squishy98 (Nov 14, 2015 03:15:28) says: x Hello! Since I figure this is also an Idea Garden, can you give tips on how new aspiring writers can do better to plan, write, in a better way as to speak, and other etc.? I want to start writing but its...stressing me out, I want to do a good job.. I want tips especially when it comes to writing POV, or better handling of quotations. (?) I've seen your stories, it amazing..I'm very inspired..but I don't know how to start on my own stories, it like I have really awesome ideas, but I don't know exactly how to write it, and it feels like I'm just writing a plot overview, or a summary at the most...any tips from stopping me do that.

So you want to start writing but you don't know exactly how? 

At some point, I think everyone faces this same kind of problem when it comes to being nervous or a little insecure about starting out. I've been writing since I was in middle-school and already had an idea that this was something I wanted to do. I didn't start making my writing public until I joined AFF like in the ending of 2012. And even then I was really anxious with the idea about possibly having just one person I didn't know read my work. Lol. Yeah, I was that bad. But I really wanted to learn more about writing and seeing how people responded to it, and that was my motivation. "Was this actually something I was good at, or was I just wasting my time?" That's what it all boiled down to in the end for me, personally. And after that I learned I had the potential but just needed to continue writing in order to sharpen my skills.

My first story was Rules of Attraction (I had originally placed it in draft mode but took it off so you can see just how different my writing was when I first started then it is now. Even the structure of my Foreword was vastly different as well.) It didn't feature Min—my first Min-centered fic actually came way later when I found myself being a lot more confident in my writing. It was a story that featured Infinite and OC's. I was really into it but unfortunately had to put it in indefinite hiatus after my laptop broke and I couldn't recover the files I had on it. They literally contained everything about the story's direction and characters development and I just couldn't salvage it at all.

Inspiration/How to Start Out: I recommend reading books, listening to music, watching anime/films/shows, going outside and looking at the world around you. You can find inspiration anywhere and everywhere. You just need to look and listen. I often find myself creating a playlist and drawing inspiration out of the feelings I get when I hear the lyrics. But I also draw a lot of inspiration from mythology, lore, legends and fairytales.

Plot, Genre, Characters, Setting, Title: These are the five fundamentals of starting out your fic, and not necessarily in that order. Some people actually have the title first and then work from there. For others the title comes even after the entire story has been written. But no matter what order, these are important points that  need to be considered. Which leads me to...

Ask Yourself: Who (is involved)? What (is happening)? When (is this occurring)? Where (are they)? Why (is this happening)? How (will this be resolved)?

And don't be afraid to elaborate further like, what is your story about? What is the theme or tone of it? Who will be in it? Where will this take place? Yoou want to cover all your bases early on.

Need me to elaborate on something? Don't be afraid to ask.

POV and Perspective: Before anything, you're going to want to settle on how you want the story to be told. There are three forms of POV (First, Second and Third) but the great thing about creative writing is the liberty to tweak those POV's and experiment with them differently depending on how you see fit. POV's can depend on certain things, like how the story is meant to be told, the genre and the tone. Take them into consideration. Example: A fantasy-action fic is normally told in the Third person for a more broad perspective on different characters, scenes and plot keys. For a more narrow perspective then you would choose Second person and center it around one (the main) character. In that case I would decide against First POV since it makes the actions scenes more difficult to write out. Choosing what POV you're going to write the story in will set the tone for everything else. Including plot devices, development, outline and organization.

My only Note is that whichever POV you choose for a story, make sure you use it through and through. Changing perspectives (which is a different thing entirely) is fine but DO NOT change POV's (meaning from first to third, third to second, or any other combination). That's just a big No-No. It's messy, confusing and amateurish at best.

Perspective is a bit tricky. Who do you want to be telling this story? Again, it depends on the POV as well as the genre and tone you're going for. Despite the fact that I mainly write action-fantasy fics, I actually mostly write in Third POV because I can elaborate more on different characters, through changing perspectives. BUT you can also write Third person in forced perspective, which means telling it in Third but settling on the actions and thoughts of one character. This can be accomplished through the angst, drama or supernatural genres. TBH, Third person works the best with any genre. It also relies on past tense  when speaking/writing. With First you can actually find a good balance between switching perspectives, but I suggest only having MAX 2 POV's. Usually the two main characters. And that you can do by alternating perspective twice-to-a-chapter or chapter-to-chapter (I find those are the best ways). First POV and Second are similar in the phrasing (using present tense instead of past like you would in Third), the only difference is that in First POV you would use terms such as "I" and is a very narrow/forced perspective and presents very limited knowledge to the character and reader besides what the main character thinks, feels and goes through. In Second POV, you would use terms such as "you" and it's actually a little broader in perspective. A great example of Second POV being used correctly is in this story.

