A Writer's Guide to Writing

Introduction

Well, I’m going to get down to business, here. This may only be the Introduction, but I think it’s in your best interests that you read this.
This guide is by no means something to live by. It is just a series of words typed by a humble author who doesn’t have any professional experience with writing. However, I know enough to give pointers and tips on certain subjects that should at least help.

If you’re looking for help on grammar, you may want to look somewhere else. I’ll be putting some more complicated things, such as speech, but don’t expect anything else. If you want to learn about grammar, it’s as easy as typing ‘grammar rules’ into your search bar.

Now, I’ll talk a little bit about how this guide works. Whenever an idea comes to mind, I’ll write it down and put tid-bits of advice on how to do a certain thing, or how to avoid it. Therefore, this will have no order to it and will be pretty random at times. Sometimes, I may put a chapter titled: Odds and Ends. These will be full of little things that don’t need a whole chapter, such as the differences between ‘effect’ and ‘affect’.

I want you to know that I will be using incorrect grammar at times. That is because when you know the rules, you can bend them. For now, I’ll tell you that using ‘and’ or ‘but’ at the beginning of a sentence is not correct. I’ll be using them often.

This is not a topic to be contributed to. It is a guide for general writing and is something that I'm writing alone, so please don't post here unless it's to comment or review.

Lastly, if you have a certain topic that you’d like to see a chapter on, you can either PM me or leave me a suggestion in this topic, although PMing me is preferred.

Now we can start!

Chapter 1: Mary Sues

So what is a Mary Sue?

Many will tell you that it’s the worst thing you can ever write. A person who’s so perfect, so astounding, that they couldn’t exist. In my opinion, it’s just a character without enough flaws. They usually appear in badly written stories, and most people call the characters in those Stories Mary Sues regardless of what they actually are. Keep in mind that Mary Sues can be boys as well, in which case they’re called Gary Stues or something similar.

Before I start, I’ll tell you the origin. This information comes from TVTropes, and is in no way my research.

“The name "Mary Sue" comes from the 1974 Star Trek fanfic "A Trekkie's Tale". Originally written as a parody of the standard Self Insert Fic of the time (as opposed to any particular traits), the name was quickly adopted by the Star Trek fanfiction community. Its original meaning mostly held that it was an Always Female Author Avatar, regardless of character role or perceived quality. Often, the characters would get in a relationship with either Kirk or Spock, turn out to have a familial bond with a crew member, be a Half-Human Hybrid masquerading as a human, and die in a graceful, beautiful way to reinforce that the character was Too Good For This Sinful Earth. (Or space, as the case may be.)”

Now that that’s out of the way, I’m going to tell you how to spot and get rid of them.

Symptoms:

No bodily flaws- If his or her face is perfectly smooth and pimple-free without a reason, you’ve got a problem. Most teens have pimples on their faces, and you can’t avoid them.

Unexplained talents- Okay, so your character’s a master at sword fighting and can do magic without even lifting a finger. That’s fine. Now how many years did he or she train? If you’re character has done nothing to gain muscle mass, stamina, or a certain talent and still has these things, watch out.

Every character loves him or her- Most people don’t fall in love at first sight with every female or male they see. It’s hard to believe, I know, but just look around you. I have never seen a love dodecahedron, and it is a sad day when you see five people fighting over the same person.

Millions of powers- If your character is super strong, has super speed, invisibility, the ability to talk to animals, and the ability to fly, there’s something wrong. Don’t overpower your character; they’ll do perfectly fine with one or no superpowers.

Always beats the bad guy- Your character needs a challenge. If he or she beats the main villain without a sweat, then she’s either overpowered or the villain’s incompetent. Either way, you’ll want to do something about it.

No personality flaws- If your character is caring, intelligent, and every other good characteristic you can think of, you have a very, very serious problem.

Remember that these are just symptoms. Having only one of these usually won’t cause a Mary Sue. Also remember that these are only a few signs of a Mary Sue. There are many more.

