More power to them.
Myself, I add descriptions about everything- people's hair color,
contents of a room, etc. Make it so the reader can close his/her
eyes and picture themselves there. It makes a story more
enjoyable for all those concerned.
Point 4: Think, stupid! - Look, if
you're going to write a story where the characters act like the people
you see in a cheesy 80's horror flick, you don't have to worry about
this part so skip to point 5.
Otherwise,
treat your characters like they have something between their
ears. If a woman is suddenly locked inside a building or caught
in a predicament, she's not going to wait for a villain to saunter
along and casually change her into a love doll. She's probably
going to put up a fight and try to get away- write about it. Likewise, a
villain should anticipate problems and have reasonable plans to fall
back on in case of a screw-up.
You
might want to get to the transformation part of your story as fast as
possible. If so, make it a trip where the signs of reason aren't
ignored
along the way.
Point 5: Anyone can write! - I'd love to say
that there is some special inherent talent with people who write in
this genre....
Really, I would......
But
I can't.
There is no special trick....no cosmic force. Anyone who can read
this can write a story. There has to be just one thing necessary
and only one thing....
You have to want to!!!
Pretty simple, eh? Think about it, though: how many times have
you heard someone say ' Ya know, I'd like to write but.... ( which is
then followed by some excuse) ' ? Now, before you think I'm
ragging on non writers, this also applies to writers as well.
If you don't feel like writing, you won't. You can summon up all
the reasons in the world but, from my experiences, it all comes to a
desire to type the words and pargraphs. If they aren't flowing,
turn your attention back to that naughty site you just visited and
leave the writing alone for now.
If you've made it this far, you're probably thinking " This is all a
bunch of hot air....how does this help me write? "
I guess the main thing I'd say is that everyone has their own style of
creation. I'm not going to tell you how to write good dialogue,
how long a good transformation scene should be and so on. All
I've done here is post a few points I'd like to make that might help a
new writer start down the road of creativity.
Where that road takes you is entirely up to you.......