Your Best Writing Tips

[ElectricBlue]

Another tip: don't fall in love with your characters.

But if you don't, can you reasonably expect your readers to?

In my longer stories, I'll often get very attached to a character during the writing (to the point of dreaming about them), and I suspect it adds a subtle layer over the writing, a deeper intensity that wasn't there before. I can't quantify it, but falling in love with a character adds something, I reckon.

My writer's tip - in every story, no matter how fantastic or fanciful it might be, anchor it with a grain of absolute truth. It doesn't need to be huge, but something intimate and true. I believe readers consciously or subconsciously spot it, and they're prepared to suspend a million miles of disbelief to follow your "true" story. Something tiny, like a shadow falling on a table, or a brush of wind on a cheek; it doesn't need to be much.

 

[StillStunned]

But if you don't, can you reasonably expect your readers to?

Why would I want them to? I want them to like them, or dislike them, depending on the character's role in the story. But fall in love with them? Hardly.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Why would I want them to? I want them to like them, or dislike them, depending on the character's role in the story. But fall in love with them? Hardly.

I guess I'm thinking erotica equates to intimacy, emotion, entanglement; not just going to the pub .

 

[countdowntolov3]

Focus on verbs. The verb is the most important word in the sentence. Try to use active verbs, but don't feel you must always do so. Creatively and wisely choosing verbs gives you the best chance to upgrade your prose.

As an interesting adjacent piece of advice: be suspicious of adverbs.

To steal from Steven King in On Writing: adverbs have a tendency to pop up when the author isn't confident they're painting a clear picture, or getting their point across.

 

[alohadave]

But if you don't, can you reasonably expect your readers to?

Readers consistently surprise by what they latch onto, that the author doesn't mean or intend. It's reasonable to assume that some of them will love your characters more than you do.

 

[Altissimus]

Readers consistently surprise by what they latch onto, that the author doesn't mean or intend. It's reasonable to assume that some of them will love your characters more than you do.

Mmm. Conversely, I have received comments on a recent story talking about how the readers didn't like one of the characters. The character that was portrayed as an arrogant asshole. They didn't like him. So... okay, I guess?

 

[Bramblethorn]

Write what you, your readers, and your publishers are comfortable depicting. In that order of priority.

Not sure "comfortable" is the right target here. Some of the stories I've been happiest with have been the ones that took me out of my comfort zone.

There is a readership for comfort reading, no question about that, but there are readers who appreciate uncomfortable stories too.

 

[AchtungNight]

Not sure "comfortable" is the right target here. Some of the stories I've been happiest with have been the ones that took me out of my comfort zone.

There is a readership for comfort reading, no question about that, but there are readers who appreciate uncomfortable stories too.

If you can get outside your comfort zone, do so. But don’t go so far you become extremely uncomfortable. Otherwise your story might suffer.

 

[BlueEyes1969]

Use an editor!

 

[Duleigh]

If you can get outside your comfort zone, do so. But don’t go so far you become extremely uncomfortable. Otherwise your story might suffer.

I'm going to respectfully disagree. If you stay inside of your comfort zone you end up with a series of the same damn thing. Get out there! Push the envelope! How far does your comfort zone extend? You don't know until you give it a shove.

The rule that you need to obey however is "Write what you know." which may mean doing a lot of homework.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I thought I'd throw this out there and see what happens.

The idea of this thread is to share some of your techniques, approaches, philosophies, secret sauce or whatever that you've found helps build quality into your stories. The focus is on the specifics, not "read more" or "write more" (we can all agree on those).

A few of my standard pieces of advice:

1. Think of a sex scene as a conversation. People wanting something and pushing for it, others replying to that and expressing their own wants; if you think of the sex scene you're writing at that level and not just "she sucks his dick for eight minutes, how much titty fucking should I put in?" it'll probably feel more interesting.

2. Dialogue: think about pacing and rhythm. If your dialogue was music, would it be "dum da dum da dum da dum da dum" or "doo wa diddy diddy dum diddy doo"? A monotonous rhythm gets dull pretty quickly, and in general the more excited people are the less regular the structure of their speech.