Cures:

No bodily blemishes- Add a pimple, a wart, a mole, a freckle, or if you want to get real advanced, make her short, overweight, tall…you can go on and on.

Unexplained talents- Train your character from childhood, or take a few years to let her train. Better yet, make a novel out of it! It can be exciting, and you’ll find yourself enjoying it.

Every character loves him or her- It’s simple. Don’t make more than two love interests. You don’t even have to have a love interest at all. Your characters can be friends, and I assure you that it is possible.

Millions of powers- Take off a few of them. Or you could make him suck at all of them but one. The second is not advised unless you have no training in your story. Actually, you could have a completely useless superpower along with an average one. It makes the story more interesting.

Always beats the bad guy- Make the bad guy stronger, or the main character weaker. You could also have him lose to the character once, then become stronger throughout the book and come back for more. You could inverse this so that the main character loses and becomes stronger. There’s a lot of ways to approach this.

No personality flaws- If your character’s caring and intelligent, make her a compulsive liar. Simple. I write down one flaw for every two positive traits, but you can easily mix this up and still make a believable character.

That’s really all I can tell you about Mary Sues. Just remember to keep in mind the character’s flaws, and you can even write down a profile to help. Eventually, you won’t need it and will be able to rely on your instinct alone. If you have any more questions or want me to check out your character, just PM me!

Chapter 2: Romance

Before I start this section, we need to be clear about one thing. Not everybody falls in love, and even less people fall in love in high school. You should realize that life is not a cheesy romance novel. My sister is seventeen, has never had a crush, and doesn’t care. She’s not an angsty brat because she doesn’t have a crush.

Alright. So you have this amazing idea for a romance novel. Your main character has found the hottest guy in the world, and she finally works up the courage to talk to him. He immediately stares into her beautiful eyes and asks to go on a date. Wait, what?

This is not only unrealistic, but very annoying. First, there’s the matter that she knows nothing about this guy. He’s hot, and that’s it. I know that some relationships are like this, but it is so much more enjoyable if she likes his personality too. Second, he immediately takes a liking to her and wants to go on a date. This will never happen. They should get to know each other first, and something like this could take a whole novel. Then the girl or guy needs to realize his true feelings.

Before I go into this, I’ll tell you that I have never experienced love. However, I think I can take what I’ve learned about it and apply it to the situation. Just take what I say with a grain of salt.

First is a whole bunch of denial. He or she will not acknowledge the feeling, and will go about everyday life without a problem. Then is a dawning realization, but they refuse to acknowledge the feeling for what it is. Last is acknowledging the feeling. This step requires even more time than the other two, and is difficult to introduce without feeling unrealistic.

I’ll give an example on how long this should take. I am reading a story on a website, and it is a romance between the protagonist and a side character. They are at Chapter 36 and they just completed the second step. Yeah, it’ll take awhile.

So, in conclusion, don’t rush the love. It takes a long time, and your jock should not fall in love with your band nerd in a chapter. In fact, this kind of situation would take even longer, thanks to peer pressure.

Wait! Before I forget, don’t just have ‘romance’ as your genre. There has to be something else, too. Very few people enjoy reading about the two main characters kissing every page with nothing in between. So be careful, and I apologize for this short little section.

I'm thinking I should make this a sticky.

That would be really great!

Chapter 3: Subtlety, or Trust Your Reader

This section was particularly hard to write, as I don’t know how to explain it. But I’ll do my best, and I hope you get some help out of it.

To start this section, I’m going to tell you one thing. Trust your reader. Regardless of what you think, we’re actually pretty smart. We can pick up all of the “subtle” hints, if only subconsciously. Here, I’ll give you an example.

“Here.” Steve snatched his phone out of his pocket and threw it towards Mary. “If the bad guys come, call the police. They should hold them off until I can come back.”

Mary nodded, mouth set into a firm line. She’d make sure to call if she needed help.

So, this probably tense moment between the protagonists is pretty good, aside from one fatal mistake. That last sentence should not be there. From the previous paragraph, I can assume he gave her the phone. Directly after that, it says she nodded, which is a sign of confirmation. So why did I add the last line, which simply repeats everything I’ve said? Because I don’t trust my reader.

