can u pls give me writing tips? I have a short story due soon for ELA and idk why this year my writing and grammar has gotten so bad. A few tips would help ! Love ur blog sm btw 🎀
ohmygosh i would love to !! tysm for asking :)
the biggest thing (for me) is finding your writer's voice. this helps especially with short stories or fictional works so that even if your topic doesn't interest you, it can still be fun to write. try out different styles, like omniscient narrator, funny narrator, lots of elegant words, simple snappy sentences, etc.
sometimes i'll be looking for a synonym and i can find it on google, but when i can't, i loveeee to use wordhippo. it can help with synoyms, antonyms, definitions, rhyming words, finding words, translations, and so on, so it's a really helpful tool!
i hate story starters because they never interest me!!!! my biggest story inspirations come from music & other creative works like books or movies, so next time you're watching something or reading or listening to music, consider what parts could inspire a short story :)
it does NOT have to be fancy! a lot of bad writers throw in a lot of sophisticated words to disguise their poorly thought out story, which isn't always inherently negative, but ALWAYS prioritize the plot and the characters
in a short story, you're not going to want to have a lot of characters to deal with. if you have one main character and a few supporting characters, it should translate well to a smaller story, whereas with a novel you could have countless main characters. this isn't a rule of course, but it is something to keep in mind
short stories generally end at the climax, instead of having falling action like in novels. still conclude it nicely, though!
i can't help much with grammar, as i think it's something you generally have to just practice to get better at, but i know reading and picking up grammar rules in actual use can be very helpful
first drafts are important, despite what some people might say! yes, sometimes you can write a first draft and then just edit a few errors right away and there's your final product, but it's more beneficial to have a very messy first draft that you write without worrying too much about spelling or grammar or how it sounds. then i like to print or export my first draft into a drawing app so i can write on it some mistakes and rephrasing suggestions, then go back and edit it :)
i hope this was helpful!!!!!