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Ideas

9 years ago

Anyone have any plot ideas for a story? Yes i am new to this website and ive been here about almost a week now. So any suggestions on how to make my stories better? Please reply :)

Ideas

9 years ago
The advice people have given you in the comments sections of your stories are good points to focus on. You are not following that advice consistently. Even here, you failed to capitalize "I".

Here is a link to an online grammar guide. I strongly suggest you read a little bit of it every day, even if you only study it for 10 minutes a day. Improving your grammar will not only help you write better stories, but it will improve your performance in almost every subject in school. It also helps you learn how to wield the language to fit your needs in writing. http://www.edufind.com/english-grammar/english-grammar-guide/

From - http://www.learningnerd.com/the-difference-between-plot-and-story/

"A story is a series of events recorded in their chronological order."

"A plot is a series of events deliberately arranged so as to reveal their dramatic, thematic, and emotional significance."

Start with a general idea (an original idea would be best) and expand from there, developing a chain of events that build on one another and reveal a greater meaning or goal. I recommend plotting out your entire story before working on writing it, meaning you should have a good idea what your choices (plot points) are and what you're going to write about on each page.

Be creative, think different, think bizarre.

I'm glad to see you are interested in improving your writing. You should do the daily writing prompts that Kiel has been doing. Or if you want, I'll give you a prompt here.

This exercise will help with the creative process.
Write a scene featuring these three items, a dozen withered roses, a necromancer, and a porcupine.

Ideas

9 years ago

Thanks Bucky and that I I thought I capitalized but guess i didn't. Oh well, and yes ive already messaged Kiel about joining the writing exercises so hoping to get a reply from her soon. I also joined the site cause I have lots of ideas I can come up with a new one in just one minute like maybe a dragon who cant fly story or something like that, but mainly I posted on the forum here because I wanted to know what people would like to see

Ideas

9 years ago
You failed to capitalize almost every "I" in that passage. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of good grammar. When you write without following the basic rules of punctuation and proper English, you reflect an incredibly poor image of yourself. Not just here, but in every facet of life.

Write the stories you want to write. Don't try to cater to what others want. Although, I beseech you, please don't write any fan-fiction. This site is being blasted with horrible fan-fiction. Write something that is unique and inherently your own.

Finally, don't just immediately write something that pops into your head. Jot down the idea so you don't forget it and plan it out first.

Ideas

9 years ago

Yea i just noticed about the I's so i went back and fixed them. The reason I wanted to know what other people want to see is because I want people to well like the stories I know that may sound greedy or something to want people to like your stories but im really just trying to make people happy here. I have seen other people hate on other people's stories and say rude things about them but not you of course im actually trying to use the advice people give me I just don't know how sometimes but I try my best. I really want to change people though cause im actually a nice person in real life and I want to try and make others just maybe more nicer in what they say and try to give new comers like me and other new comers more advice into making their stories better.

Ideas

9 years ago

Well...I personally still think that good grammar, which helps with the way you talk (and vice versa, so if you keep on running your mouth on in real life, you might need to take a breath every 10 seconds xD This is a joke, even if a little rude.) is a must around a writing site.  The best way to get started to being a good helpful writer is to be a good writer, which of course, goes all the way back to grammar.  Without grammar, it will be impossible for people to understand you.

It's good you write like how you speak, but I believe that if you used more commas and periods, it helps your readers understand you more easily, since they don't have to take in all so many words at once.

For example, I could down this sentence you wrote :

I really want to change people though cause im actually a nice person in real life and I want to try and make others just maybe more nicer in what they say and try to give new comers like me and other new comers more advice into making their stories better.

Into this :

I really want to change people though, cause I'm actually a nice person in real life.  I want to try and make other just maybe nicer in what they say and do, and try to give other newcomers like me more advice for their stories.

^See how I cut the sentence into easier-to-read pieces?  That's the power of periods and commas.  I recommend you use them a lot (you sound smarter that way too!).  Also...