Before I go on, I want to tell you that this can be modified to say that the reader is sometimes more trust-worthy than the author. For instance, I once wrote a story to which a reader promptly said, “I love the contrast between dark and light in this!” In reply, I stared at the screen blankly. Apparently I had written a subtle message unconsciously.

Anyway, that’s also trusting your reader. The reader’s right most of the time, and you should take their advice if they have good grammar and spelling. If not, you can assume that they have no experience and that they have nothing to offer you in the way of advice.

And I’m getting off-topic. Just remember that subtlety is the key to writing. If your character is being abused, don’t state it outright. Show it through a chapter of her mother making insulting comments or slapping her.

Well, I doubt that helped, but I hope it did. So go! Go into the castle of subtlety and bring me back a princess! Unless she’s in another castle, of course.

Chapter 4: Confidence

This chapter is dedicated to Taryn Coyle, the person who brought this subject to my attention. Thanks, Taryn!

Now that that’s out of the way, I’m going to distribute some safety goggles before this. I will be showing examples of previous works, so watch out.

Okay. I’m sure all of you have felt insecure about your work. Compared to others’, it’s as good as trash, right? WRONG.

It might be trash, but it’s your trash. You wouldn’t abandon your child or pet would you? I certainly hope not. So don’t abandon your work. Rewrite it, maybe a month or two after you wrote the original. BY that time, you’ll have improved. You’d finally be able to say, “Wow! This is actually pretty good!”

But before that, you need to know that there are people that are way worse than you. Ah, I remember when I got an F on my test. It was my very first one, yessiree. I was upset, to put it lightly, but my friend promptly said, “You know, [name] got a four.” I dislike this person, so it made me laugh a bit. And it helped.

It works the same with you, my dear readers. Go onto a random writing site like FictionPress, and click on all of the stories with bad summaries. You’ll feel better. Note that this is a pretty evil way to feel better, though. Just develop some self-confidence.

Now for the treatment. Do you want to see a previous work of mine? I’ll try to find them, and hope it isn’t too good. See? I’m brimming with self-confidence! Wait, here it is. This story is the bane of my existence.

Alex Rey was walking home from school with her friend, Megan Lenrado. Alex was admiring the forest when Megan yelled,

“Ack! What the heck was that?” Alex looked in the direction she was pointing, but didn’t see anything.

“What?” Alex asked, alarmed.

“Don’t you see? You couldn’t miss it. It dwarfs the Empire State Buildi-“Her mouth fell open. “That’s not possible! It couldn’t have moved that fast!” She looked around frantically then sighed. “Whelp, there’s only one thing left to do…”

Knowing how much trouble she could get in when Megan said her catchphrase, Alex said, “No. No catchphrase. And we need to get home! C’mon!” Megan, pretending not to hear Alex, charged into the woods. “Megan…” Alex groaned. She dropped her backpack, and then ran after her friend. After having a dozen branches slapped into her face, Alex slowed down to a stop. Panting, Alex yelled, “Megan! Get over here!” Megan popped her head up above a bush near where Alex was standing.

My sister teased me so much on this next one.

I closed my laptop with a sigh. This wasn’t the first time I was being sent to a relative I barely knew. Famous actress Mom and famous director Dad. They just had to shoot a new movie at the beginning of the school year. Not that I wasn’t glad they spent the summer with me, but did they have to send me to a weird boarding school? And it’s for snooty rich kids too. Well, I guess they all can’t be snooty, because I’m not snooty. At least, I don’t think I am. Am I? I thought. I shook my head. I know I’m not snooty ‘cause I’d never name a school Natan’s Academy for Gifted Individuals. What kind of name is that? I woke up from my thoughts when I heard an unfamiliar voice.

