#git-writing-good

[git-writing-good]

I want to start writing for fun and other things, but I don't understand how to word how you tell a story from no POV. Like how do you just talk about events and things without it being too boring, or too robotic Just don't get it?

In fiction, there is no such thing as no POV. The nearest thing is 3rd person omniscient, which is from the narrator’s point of view (sometimes this is a person recounting the tale after it’s happened, but it is often just a neutral voice that sees all and tells the reader the story they need to see, and hides what needs to be hidden for dramatic purposes). So we get no internal thoughts and opinions of the characters (or very little), so it forces you to show more than you tell, which is not a bad thing. It’s your narrative voice and how you show what happens that keep readers interested.

As to how to make it interesting, that’s no different than any other POV. Use solid adverbs and adjectives when you use any, and use powerful words as often as you need (but not all the time, or it starts to sound like a crappy Buzzfeed article). Keep a thesaurus handy, but use it to amp up a scene, not to colour every sentence.

If this is for non-fiction, then metaphors, similes, and purple prose can still be used, but it’s even more imperative to ensure you don’t lose clarity for colour.

I hope this helps. Good luck and happy writing!

[git-writing-good]

Hey, I'm not that good with writing, and I want to know how I can improve? Like I don't know how be very descriptive

Thanks for the ask, jimin! I’m going to treat this as a 2-part question.

Part 1: how do I get better at writing? Short and sweet version: read more and write more. Learning the rules of grammar and the conventions of your genre come easier the more you read and the more you write. I know it seems obvious, but the classic “Practice makes perfect” is more than just a saying; it’s a cold, hard truth.

Beyond that, though, I suggest googling anything you’re specifically struggling with. Youtube is a great source of writing info and tips, and being auditory you can just play it in the background while you do other stuff. A few of my favs are Jenna Moreci (@jennamoreci here on Tumblr), Hanna Lee Kidder (@hanniepee ), KM Weiland, Ellen Brock, and Katytastic. 

Part 2: struggling with descriptions. My personal advice is to describe too much about each character/setting in the first draft, as clinically or purple-prosey as you like. When you go to revise, it’s easier to chop anything that’s irrelevant than it is to try and add more description later.

Also, consider what type of emotions you want to convey through your descriptions. Is the manor house spooky? then talk about the looming shadows it casts and the eerie way the wind blows through the trees surrounding it, how the branches claw at the house. Is the manor actually the home of the friendliest person in town? Describe the welcome mat sitting tidy but well-used on the front doorstep, the hand-sculpted plants and flower garden, the plethora of seats and tables for all the events the owners host.

Then consider that both of these descriptions can be the same place at the same time, viewed by different people, or the same person with different minds sets. Try painting some scenes like this, with two opposing descriptions that don’t actually conflict with one another.

Another thing you can do is to simply read your favourite book and pick out the descriptions you like best. Figure out why you like them so much, or why they’re memorable. Is it all in the prose, or is it a lively description?

Speaking of lively descriptions, avoid multi-paragraph descriptions of people. In stead of saying “He was tall, dark, and handsome,” put it into motion. “His chestnut-brown hair billowed around his shoulders as he rushed to catch up with his brother, over whom he towered by nearly a foot. As their eyes met, the brothers’ faces lit up in delight, which might have caused just about anyone to swoon, had there been anyone else to see.” So that turned out a little corny, but you get the picture.

I hope I’ve been of some help. Good luck and happy writing!

[git-writing-good]

Do you know what makes an awesome character and their development??

An awesome character depends largely on the reader. Someone who likes reading huge epic fantasy power trips might cry tears of boredom at your clever detective type. Likewise, the mystery reader might find your knight in shining armour dull and cliche. So don’t worry about making a character everyone will like, make a character who appeals to a certain crowd: that’s your intended audience.

As far as what you can do to make a character appeal to people, consider things like how likeable they are, how relatable they are to your target audience, and how consistent their character is.

As to their development, or their character arc, that’s a little trickier. Again, it has to be an arc that appeals to your intended readers. Coming of age stories are generally aimed at YA audiences, whereas family management/struggles are targeted at adult readers. Nothing in fiction is so cut and dry as I’m making this sound, but it’s a solid start.

