Writing and planning a story is not easy. So, I have some tips that I would like to share with those aspiring writers that want to enhance their writing skills. These tips are completely based on my experience, so they may not be accurate or appropriate to some people. Without further ado, let's start!

 

  I have three crucial rules that I need to follow when I write. Everything should be: simple, concise, yet striking. I will explain why these three are very important below.

 

Grammar

We all know that in a story, grammar is important, and it'll always be. I also have flaws when it comes to it, and believe me, I struggled a lot, as most writers do.

 

Tools that I use in writing are very helpful.

grammarly - this is one of the best grammar checker sites to use wordhippo - this helps you look for different options of vocabulary  quillbot - it's a paraphrasing site that gives you a bunch of options if you wanna paraphrase your sentences Cambridge - I use this dictionary because it's the most updated ones

 

Punctuation marks

  I have seen a lot of interesting stories with very interesting concepts. It's very sad to see those stories being wrecked because of the improper usage of punctuation marks. I'm also still struggling with this one but it's not drastic now compared to in the past, and up until now I'm still learning it.

 

Format in writing

  The format I use is the Chicago Manual of Style. It's totally fine if you don't want to follow any sort of writing format if you're writing for fun, but if you're serious and wanted to improve your writing skills I suggest learning this one.

 

Writing is not all about grammar. What's the most crucial thing about writing is the content you're making. In other words, constructing a paragraph. When you write a paragraph in a story you have to make sure that it has a beginning, body, and conclusion. 

 

Let me give some examples:

 

 She was pondering how she manages to do her daily routine without noticing the changes around her. Unconsciously, maybe deep inside, she already knew that she died. It was just probably hard for her to admit it since she desires to live a happy life. So instead of just acknowledging it, she focused on doing the things that she'd been doing to mask the fact that she is no longer living. — A Night in the Galaxy Express Railway, Chapter 9.

 

She was pondering how she manages to do her daily routine without noticing the changes around her. Unconsciously, maybe deep inside, she already knew that she died. It was just probably hard for her to admit it since she desires to live a happy life. So instead of just acknowledging it, she focused on doing the things that she'd been doing to mask the fact that she is no longer living. (Beginning, body, conclusion.)

 

    Did you see what I did there? The tips on this kind of trick are—open a topic, explain something about it, then summarize the whole thought in one sentence. Make sure that your conclusion answers the main topic.

 

Transition

How do you transition from one paragraph to another? It's one of the crucial things in writing because it builds up the content that you wanted to convey.

 

Let me give some examples:

  I woke up feeling like it's Friday. There's nothing more heartbreaking than you think it is, but in reality, it's still Wednesday. There's still nothing good about Wednesday, apparently. Minjeong is still the epitome of winter, as usual. Their study session with Ning is still ongoing, as usual. And I'm still pretty, as usual. I don't know when is she planning to end it, to be honest. I thought she'd had enough of Ning Yizhuo, especially to what happened yesterday.

 We went home together with Ning Yizhuo. We were walking along the road and out of nowhere she asksㅡ"Why do the crossings beep?" And I answered, "Apparently, for blind people." She continued, "But blind people can’t drive?"

   I was speechless again. I don't have to look at Minjeong if she's speechless or not, it's a no-brainer. I think Ning Yizhuo is the only person who can make Minjeong and I