Now, let’s look at the flip-side of this. You may think that these are good, while I don’t. It’s the same thing for everyone. People doubt their talents, and others envy them. Just remember that what you write at the present is good. Then when you look back on it in the future, you’ll have improved and it’s bad. Keep in mind that I'm not the kind of person to run to when you have a mental breakdown. I hope this helped, Taryn!

Chapter 5: Angst

This chapter was suggested by Dave Karofsky. Give her a round of applause!

Angst. It’s a key element in storytelling and characterization, but so many people get it wrong. I’m here to help.

When writing angst, you must keep in mind your character’s personality. If they’re arrogant, they would deny any traces of angst. If they’re kind, they would brush crying over angst off as crying over a small scrape or wound. A happy-go-lucky person wouldn’t angst in the first place, except under extreme circumstances.

So now that we have that sorted out, I’m going to tell you how to write angst without exaggerating it too much. As an example, I’ll write a small passage. This is a no-no, so don’t do it. Warning: There’s death, although that should be expected.

Melody’s dace distorted as she cried out, tears slipping from her cheeks onto golden fur. The golden fur of her dog, Ricky. She felt as if her heart was being torn out, as if her very soul was withering away. She was shocked, surprised. He had run in front of that truck to catch is ball, when it ruthlessly ran over him, leaving him lying in a pool of his own blood on the road. Melody let out a heart-wrenching scream and threw herself on top of the dog, not caring if a car hit her. She would join Ricky if it did, so she didn’t care.

So here, we have a girl whose dog just died. She is now going to commit suicide while mourning. So beautiful and sad…but there’s one thing wrong. Her reaction is over the top, or at least the way I wrote it was. Let’s assume that it was a family pet. Along with Ricky, Melody has two loving parents and a sweet little brother. In these circumstances, she would not commit suicide, or at least it’s not likely.

Now, let’s change these circumstances around. Let’s say that her family had died in a fire a year ago, and she and Ricky were the only ones to get out. They then roamed the streets together, avoiding the police so that she wouldn’t be taken to an orphanage. Ricky helped her get over her loss, and he was the only friend she had. With these circumstances, it is possible that she would commit suicide.

So, bottom line, the degree of angst depends on the character’s personality and circumstances. Now, I’ll show you how to write angst. You’ll have to have a topic before you follow these instructions.

First, make sure you know the body’s reaction to emotion. Look it up online, and you’re sure to find something. For instance, your heartbeat accelerates when you’re scared, and you sweat when you’re worried, at least sometimes. Then, include these reactions in the passage. The passage I wrote did not include these reactions, by the way, unless you count crying.

Next, you can insert some panicked thoughts. They’ll be disjointed or the character will be blabbering, depending on the circumstances.

Finally, describe what the character is angsting about, or if you have already shown it, describe its effects. This is hard to do. Make sure that you don’t simply tell the reader. Here, I’ll give you two examples. The bad way to do it is first, and the good way is last.

Melody had been with that dog her whole life, and now he was gone. She was going to be picked up by the police and put into an orphanage, where she would wither away without a soul to care.

Melody sniffed as she rubbed her hands across his familiar golden fur. She could remember the days spent running through the park, when the sunshine would warm her heart. But it was gone now. Gone, to be replaced by the wailing sirens of police cars. She could imagine the orphanage in her mind. Shabby, with the door nearly off the hinges. An evil caretaker who didn’t even care if she died.

This helps increase the word count, and keeps the reader captivated. At least, I hope it did. Keep in mind that I broke a lot of grammar rules in that last passage for dramatic effect.
Once you have all of that together, you can complete it with a cliffhanger. They go a long way with the angst. Of course, you don’t have to. It works pretty well either way.

Well, I hope this was helpful! I think I’m doing a short little chapter about abuse, next. I’ve seen it misused so many times. If you don’t write this sort of stuff, I’ll try to have a happy chapter after that.

Chapter 6: Pantsing vs Planning

Thanks again, Taryn Coyle, for the great idea!

So what is planning and pantsing, you may ask. These are two words used by the writing community to describe the actions of planning and winging a story. Of course, there’s a grey area between these two. I happen to be in that area.