Next, make sure the changes your characters make are in-character and in-plot. So if someone has a change of heart or grows as a character, show HOW and WHY it happened. Keep a record, even a mental one, of each character’s traits, goals, and background so you can cross-reference those with how they might react to the plot as it winds and twists around them.

The only other tidbit I have regarding interesting characters is that they should push the plot, not be pushed by the plot. They can certainly be caught unawares or dragged around here and there, but an interesting character usually acts in a meaningful way, with goals in mind.

Thanks for the ask, Silverdolphintwelve, and Happy Writing!

[git-writing-good]

Hello! I wanted to ask how can I make my character’s decisions more realistic. I want to create a deconstruction of a character caused by them getting more involved with the other main character. Such as why would she still love this character even if they don’t love them back? Or why would she put her self into such a stupid situation for attention or love? Can characters like that exist without creating Mary Sues?

A Mary Sue is a too-perfect character. You’re talking about giving your character flaws, which is the exact opposite of that.

Now, onto the main question. Loving a character unrequitedly or doing things for attention are common in people who have been ignored a lot. Be it parents, friends, past lovers; someone has probably spurned the character. Maybe multiple someones. But some people simply crave attention because that’s who they are as a person.

If you’re worried about realistic reasons behind your characters’ decisions, you might have to do some research into the behaviours you’re working with. You could try reaching out to people who have been in similar situations, but given the sensitive nature of the matter, it might be best to just ask uncle Google.

I hope I helped a bit. Good luck and happy writing.

[git-writing-good]

Okay so, I got this story, and one of the important plot points is that one of the main character's mother dies in the line of duty. My main issue is, considering that she is a woman of color, I'm worried that this might come off as racist or reinforce a racist trope. How can I get around this? Or should I completely alter that aspect of the story?

Okay, first off, the disclaimer: I’m a white guy so I cannot speak for lived experiences, and I highly suggest you seek out some people of colour to ask.

But my 2 cents is the same as most advice you would find here and elsewhere on the internet, I imagine. If you have only 2 POC and one dies, it becomes problematic. Or if, say, you have a black character killed by a cop, then that’s a sensitive issue a non-black person would be best to avoid (or find several black beta readers to give their opinions on the matter).

If you have 20 named characters, 12 of them are POC, and 1 of them dies, that’s definitely not racist. Not unless their death specifically is. That’s why diversity and representation matter so much, and why tokenism is a cardinal sin.

If there is only one black person, you risk either making them a stereotype or the same as your white characters. To show that you don’t believe all people of one culture are the same, show multiple people from that same culture/race who are all unique and real.

Just asking about diversity and representation is a great first step, but you should seek out people of the race/culture you intend to write about. You can also try googling the subject, and look for articles/posts written by POC.

Thanks for the ask, anon. Good luck and Happy Writing!

[git-writing-good]

Hey, sorry if you've said this before, but do you have any tips for a good beginning? Like different ways to start different stories? Beginnings are my weak point.

Thanks for the ask, alix.

The big things you want to accomplish with an opening scene/chapter is to hook your readers and to give them a taste of what’s to come. You need some sort of conflict, even if it’s not immediately connected to the main plot/conflict. You should reveal something about your character, something that makes readers root for them.

One of my favourite pieces of advice considering beginnings is that you should pose a question without actually asking it. Some of the most powerful openings in English literature’s history are considered to be those which make the readers eagerly ask “Why is this happening? How is this possible? Just who is this person?”

You should also incorporate some world building into your opening chapter/first few paragraphs. No long paragraphs of descriptions, but work in some scenery and any unique aspects (magic, technology, species/races) that fit the scene. You don’t want to swamp the reader, but you should give them an idea of where they are and what happens there.

That’s about all I’ve got, but if you want to ask or message me anything more specific (like genre and target audience), I’ll help out if I can.

Thanks again for the ask. Good luck and happy writing!

[git-writing-good]

If I wanted to start being involved with writeblr but know nothing about it, where should I start? What are common things I should know about the community, what are some common posts to make & the formatting? Like oc pages and things like that?

Thanks for the ask, jockgay. I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction, but ultimately, it’s your blog.