...yeah, I'm going to have to tell you again that you're going to want to be a good writer before you start giving advice.  It helps when you don't have a wooden pole of ugly grammar in your eye when taking out splinters of bad grammar here and there in other people's eyes.

Ideas

9 years ago

I agree with everything Swift said....BUT, I recommend that you take his advice about punctuation specifically in a slightly different way (though I'm pretty sure that he meant it this way...). Make sure to use proper punctuation (commas, periods, etc.) when needed. If you put commas and the like in weird spots, it reflects on your skills as a writer (making you seem like a bad one), or even your editor (if you have one, and he doesn't do a good job).

For example:

This is okay- The girl, having met Mr. Sato before, shouted his name from the sidewalk in order to catch his attention.

This is not okay- The girl, having met, Mr. Sato before, shouted his name, from the sidewalk, in order to catch his attention.

Do you see what I mean? Be sure to always include proper grammar and mechanics (punctuation) in your writing, but only when necessary. If you don't know where to use certain types of punctuation, look it up, or ask someone on the site. 

Ideas

9 years ago
Good example.

I would just argue that it isn't proper grammar or proper mechanics in the first place if you're inserting punctuation unnecessarily.

In writing you can fudge the rules sometimes. For example, there are instances where fragments are acceptable, even outside of speech, if it serves a purpose and is done well. As writers, we are not bound by all of the stringent rules of formal writing. Another example of this - in formal writing it is considered inappropriate to use contractions, whereas contractions play a role in developing life-like speech patterns.

@pinkalily21 You will learn when and where you can manipulate the rules and where you cannot by practicing your craft and reading the works of other writers. However, you must learn the proper rules of grammar before you can play them. Whether you think you know them or not, I strongly urge you to review basic grammar and punctuation rules as you consistently fail to follow them.

From there you should use the resource I provided you to learn more advanced rules. It may sound like work, but I promise you, every minute you spend improving your knowledge of grammar will be an investment in both your writing and your personal future. Strong writing skills are the foundation of almost every well-paying job that does not involve being on a crab boat in the middle of the Bering Sea in a storm.

Ideas

9 years ago

Got to agree with Bucky here and say you shouldn't just write about the first thing that pops into your head. I'd say only write a story if you already have a basic idea of what it's about, who the characters are and how it's going to end. A story about a dragon that can't fly is a pretty weak starting point if you don't already have any ideas of what's going to happen in the story. Why can't the dragon fly? Does it meet someone else that tries to teach it to fly? What happens to the dragon in the story? What happens to the dragon in the end? If you begin a game with just an idea, you'll find the story is very short and doesn't get very interesting.

I'd say before you decide what the story's going to be about, you should decide what kind of story you want to write. Do you want the story to be fun or sad or scary? Do you want it to be a fantasy or sci-fi or puzzle game? Once you've decided what kind of story you want, then start thinking about other stories that do the same thing and how they do it. If you want it to be a sad game you could write about a person that loses someone very important to them. If you want it to be funny, you could write about a man that tries to take over the world with an army of mutant penguins. If you want it to be a puzzle, you could make it so that somebody is murdered and the player has to find out who did it.

Also characters are very important. For every character that's in the game, you have to come up with a unique personality for them. Also it's important to "Show, not tell." That means if there's a character called Laura who's really kind, don't just say "Bob liked Laura because she was really kind." Actually show her doing something kind, like volunteering at a soup kitchen or something. If there's a guy called Gary who's really mean, don't just say he's mean, show him punching a puppy in the face. Don't ever put a character in the game without giving them a personality first, or they'll just seem boring and pointless and the readers wont care about them.

Ideas

9 years ago

Okay thanks to all of you I will look into this stuff, but i like the advice everyone has given and ill try to use it in my writing and yes Bucky I will look into the website you suggested to me, but thank you all for being a good help. Kiel had replied to me saying that i can join the writing exercises so ill look into those as well.