Need me to elaborate on something? Don't be afraid to ask.

Writing Styles and Quotations: Everyone develops their own writing style through experience and it will only continue to evolve the more you write (just look at the above linked fic of mine as proof). My writing style now is a variation of styles that I picked up from reading different fantasy/young-adult books. Especially when it comes to conversations between multiples characters. I usually separate my dialogue by who's speaking instead of keeping them all together. I feel it better helps me and the readers keep track of who's talking at what moment instead of having to use context clues to guess. Italics is also a great form to visualize/separate a person/s inner thoughts from their words.

An example of this: 

"You don't feel the same?" Min asked, unable to ignore the sounds of her desperation in her voice, her heart breaking beneath her chest the longer the silence between them carried.

"No. I don't." There was a hollowness to Baekhyun's voice that Min couldn't quite begin to fathom. She almost didn't recognize the person in front of her. The man she's loved for years. "I'm sorry, Minyoung."

Minyoung. She hadn't thought she would ever hear her full name come out of his mouth ever again. He had always called her Min with so much affection, and because of that Min was painfully aware of the significance behind being called by her full name again. There was no affection in his voice. He didn't feel the same anymore.

Remember to use descriptions to fill in those blank spaces. Think of what a character is doing at that point as they speak? where are they? What are they feeling? how does it smell? what do they see? what can they hear? Don't be afraid of going that extra mile and use the five senses to your advantage. Being descriptive allows your readers to become better immersed in your story and it will help evoke feelings and emotions from them and become invested in it's development. Use analogies and imagery. You have a blank canvas so paint them a beautiful picture using only words. The mind is an incredible thing and the visual effects are limitless.

Again, your writing style will develop and evolve the more you write and the more confident you become in your writing. Reading a lot will also help you find that. Continue to do so until you find yourself comfortable with your own style.

Need me to elaborate on something? Don't be afraid to ask.

Organizing Ideas: Despite popular belief organization is KEY. TO me it's probably the most important thing, then again a big problem with me is that I have poor memory and am super OCD in keeping things archived in a way that better allows me to organize my wandering thoughts. I, personally, have too many ideas. I want to do too many things at once and that's impossible. Great tricks and tips for organizing your ideas is by making a Hidden Fic. As seen below:

I have 33 fics on standby. Lol. It's pretty ridiculous if you ask me but sometimes I have to do it in order to store my potential ideas. Even if it's just a "plot overview or summary at the most", I'll eventually go back to it and elaborate on the idea some more. I find that it's one of the best ways to do it. Another way of how I personally organize my ideas for current fics that I'm writing, is to write one (or multiple) hidden chapters and use that as a base for the direction of my story. So I'll usually one hidden chapter marked "HELP" and in that chapter I will begin organizing the timeline/outline of my story in order for me to get a better understanding of the layout of my chapters and what events happen where. It also helps me get an idea of the length of my story. I also do an "About Section" listing all of my main and reoccurring characters and work out their character profile, outline and story. Adding little facts that might come in to play in the future. Granted, this is usually meant for the more complex storylines and again, I have really bad memory so this helps me a LOT.

If you do have several different ideas that can't be turned into full fics, but you want to try to work them out anyways, then I suggest starting a Oneshot Collection, which actually helps a lot more than people realize. This would be a really great way for you to start out your writing. You can base it on a single character like my Min's Multitales (where Min is the center but pairings and storylines vary), on pairings like my ExoMin Collection or my MinBang Collection  (where I pair Min with the Exo or BigBang members), or a theme (like a breakup collection, horror collection, holiday collection etc). If you have a storyline or idea (in the collection) that stands out to you (or even the readers) and you like it, than you can just elaborate more on that by making a sequel or transforming into a full stand-alone story. Also, don't think your stories have to be chapters. I've seen really successful 3-5 chaptered fics. You just need to get your point across in a way that best works for you. Plus, you really need to consider the word count in your chapters. I started off with really short chapters but eventually they grew to become max 8000 words a chapter since I'm the type of person that's really descriptive when it comes to the characters as well as the settings.

