Hello

[BlazingGlory1]

Hello everybody. Let me first introduce myself, I am new to gaiaonline and I am truly devoted to my art as being a writer. I am 17 years old and I am a young writer, but I hope to be doing this for the rest of my life and so I hope to be able to learn alot from other fellow writers. I have already written four short stories but I am hoping that I can turn them into novels later on in life. I hope to meet and befriend many fellow writers that enjoy the art as much as I do.Just to get started I have been pondering this for awhile now. Is alot one word or two different words? and I am planing on working on my next project very soon, Another question I do have is that since I am going to tackle something very big do you think its a good idea to keep a notebook with notes or just dive in completely unprepared and hope for the best. I am going to completely be honest with you I try and write proper all the time, but if I have mistakes I truly apologize because I tend to make more when I am tired. I do have one last thing to say I treat everybody with great respect and value everybody's opinion.

Thank-you for taking the time to read this post

[The Kitten Meow]

Welcome to the Writers forum. smile

Thanks for taking the time to introduce yourself. In answer to your first question, I ponder it as well and I'm still not quite sure. Whenever I write alot, my teacher's correct it to a lot, so I think that answers the question. smile

As for the second question, I'm can't tell you how to write because you need to find what works for you, however, I personally don't use notebooks. I dive straight into my writing, get it all out of my system and then refine everything later. That may or may not cause more work for me, but I don't work well with planning and scaffolding, so I tend to just go for it. Perhaps try using a notebook and see if that does work for you? emotion_c8

[Kairi Nightingale]

Welcome to the writer's forum. I hope you enjoy your time here. ^.^

A lot is two words. Alot is not a word at all and therefore incorrect. But it's a pretty common mistake, so don't feel too bad over it.

Everyone develops their own technique for writing their stories. The best advice I can give you is try a little of everything and see what works for you. Some people find that outlines and notes make writing the actual story boring, while others can't keep a plot going without one. Just be careful not to get too caught up in any one thing about your story if you choose to keep notes. Especially when world building. It is fun, but it can also overshadow the plot if you're not careful. And that's rarely a good thing, if at all.

As for me, I've been working on a vague outline of my story so that I have an idea of what events go where before I start writing. The outline is messy as heck as some of the ideas I just conjure out of nowhere as I write it, but I plan on organizing it a little after I'm finished before diving headfirst into the story. However, like I said, this may not work for everyone. I have a friend who gets bored or stuck whenever she starts an outline of her story. Recently she's found that writing scenes she likes out and then linking them together like puzzle pieces has been entertaining for her and she's been doing pretty good so far. And yet others just write straight through without any idea of what's going to happen at all. So find what works best for you and remember that it's supposed to be fun. And it's editing that makes the story good in the end.

Good luck with your writing. ^.^

[DarknessofHeavenandDreams]

BlazingGlory1

Is alot one word or two different words?

Alot of fun

[Aha]

DarknessofHeavenandDreams

BlazingGlory1

Is alot one word or two different words?

Alot of fun

Aw, you beat me to it. xp

[BlazingGlory1]

Thank you guys so much for taking the time out of your day to respond to what I have written. Your advice helped me out a lot.However I would like to say I am still learning a lot about grammar, also I am not perfect at it so if I have some mistakes when I write on here I would like to apologize and I notice i tend to make a lot more when I am tired. I hope the more i write here on here I will be able to learn some new tricks and become better of a writer.

[I_Write_Ivre]

BlazingGlory1

Thank you guys so much for taking the time out of your day to respond to what I have written. Your advice helped me out a lot.However I would like to say I am still learning a lot about grammar, also I am not perfect at it so if I have some mistakes when I write on here I would like to apologize and I notice i tend to make a lot more when I am tired. I hope the more i write here on here I will be able to learn some new tricks and become better of a writer.

Dude, you're trying your best, you're polite, and you want to improve. You're way ahead of 99% of new people who show up. You'll be a great addition to this forum.

[BlazingGlory1]

I_Write_Ivre

BlazingGlory1

Thank you guys so much for taking the time out of your day to respond to what I have written. Your advice helped me out a lot.However I would like to say I am still learning a lot about grammar, also I am not perfect at it so if I have some mistakes when I write on here I would like to apologize and I notice i tend to make a lot more when I am tired. I hope the more i write here on here I will be able to learn some new tricks and become better of a writer.

Dude, you're trying your best, you're polite, and you want to improve. You're way ahead of 99% of new people who show up. You'll be a great addition to this forum.

Thank you for your kind words.

[Saffron Bunny]

Welcome to the Writer's Forum. yum_puddi

As the others have said, a lot is two words, not one. It's a common mistake, so don't feel bad. The only wrong question is one never asked, after all.

To answer your second question, that's a style preference. Personally, I have a closet full of three ring binders stuffed with spirals full of notes for whatever project I may just so happen to be working on at the time or certain topics I've done research on. Perhaps try diving in and when you get stuck, fill out a spiral. That way, you continue to progress without necessarily being hindered by months of planning.

I hope you enjoy your time spent in the Writer's Forum and your own writing continues to progress. yum_puddi Based on your post, I think you'll be a wonderful addition to the forum.

[Rennie`]

BlazingGlory1

Thank you guys so much for taking the time out of your day to respond to what I have written. Your advice helped me out a lot.However I would like to say I am still learning a lot about grammar, also I am not perfect at it so if I have some mistakes when I write on here I would like to apologize and I notice i tend to make a lot more when I am tired. I hope the more i write here on here I will be able to learn some new tricks and become better of a writer.

Grammar is my weak spot too. I have dyspraxia so grammar is a harder concept for me to understand and practice, compared to others. So my advice is to read. You will notice your grammar improve and it is a great feeling, for me anyway. But being as diverse as the English language is grammar will be difficult for more people then you may think, so don't panic.

Welcome to the Writers Forum, by the way xd

[faretheewell]

The answer to the first question is that it does depend on what you're talking about. "Alot" isn't a generally recognized word, so it is best to avoid it in any serious writing. However if you are in an internet discussion and deliberately referencing the imaginary creature, then "alot" is perfectly correct.

Now, in your formal writing "alot" can actually be one of two typographical errors. Which one you are making depends on context.

If you are trying to express "a large extent" "a great degree" or the opposite of "a little" then you have forgotten a space and what you are trying to say is "a lot."

However, if you are trying to say "to assign as a share or portion" "to divide" or "to distribute" then you have forgotten an "l" and you mean to say "allot."

Just another way that the English language is fun!

~~

Moving to your second question: Should you plan intensely beforehand, or just jump in feet-first and hope for the best?

That is a question that very much depends upon your writing style. I doubt that any two writers solve this in exactly the same way, and unlike your previous question there is no single correct answer. My advice to you would be to experiment. Try different things out and see how they work.

My approach is to do a little bit of pre-planning, just enough to check for any visible large rocks, then jump in and see what happens. When I run into sharks or rip tides (or any other "learning to swim" metaphor extension you wish to include here) I will react for a little while, then I'll pull back and plan in more detail, now that I know where the problems are.

Like I said, this may not work for you. Whatever tactic you choose, just remember that the ability to rewrite is one of the greatest things about writing.

If you do decide to do a detailed plan out your story in a separate notebook? Make sure you don't lose the notebook.

~~

A warm welcome to the Writer's Forum. Happy writing!

[I_Write_Ivre]

I tend to plan enough that I believe I can get an actual story out of the idea and research enough to start. When I'm out of research, I do more. If I'm stuck or done but don't make enough sense, I plan more.