3. Plotting, especially for long and complex stories: again, think about pacing and rhythm. Identify of the arcs that are important to your story (e.g. for one of mine, "Anjali becomes more assertive", "Lucy grows closer to Sarah", "Anjali's parents get more controlling", etc. etc.) and plan the shape of each of those arcs. At any point in the story, at least one of those arcs should be doing something interesting.

Sometimes one arc will disappear from the story for a while, because the spotlight is on something else. When that arc re-emerges... does it resume from just where it left off? (Last time we saw Dick and Jane, they'd just fallen in love and were about to get married; we pick up the day before the wedding.) Or has it moved in a predictable direction from where the readers last saw it? (We return to Dick and Jane a couple of years later, they're still together and have a kid.) Or has it gone somewhere the readers couldn't have anticipated? (Jane is now the leader of a religious cult and Dick is just part of her harem.)

The latter isn't always the wrong choice - sometimes you want to flummox your readers - but it shouldn't be an accident. Sometimes just a sentence or two can be all that's needed to give a story arc more continuity and make it more sensible, so that when you're ready to give it your full attention again the readers won't be stuck on "wait, how did we get here?"

Or, did that arc reset and is it now repeating developments that the reader has already saw? This is something that happens a lot in unplanned sequels - Episode 1 showed a hard-bitten cop rebuilding a damaged relationship with his family, audience loved it, now we're doing the same thing again which means starting back at "damaged relationship" so that we can show it being rebuilt again. It can also happen in romances when the author is in too much of a hurry to get their lovebirds to the point where they have no barriers between them, and then hasn't left themselves enough to do for the rest of the story.

Speaking of which...

4. Decide how long this story is going to be. I don't mean in terms of word count or number of chapters (I am the worst person in the world for gauging those) but have some idea in your mind about where it's going to go to, whether that's "they get married" or "immediately after the first time they fuck". If you don't do this, there's a huge risk that the story will just meander on without a satisfying conclusion. It's very hard to choose the right pacing if you don't know how long it needs to go.

5. Let your characters earn their resolution. This is an extension of the deus ex machina idea; DEM is the least subtle form of a non-earned resolution but not the only one. It might be through having a clever idea, or by making sacrifices, or putting in work on personal growth to become a better person, it just usually feels better if readers can see how the way the story ended ties in with the characters' own efforts rather than being driven wholly by factors outside their control.

Even in a story where the characters can't control everything - we all die in the end - look for things within that story that they can shape by the choices they make.

6. Learn techniques but don't get seduced by them. Non-linear storytelling, unreliable narrators, POV shifts, yada yada: all of these have their uses and can be great when they're used appropriately. But new writers sometimes feel the need to cram these into stories that don't need them, because they saw somebody else use these techniques and thought that was the mark of a Real Writer.

In general, technique is most effective when the reader doesn't even notice it.

 

[AG31]

Deus Ex Machina.

"The hero was outnumbered, trapped, with his back to the wall of a steep cliff, nowhere to run. He checked his magazine... one bullet left. He did a quick count of his enemies: thirty eight. Hmm.

Suddenly, a mating pair of gold dragons dropped down the mountain, landing on half the men. The dragons were far too busy getting it on to notice the rest of our hero's enemies, until one man stupidly screamed and unloaded a barrage of fire. The hero covered his eyes and winced until the roars, fireballs, searing heat and screams had finally died away, then exited stage left while the dragons shared some post-coital munchies."

Thanks. I know what Deus ex Machina is. I'd just never seen the acronym. Is it well known?

 

[Altissimus]

Thanks. I know what Deus ex Machina is. I'd just never seen the acronym. Is it well known?

I figured you probably knew, but 1) gold dragons!! and 2) it had been mentioned immediately above your question in the thread (Still Stunned said Deus Ex Machina and AlohaDave was too lazy to type it out in full ), so I just went the extra mile. It's all good. TLAs, eh?

