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Writing Style--The Bottom Line

Writing Style - The Bottom Line

“Words are like sunbeams.  The more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.”       - Robert Southey

“Prose is architecture, not interior decorating.”       - Ernest Hemingway

Writing style is made up of two things: cadence and variation.

Good style is clear, readable, and invisible.  Its purpose is not to attract attention to itself but to transport readers into the world of your story.  If your readers notice your style without purposefully intending to study it, your style needs to be impro

Writing Tips - Dialogue

If you’re writing fiction, the dialogue is arguably one of the most important parts. And it’s the bit that’s the easiest to mess up, if we’re strictly honest. And why not? There’s so much going on in that single sentence that any number of them can go wrong; voice, character, tone, point of view, punctuation. We’ll start with punctuation, because I’ve already written that bit.

Punctuating Dialogue

Go here. I was originally going to copy and paste that part of the lesson into this lesson, but then the thing wound up being ten pages long. So, read that, and then come back to this if you feel you might need h

Brainstorming - The Short Guid

Got nothing to write?  Stuck in the middle of a story?  Just getting your mind wrapped around a new idea?  Asking yourself, "Where do I go from here?"

Here is the two-step guide to story development.  It works every time, 100% guaranteed.

Step one:

Ask yourself this simple question: "What if?"

Staring at a blank page?  Ask "What if . . . ?"

Stuck in the middle of a story?  Ask "What if . . . ?"

Don't know how to end your story?  Ask "What if . . . ?"

Don't think your story is going in quite the right direction?  Ask "What if . . .?"

Step two:

Elements of Story - UPDATED

Updated Mar. 18th 2009

The following is a self-discovered list of elements contained in an excellent story:

An interesting and intriguing main character, an individual with a unique past that has made him who he is at the time of the story. Be sure to explain the important aspects of this backstory where appropriate.

This main character must have a story goal: a mission to accomplish, a mystery to solve, his past to reconcile, a villain to overthrow, a treasure to find, a person to save, etc.

Along with this goal, the character must have an all-consuming desire that drives him to accomplish what he sets out to achieve. Love, re

Writing Tips - Description

Description: Balancing Too Much and Not Enough

There’s an old adage about writing that says, “show, don’t tell.” But what does that actually mean? Surely, we’re not expected to illustrate our stories, are we? Christ, I hope not. Some of mine are rather long.

No. What that means is that you should use your words to paint a visual picture for the reader. “Talking heads” are both boring and confusing, and should generally be avoided. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, “talking heads” refers to the phenomenon where all, or most of story is carried out through the characters’ dialogue. You

Punctuation Basics

Writing is like math. If you don’t follow the right formula, you end up in a state of mass confusion. Synonymously, punctuation is like following a map. If you miss the street signs, you’ll end up completely lost. The following is a list of common English punctuation marks and their most basic functions. Contrary to popular belief, there are no exceptions to these rules. Breaking them has never been in style.

The most common English punctuation marks include the following:

. = period
? = question mark
! = exclamation point
, = comma
“” = quotation mark

Writing Tips - Language

Accents, Foreign Languages, and Regional Dialects

There are times when your story may have one or more character speaking a different language, or with a different accent than the rest. There are many different ways a writer can go about presenting this to the reader, and before we go any further, I will concede that some of it is a matter of personal taste, and on this particular matter, you won’t be able to please everybody. So, consider this bit not so much a lesson, but rather a series of guidelines.

Accents

Everyone has one. Even if you think that you don’t, there’s someone, somewhere in the world who would disagree wit

Writing Tips - Grammar, pt 3

Part three: Cases and Grammar Nazi Nit-Picks

Cases

Cases are, in a sort, ways of conjugating a noun – that is, defining its role in a sentence. Kind of. Not really. Well, sort of. It’s a bit swimmy, because we don’t really have them in the English language. Well, that’s a lie. We do, but they’re not very prominent. Despite this, we’re going over them anyway. Why? Because they’re big in some foreign languages and extinct languages. Why do we care? Because there will be a lesson on foreign and extinct languages in the future. But don’t worry; we will cross that bridge when we come to it. Those who could

The Ultimate Writing Guide

Have great tutorial that you want to show off to help others? Or need a great tutorial yourself to make your characters shine across the battlefield? Then check out the description for more information.

Writing Tips: Characterisation

Characterisation: Avoiding the Dreaded Mary Sue

The characters you write are arguably the biggest part of your story. They’re the vessel through which the reader is able to identify with the themes and ideas that you’re trying to share. But creating brand new lives from thin air can sometimes be rather difficult. You have to find their voice, their needs, their personality; it’s a rather delicate balance, really.

Rather tempting, and often encouraged by teachers, is to do a “Character Profile” to help come up with some of the details. These are often pre-made sets of questions ranging from the mundane (eye colour, h

Point of View

Point of View – AKA Narrative Mode

Quite basically, who's telling the story? Not necessarily which character, since that doesn't always really play much of a factor, but rather who the chronicler is. As a general rule, you want the point of view to remain the same throughout, although, we'll talk a bit more on that later, and why people tend to hate it.