First and foremost, you’ll want a fairly dedicated writing blog. Books and relevant aesthetics are great, but if you post as much non-writing stuff as writing stuff, you risk losing followers who have no interest in that other content. Of course, if you’re going for a fantasy writeblr, then fantasy aesthetics fit right in. If you’re all about non-fiction, posts relating to your usual topics won’t scare off most people who follow you.

A post or two to introduce your writeblr is also a good idea, as it lets others know what you might blog about, and who you are. How much personal content you post is entirely up to you, but the more popular you become, the more people will want to know about you. 

I would suggest that you try to post a fair bit of original content, but that’s not always easy. Life takes up a lot of time and energy, and if you’re trying to write and work or study all at once, there’s not often much left for blogging. So try to find a few good blogs to follow, and make sure that what you’re reblogging is all solid gold. Either way, consistency is key. 0 posts a day for a week then 20 posts in a day is not a good thing. Queue a few posts if you are unable to post regularly.

The community is pretty supportive, but we’re also mostly introverts. I have found that conversations are easy to strike up, especially if you have like interests with another writeblr, but someone has to make the first move… might as well be you. Everyone on here is trying to write and help others write, so we already all have that in common.

Everyone has their own formats for posts, with regards to headers and images/gifs, but if you’re making a really long post, especially with media attached, a read more line is friendly. Just search writeblr, and find what works for you. Also, look at how many notes a given post has. That will give you an idea of what people tend to look for.

As to OC/WIP pages, Bryn and Cog each have an amazing post about this, plus OC pages of their own. Check those out and you’ll be on the right track.

Best of luck to you, and happy writing!

[git-writing-good]

hi! I hope you can help me, if not I totally get it. I have a plot, villains, setting, characters, but the only thing I don’t have is a protagonist. I try to think of them but I get absolutely nothing. How do I get this main character to come to be?

Hey Anon, sounds like you have most of a vehicle, but your engine is missing. Let’s try to remedy that, shall we?

First and foremost, your Protag has to be the right make and model. If your character(s) don’t fit, they’ll be a poor engine for what might otherwise be a fine vehicle. But don’t fret: Protags are a dime a dozen, you just have to pick one that suits both you and your plot.

Analogies aside, your protagonist should fit both the genre and the theme of your story. This is definitely not a hard rule, but one best followed until you’re comfortable with subverting genre. So an epic fantasy’s protag should be epic (though not necessarily at the start), and your Harlequin romance protag should be lusty and thrusty (Again, there should be room for growth).

The protag should also have flaws. Now writing up a list of things they are bad at can work, but consider instead that every strength they have can fail or be used against them. Compassion/love can lead to nasty hostage situations, courage/brashness can lead to injury or death (not necessarily the protag’s). Look to your own strengths and weaknesses, and those of others you know or of characters you like and dissect them. Write up a pair of columns and fill them with the positive and negative traits, if necessary.

And lastly, the protag should be relatable in some way. Even goody-two-shoes can fall in love with an arse of a protag if they find something in common. Likes and dislikes, personal history, interactions with others, fears, dreams. These are the most important bits to figure out for any character, as it is what drives them, but if you don’t know these things yet, it’s fine to figure it out on a later draft. By the time you write the story and the protagonist’s role in it, you will for sure 100% definitely figure out a few things about them you didn’t know before.

You can easily find character sheets/questionnaires online if you want some inspiration for their personality and habits. This may work best for you, to help flesh out the character or give you ideas for a basis to work from. Or you can simply pick your favourite characters from a few books or shows etc. and figure out what you like about them. If you see some similarities between them, those will likely be traits to instil in your character.

Just remember, the first draft is NOT for the public eye. Unless you’re writing fanfic or other fics that you want to write and post immediately (Even still you should revise at least once), you can just write the protag as though they were an existing character. “Frodo travels through a hilly countryside to save a princess from a dragon” is a good start. By the time you’re done your draft, you’ll likely have made choices Frodo wouldn’t have, or the things that happened to “Frodo” will make him turn out different from Tolkien’s Frodo. Then you just slap a new name on the character and work on the details in your revisions.

Thanks for the ask, Anon. Best of luck to you, and Happy Writing!