 

[Duleigh]

Decide how long this story is going to be. I don't mean in terms of word count or number of chapters (I am the worst person in the world for gauging those) but have some idea in your mind about where it's going to go to, whether that's "they get married" or "immediately after the first time they fuck". If you don't do this, there's a huge risk that the story will just meander on without a satisfying conclusion. It's very hard to choose the right pacing if you don't know how long it needs to go.

Some times I let the story decide. I'm writing a series where somewhere in the middle of Story #3 I knew where I needed to go and I realized that at the end of #3 I would be less than half way there, but I didn't want to go more than 6 stories. (Not including side stories which I love to do) I have been having great success letting the story tell me where it wants to go. I hope the the end surprises the reader and makes them realize that yes this was 7 seperate, complete individual stories, but in the end it was all one big tale.

 

[AchtungNight]

If you’re okay with going outside your comfort zone by definition it’s not uncomfortable!

 

[GlennJenko]

Dream, but don’t make dreams your master.

Think, but don't make thoughts your aim.

---

I'm still a noob at writing, but the thing I always try to ask myself, almost like a mantra, is "why?" Why is this in the story? Why does it matter? Then that spins into, who does this matter to? Why? What are they going to do about it?

 

[KeithD]

I'm still a noob at writing, but the thing I always try to ask myself, almost like a mantra, is "why?" Why is this in the story? Why does it matter? Then that spins into, who does this matter to? Why? What are they going to do about it?

Right, a variation of "How does this serve the story?" And, if not . . .

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Writing Tips

https://imgur.com/a/jXrhZ2j

 

[Paul_Chance]

1. Focus relentlessly on the basics. Good sentences build good paragraphs which build good scenes which build good stories. Conversely, a bad sentence, paragraph, or scene can ruin a good story.

2. Continually hone your work. Write once, edit five times. (Story edit, Plot Edit, Character Edit, Scene Edit, and Line Edit.)

3. If you find a good editor or beta reader hold onto them, they're worth gold.

 

[HeyAll]

Editing is more than just about finding typos. Cut as much as possible. Sometimes less is more. Let people work their own imaginations.

Everything is a plot idea. You just have to look and keep and open minded. It's the key to finding new plot ideas.

Giving the main character a goal outside of sex helps make the story erotic. It's a missing ingredient often times.

Clarity is the number one goal in terms of writing text. I also structure a story like an essay. Each paragraph is its own topic.

Imagine the story like a tv show or movie. It helps with writing scenes and dialogue.

Going back to editing, cut unnecessary words, especially the small ones. Cut descriptions and backstory unless very important.

Cut as many words that end in 'ly' as possible. ie quickly, quietly, angrily, rapidly, etct...

Try to avoid editing the final story away. Let it sit for a while, forget about it a little bit, then go back to it fresh.

 

[TruthwithaTwist]

Stick the landing. Meaning, know how the story ends and make sure what you write is progressing to that point, my biggest edits come when I see my story going off on a tangent.

 

[AchtungNight]

If writing fanfics, make sure you get canon details right. Unless of course you’re altering them for your story.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I thought I'd throw this out there and see what happens.

The idea of this thread is to share some of your techniques, approaches, philosophies, secret sauce or whatever that you've found helps build quality into your stories. The focus is on the specifics, not "read more" or "write more" (we can all agree on those).

There may be an inclination to say 'I'm not telling you that, Jack!', but even if two people read everything here and assimilated all the best stuff into their own works, they still would come up with completely different stories to each other, and to each of us. So I think we're safe there.

So, let's be positive and see what we can learn from one another. There's some mighty fine authors on this forum, and wouldn't it be great if we brush shoulders and have some of that rub off?

My "Prime Directive" isn't the most popular here, but it provides the greatest benefit to writers and readers alike:

Finish the damn story before publishing any part of it.

I have heard and sympathize with all of the excuses and so called reasons for posting incomplete stories, such as a desire for feedback, but none of those trump the benefits of patience and being able to manage a story from beginning to end before posting.