First Person

This is Running with Scissors or How to Lose Friends and Alienate People (the books; not the later live-action adaptations). The whole of the story is told in the words of the main character. By definition, first person point of view is limited, meaning that the narrator c

Writing Tips - Grammar, pt 1

Part one: Parts of Speech

Now that you know how to use a comma and structure a quote, let’s really get our hands dirty! Because all those commas and quotes and hard stops don’t mean a thing if you have weak grammar. Grammar is huge. There’s a lot of it, so this will only be a blitz course, covering a lot in a small space. Hopefully, you already know most of it, though.

Parts of Speech

That’s right. We’re doing sentence diagramming in this lesson. You’re going to need to know the difference between an adjective and an adverb later on, so this seems the logical place to start.

A sentence needs three things to m

How to Start and Stay Writing

I recently solicited my watchers to ask me writing questions that I would then attempt to answer in a writing guide such as this. This article is my first response, and there will be many more to come.

I've been asked to give advice on ways a writer can begin to put words on a page. The bottom line is as simple as this: sit your butt down and write.

Duh, right? It's the only way I know to actually write.

Sure, sitting your butt in a chair is easy, but getting your fingers to move and stay moving is a challenge. Here are three things that have helped me.

1) Have a goal.

Your goal can be as simple as "describe the person in this picture" o

Character Motivation

Everyone's heard that characters should have goals, something they want and must strive for, overcoming obstacles and antagonists in order to obtain. Because, well, a story is the record of your character's journey toward achieving a goal.

While all of this is true, I think a lot of writers lose sight of an even more important aspect of character. That is, motivation. Sure, you know what your character wants.

Why?

That's the gist of motivation. What is the psychology and reasoning behind your character's goal? If your character is driven to make money, is his motivation greed? To pay off a debt? To support his family?

Motivation is your c

Research: How to do It

We’ve already discussed where to do your research, so now we’re going to learn how to go about using those tools. Like everything else we do in life, there’s a process to it, and once you’ve learned the steps, finding the information becomes a bit easier (admittedly, some of the harder queries will never get easier).

What do you Need to Know?

Knowing what it is that you’re trying to research seems sort of obvious, but there are times when you won’t have the first clue about what you’re looking for. These are mostly situations when you already have your story plotted out, and now you need fact to work aroun

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Resources: Writingby #Critique-It

Resources & Stock Images / Tutorials / Writing

©2009-2013 #Critique-It

Below are resources found on dA regarding writing:

Poetry
Introduction to Poetry by ~xXShadow-PoetryXx
The Breaking Point: End-Stopping & Enjambment by ^SparrowSong
A Cheap Trick for Poets by ~ellierany
A Lot of Words about a Little Poem: Intro to Haiku Structures by ~SOLARTS
Haikai no Renga by ~SOLARTS

Prose - Non-Fiction
The Truth About Nonfiction by `ATrue

Prose - Fiction
Character Creation: 7 Quick Tips by =illuminara
Novel Writing: The Dilemmas Authors Face by *TheNatureFreak
Ten Tips for Novel Writers by `ATrue
Original Lives Tutorial by ~Ciel-Hedgehog
Maintaining In-World Credibility by *bloodrose83

Technique
Quick Tips for Improving Your Writing by ^SparrowSong
Project: Be Inspired - Part I by ^SparrowSong
Project: Be Inspired - Part II by ^SparrowSong
Project: Be Inspired - Part III by ^SparrowSong
Project: Be Inspired - Part IV by ^SparrowSong
Sounding Your Way Through Literature by ^SparrowSong
Writing Style - The Bottom Line by =illuminara
Writing Tips: Description by *Mae-Jay
Writing Tips: Organization by *Mae-Jay
Writing Tips: Mechanics by *Mae-Jay
Writing Tips: Language by *Mae-Jay
Writing Tips: Dialogue by *Mae-Jay
Writing Tips: Grammar - Part I, Part II & Part II by *Mae-Jay
Writing Tips: Research by *Mae-Jay
Grammar Guide by =LateNightLady

Thank you to those who encourage their fellow community members to improve by providing helpful tips and advice. Our hats are off to you!

_{If you know of a great resource for writers, note the club. We'll add it to the list!}

~tatygirl90 Jan 19, 2011

Thanks for uploading this, I've been looking for ways to improve my craft!

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~Yarbro Nov 6, 2010

Thank you!

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~theANDROidroMEDiA Jul 27, 2010

Thank you!

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~evafortuna Oct 16, 2009 Hobbyist General Artist

I'm really pleased with this resource list too, can't wait to check out these guides!

Thank you critique-it peoples!

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#Critique-It Oct 16, 2009

You're welcome! The lists get updated every week or so, so make sure you keep coming back for more!

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~evafortuna Oct 16, 2009 Hobbyist General Artist

I'll make sure to!

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~Charmed-Ravenclaw Oct 11, 2009 Hobbyist General Artist

Ooh thank you for uploading this.

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#Critique-It Oct 11, 2009

No problem!

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~ArchArad Oct 10, 2009

A lovely list and a very useful resource.

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#Critique-It Oct 10, 2009

Glad to be of help. Thanks for your suggestions

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