First, I’ll describe planning in more detail. If you are a hard-core planner, you plan almost every event in your book. You have a giant outline on the characters and the world your story takes place in. Basically, you plan everything before you write it. See where the name comes from?

Next is pantsing. If you’re a hard-core pantser, you’ll have the basic idea of the plot that takes up about a sentence. You may even have a few characters’ names. Other than that, though, you have nothing. You begin writing right away. The name comes from the saying ‘from the seat of your pants’. I think. I may have said it wrong.

You may have noticed that the title says Pantsing vs. Planning. I am going to be comparing the two, but keep in mind that both ways are fine, and it all depends on what you’re best with. After the comparison, I’ll explain the grey area.

Pantsing
Pros: You don’t lose the inspiration you had when you first started; you can add in ideas as they come to you easily
Cons: It is easy to lose your drive half-way through; the plot may be hard to follow due to scattered ideas

Planning
Pros: You know exactly what your next step will be; your characters may be more in-depth and realistic
Cons: There isn’t much room for new ideas; it is easy to stop near the start due to the inspiration dying off while you plan

Alright, so it’s not the best chart, but I hope you get the basic idea. Now I’ll explain the gray area. I won’t be putting a chart, though, since it varies so much.

Very few people are hard-core pantsers and planners. Many are in a gray area in-between. This area is made up of various styles that combine pantsing and planning. Often, the writer will take the pros of both, which makes this ideal. However, being in the gray area is by no means better. You must make up your own way of planning, which takes a lot of experimenting and a long time. I’ll give an example of my way of planning.

First, I take the basic idea. I let it sit there for awhile and brainstorm ideas. During that time, I’ll think of my characters. However, I only get as far as their name and some quirks, then move on to the plot. After I’ve thought of a few ideas, I’ll write down the main events up to a certain point in the story. Then I’ll start writing the story.

Well, I hope this helped you grasp the basic concepts. That’s all for now!

Chapter 7: Abuse

Today, we have a rather sad subject. Abuse. It’s a key element in many character’s pasts, and some of the best published works have protagonists who were abused in some way. It usually serves as the character’s reason for doing what he does, or how he has certain skills.
However, on amateur works, it serves to make the character hot and emo.

I’m not saying that I haven’t written bad abuse. I’m also not saying that every character needs to have been abused at some point in their life. I’m just saying that you need to be careful.

When writing abuse, you need to keep in mind that the neighbors will call the police if they see anything suspicious. You can’t just have the parent hit the protagonist on the front lawn. Someone will notice, and they will call the police or child services. Unless, of course, the abuser has a lot of influence or is just a terrifying person. So there are ways to get around this, but make sure it makes sense.

Have a reason to write abuse. If it doesn’t affect the plot in any significant way, you don’t need it. Despite what you may think, it does not make the character realistic or better. I can just as easily have a story about an average guy with average problems, and still make it realistic.

There are different types of abuse. Verbal, physical, mental…there’s a world of possibilities out there, unfortunately.

Know how people react. If you have your characters abuse each other, know to what extent they’re abused and how that would affect them. If someone hits their son once or twice, the son will not grow up with split personalities. It would have to be much more severe. Also, please don’t write a dramatic passage about how you’re character’s heart is breaking because his or her parents are sending him or her away. If the parents abused that person, they would most likely be ecstatic. Keep in mind that this goes with abandonment, too. However, they can have a breakdown once they realize that their parents treated them better than the harsh streets of whatever city.

Well, that’s all. I only brushed this subject, but I honestly don’t know enough to go much further. But I do know that abuse is not something to be played with. Take it seriously, and it will come out well. If you don’t…good luck. You’ll need it with all of the nasty you’ll receive. Oh, and remember…SELF-CONFIDENCE! But not too much.

Chapter 8: Creating a Character

This chapter is dedicated to Hippie Slacker and BitterMagic. Thanks for giving me the idea, guys!

Before I start, I’d like to apologize for slacking off lately. I’m so sorry! I’ll make it up to you, I promise.