There are dozens (if not more) qualified people here willing to beta read for other writers and provide the desired feedback. There is a solution to every excuse.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

My "Prime Directive" isn't the most popular here, but it provides the greatest benefit to writers and readers alike:

Finish the damn story before publishing any part of it.

I have heard and sympathize with all of the excuses and so called reasons for posting incomplete stories, such as a desire for feedback, but none of those trump the benefits of patience and being able to manage a story from beginning to end before posting.

There are dozens (if not more) qualified people here willing to beta read for other writers and provide the desired feedback. There is a solution to every excuse.

Could not agree more.

You are selling your plot short if you publish chapter by chapter without a finished story. Novels are never published chapter by chapter. The whole book is finished before it is published. TV shows are produced and often written episode by episode without a full series story arc (at least in America). That is why the vast majority of TV shows end poorly. The either get cancelled and end abruptly with no plan, or they are way more successful than imagined and run on way too long and meander and tarnish their legacy. Very few end and wrap up satisfyingly.

I wrote a story where I had plotted out almost everything, but while I was writing the ending I actually pantsed a sudden idea to wrap everything up with an ironic twist. One of the details that I added was a fence and unpruned hedge that blocked the view. So I got the idea to go back to the middle of the story and integrate the fence and hedge there too, just to plant that hint and make the fence and hedge not be such an obviously contrived device for the ending. If I had divided the story into 3 chapters and had already posted the first two, I would not have been able to integrate the fence and hedge earlier in the story. My plot would not have been as good. Now that's a small thing, but I vertically integrate things like that all the time and they all make the plot better. If you post chapter by chapter before it's done you're really just cutting off your own nose.

If your story is 40k words, write out all 40k before you start posting chapters. At least get it to the editing stage. If you don't you're going to end up with loose ends. Don't let impatience for applause get to you. Like Bobby says, there are beta readers out there to help you. If you're say, a cuck writer, find another cuck writer and be beta buddies. It's so worth it.

Ian Fleming was a pantser. He admitted so. His method was to sit down at the typewriter every day and bang off 2000 words. At 2000 words a day after 2 or 3 months he'd have a novel. Some of his less inspired stuff shows. You Only Live Twice is particularly sloppy, full of guns that Chekhov would not approve of. Now there's nothing wrong with pantsing, but you have to go back and integrate stuff or clean up loose bits, but since he wrote it strictly chronologically and never went back to integrate anything it shows. The same thing will happen when you publish chapter by chapter.

 

[FeralSmile]

* Show, don't tell. Which is to say, if a characteristic or trait or background of one of your characters feels important to you, put it in the story. You can do this by making it part of the plot, or by having a character think or talk about it; doesn't matter. 8.5 times out of 10 you're better off having this information organically arrive during the story itself.

Yes, that's not 10/10. Sometimes you want to foreshadow or otherwise exhibit omniscience in your narrator, for various reasons. But it's a good general rule.

* Avoid writing, and especially dialogue, that's too "on the nose". Most of the time, if you're trying to instruct readers, they'll fucking resent it. If you just come out and say, "this is bad" or "wow I really love this" without cloaking it in the language real humans use, it comes across as preaching. Sure, some people are prone to this, and it's fine if one character is excessively professorial, but when all of them are, you have a problem. Most of the time, most people approach a lot of stuff indirectly. Read works out loud as a good way to spot this problem.

* Vary your sentence structure and length. Don't be a fucking robot. Real people get carried away a lot, and intersperse simple and obvious declarative sentences with others that are longer and more complicated and more grammatically complex, and that's ok.

* Proofread/edit everything you write, and cut out AT LEAST 1/3. Bare fucking minimum. Making it shorter is another way of reassessing what really matters, what has the most impact. When you gain enough experience with this, it becomes second nature. But always, always kill your darlings.

That doesn't mean the characters you love the most; it means the stuff you're most attached to that isn't, objectively, essential.

However... ignore this rule sometimes, because art matters. It's ok to say, "This, I refuse to cut; THIS is just so objectively good that removing it would be a disservice to my writing"... as long as you don't do that with most of what you write.