These three things are incredibly important. I have seen some writers (especially those that write on a whim without planning ahead) lose their prior motivation/inspiration to continue writing a certain fic and by doing this you will have a better hold and understanding of what you felt when you first started the fic out. I for one never lose my motivation or inspiration to write. If I ever take too long to update it's usually because I have too much on my mind or am too busy to get to it. But because I write down ahead of time I always know where I left off and where I was headed to with my fic. No matter how much time passes I know how to continue forward.

Need me to elaborate on something? Don't be afraid to ask.

Flow, Pacing and Updates: Try your absolute hardest not to rush or drag your stories. Like I have said time and time again, the length of your story depends on the plot and the genre. If you are going for drama, don't be afraid to make it dramatic. Elaborate on the drama but don't overdo it. 

Go with your gut feeling and don't always allow yourself to be swayed or influenced by peer pressure from the outside. I've actually seen it happen, where some writers will actually tweak their story in order to appease an angry reader. DO NOT betray your writing or your instincts as a writer. We are not meant to please everyone and self-indulgence is forgivable. These stories are your babies, treat them as such. Yes, you should consider your readers but your readers should also respect you. When an author publishes a book, we aren't allowed to give feedback with every chapter update. Don't allow your readers to abuse that privilege and take some time to interact with them as much as you can. 

Need me to elaborate on something? Don't be afraid to ask.

Story-Character-World Building: My inspiration varies. Sometimes I have the plot before I start writing, sometimes it's a theme, sometimes it's the characters and sometimes (most of the times) it's even a scene. I take those ideas and then build from there.

Story Building is the simplest of the three (Story-Character-World), it's the foundation. Once you have a plot, you need to decide on it's direction (Taken into account that you have also already decided on the genre and POV). Every story needs a beginning, middle and an ending. If you already have an ending in mind (which usually happens to me) works backwards. What happened to those characters to get to that point? From then you will eventually get a better idea of the length (which again is mostly based on the genre and plot). Not everything needs to be an epic story of extraordinary proportions. Again, don't  be afraid with giving yourself a chapter limit of like 3-5-10. As long as you get your point across, length doesn't mean much.

Character Building is fun. It's a way for you to get to know your characters better. Think about their appearance, personality, likes/dislikes, certain quirks, habits or mannerisms, their background story, hobbies, fears, goals, their relationships with other characters/family/friends. Granted, it's all relative to the genre, storyline and length of your story. If it's relevant then write it and if it's not then don't worry about it.

World Building is the most complex and should only really be considered if you're planning on writing a fantasy fic. All of mine are built from the ground up, which means I need to consider everything found in the world. Setting, Government, Religion, Species/Races, Locations, History, Mythology, Fauna, Flora, Science, and so much more. As if creating your own type of bible. I have my own in yet another hidden fic dedicated to just one of my action-fantasy fics, The RED. As seen below:  (I blurred out the spoilers. LMFAO)

Need me to elaborate on something? Don't be afraid to ask.

Presentation, Advertisement, and Reviews: Make your fics presentable. Make sure to keep the font a readable size and color. Standard black and size 12 is probably the best option, in my opinion, and my fonts of choice are usually Georgia and Verdana.

Keep your foreword/description neat. Believe it or not readers can be a little shallow (I'm no different) and will sometimes decide whether or not to read a fic base on the aesthetic of your Foreword/Description.

And don't be afraid to ask for help. There are plenty of great shops that can help with story layouts, like here or here, and a poster which you can request here at this shop or request here. Want to get some attention, Advertise. I know a great shop here but you can also look around AFF and look for other advertising fics that get a lot of traffic and advertise at the same time. Also blogging is pretty smart. And if you're not fully confident in your writing, don't at all be scared to ask for a reviewer. Early on in my writing, I would actually ask for different reviewers in order to hear multiple opinions and learn from what they had to say. You can find some yourself or you can go here.

Need me to elaborate on something? Don't be afraid to ask.

Ultimately, if you start writing it's because YOU want to do it. So just go for it. You honestly have no reason to be hesitant. Nervous, maybe. But we can't do much about the nerves. But if it's something you want to do then I don't see why you should hold yourself back. Take pride in your love for writing. It's a blessing. So what are you waiting for?

If I managed not to go over something or missed something completely then just let me know in a comment below.