Anyway, today I’d like to talk about creating a character. This can be extremely difficult, as well as ridiculously easy. It’s different for everybody.

Race

First, pick a race. I’m not racist, I promise. This is just important later. Remember that races involve those in fantasy, such as elves and dwarves.

Personality

Second comes the personality. This is probably the most important part, and the most difficult. Luckily, everything can be separated into three categories. They are Traits, Faults, and Quirks.

For Traits, simply list the good things. Is your character kind and compassionate? Intelligent and wise? Just plain funny? You only need about three to start out.

For Faults, list the bad things. Are they quick tempered? Arrogant? Greedy? Taking a look at the Seven Deadly Sins can help. Again, you only need about three.

For Quirks, just list the idiosyncrasies. You only need one, but I like giving out a few. As an example, think of a character who always has to be doing something with his or her hands. This would be a quirk. Fun Fact: I have a Big Book of Quirks that I reference.

Now that that’s over with, I need to warn you. This is just the foundation. For me, everything falls into place as I write, but it may not work that way for you. In that case, I suggest you go find another guide, or fill out a character sheet.

And we’re movin’ on. Hippie Slacker asked me how to make your character not seem stereotypical or cliché. It can be hard, depending on what you’re aiming for. For instance, if you want a goth character, give them friends. This contradicts the stereotype just enough that it seems normal. If you want a cheerleader, make her a good judge of character. You can go on and on. However, the list I gave you above usually fixes this, and if it doesn’t, it all depends on your writing. If the character is likable, your readers won’t care. If they’re not, the readers will pounce on every opportunity to tell you how much it sucks.

Name

Now we’ve reached this point. You’d think that you would give your character a name first, right? Wrong.

First, remember what race your character is. If the character is Asian, for instance, give them an Asian name. All you have to look at is a baby naming website. However, I like to use Behind the Name. Just look it up in your search bar. Anyway, if your character is a fantasy creature, you can give them whatever name you want. However, dwarves will have different names then elves. It always helps to base it off of a real name, in order to have a sense of realism in your story.

Second, be careful. Don’t choose an overly long name unless there’s a reason. This is actually one of the marks of a Mary Sue. Instead of Ebony Darkness Dementia Raven Way, name her Emily Pickett, or Rachael Newman.

And now, the reason why this is one of the last things you do.

It’s said that you grow into a name. For instance, if you were named Jane, you would have a personality that fit the name Jane. If you were named George, it would be the same. However, this isn’t proven, therefore it really has no importance.

What’s important is that you think carefully. Does this name affect my character? Should its meaning have something to do with the plot? I know I’m talking in circles, and not really making any sense, but this is the best I can do. Just pick names at your own discretion. Heck, if you’re not sure, I’ll look over it!

Final Touches

If you can just jump in with a character, go ahead. If not, you may want to write down what your character’s fears and hobbies are. This can affect the personality, but chances are the personality will affect whatever you write down now.

Lastly, it’s a good idea to roleplay a bit with your character before you get started. It helps develop them, and you’ll be more comfortable writing the character.

I hope you liked this chapter! Again, I’m sorry it was so late. As compensation, I’m trying to update daily.

Chapter 9: Depression

This chapter is dedicated to Hippie Slacker. Thanks!

This is another depressing chapter, but it has to be done. So without further ado, I present to you…

Depression!

Just trying to lighten the mood, people. Anyway, this chapter may or may not be accurate, as I have never been seriously depressed. Use this at your own discretion, and someone please correct me if I’m wrong.

Depression is very dependent on one’s character. How the depression started and the effects it has are so different on varying personalities. A more…fragile person, so to speak, might go into a small depression if their dog dies. A tougher person would cry, yes, have a funeral, yes, but they wouldn’t go into a depression.

Now that I think about it, I should probably describe what depression is. I’ve seen a lot of people call crying ‘depression’.

Depression isn’t just sadness. It’s the feeling you get when a loved one has been terribly injured. Except, it doesn’t go away within a certain period of time. It could stay there forever.
I’ve already talked about one of these subjects a bit, but I’m going to talk about two effects of depression: suicide and cutting.

Suicide

Various things can cause suicide; it’s not just a rope hanging from a hook. However, we’re here to talk about depression, not different ways to commit suicide.

Suicide is usually caused by an overflowing feeling of guilt, in my experience from books and television. The person may feel they’re responsible for a loved one’s death, and decide they don’t deserve to live because of it. Then, it’s suicide. Sometimes it’s just from having a bad family.

Suicides usually come with suicide notes (again, this is what I've learned from television and books). It’s mostly a kind of will, but it can be a simple message. Often, at least in TV shows, the victim will write why they committed suicide.

Cutting

This is done wrong very often, so be careful.

People usually cut from guilt or a bad family, much like suicide. However, instead of ending their life (and this is just an opinion, mind you), they want to torture themselves. That, and the pain from cutting is a distraction.

When cutting, people don’t say “The pain! It feels so good.” It hurts like heck, if getting a paper cut is a comparison. The person may cry, or bite they’re lip. Maybe they’ll even have a grim smile. But they won’t be grinning and laughing unless they’re a psycho-nutter.

I guess I should tell you how people cut. The person will take any sharp object (although a razor or knife are most common) and go to the bathroom. They will hold a wrist or arm over the tub and make a small slice on the large vein on the underside of their wrist. It has to be a small cut, or else the person will bleed to death. They do it in the bathroom for an easy clean. When finished, they’ll put on gloves or a band-aid so that no one can see the blood.

Of course, there are many ways to inflict pain on yourself, but this is most common. Cutting scars, by the way, especially on the wrist.

Again, this was all just information I’ve learned from books and such, and some guesswork. So is someone doesn’t agree with me, they could be right. Or they could be wrong, either one.

Oh, and if you are depressed, don’t cut or commit suicide. Cheer up with some friends and tell someone your problems.

Well, that’s it. I hope this was helpful!

Chapter 9: Odds and Ends One

This is our first Odds and Ends chapter, to celebrate my disappearance from the face of the Earth! Sorry about that. I was busy, lazy, and lost my motivation. But I’m back and ready! So, without further ado, I present…Odds and Ends!

Don’t Change POVs in the Middle of a Chapter

Just what it says. If you don’t know what a POV is, it is a character’s point of view. That character could be narrating, or we could be following that character through their adventures. The reason you can’t do this is because it can get confusing, sloppy, and very unprofessional, especially if you label whose POV it is.

They’re vs. There vs. Their

I’ve seen this a lot, so I’ll explain. ‘They’re’ means ‘they are’, ‘there’ is a word that replaces a place, and ‘their’ is possessive and proceeds a noun.

They’re very annoying. I think I’ll eat over there instead. I don’t want to look at their faces while I’m eating.

See?

Characterize your Characters

If your character’s a jerk, change them. It can be gradual, through day to day to life, or you can have one traumatizing event that pushes them in another direction. Just make sure it’s believable.

This is so important to a story. It makes your characters real people. After all, don’t we change a little every day? It’s crucial, whether you’re writing a romance, a mystery, or even a horror. Characterization is in every good story, even short ones under a thousand words. The characterization is more subtle in them, but my point still stands. It. Is. Important.

On top of all of that, it can make your characters likable. For instance, at the beginning you might have a delinquent with no redeeming qualities to speak of. At the end, they could still be a delinquent, but they could learn to be humble, or to be kinder and more gentle with the people they love. It can be anything. You just need to make sure that your readers will remember your character in a good way.

Your vs. You’re

I’ve also seen this problem lately. ‘Your’ is possessive and comes before a noun. ‘You’re’ means ‘you are’.

You’re getting your present later! Calm down.

Well, that’s it! Just a few little things. You’ll have a full chapter next time! See you then!

This is way awesome. I'm glad you're doing this. =3 I had a suggestion, but I don't remember what it was. Oops. =P Maybe I'll remember and tell you later. Don't worry about the time between posts. You have a life, people understand.