The Anti-Guide

How do you try to improve your writing?

I try to avoid old, stupid things.	17.5%	[ 2292 ]
I add new things.	14.9%	[ 1951 ]
A combination of both (if one more than the other, pick it).	67.6%	[ 8852 ]
Total Votes:			[ 13095 ]

[Wolvercote]

Capuziner

When you are describing a character, give them one simple distinguishing object or attribute and reference it EVERY TIME THEY APPEAR in exactly the same way so the reader knows who you are talking about without even having to think about it.

I can name several published books that do this... wink

[Ophiucha]

Helen Mint

Hikari_Riku

((Oh, wait. . . Seriously, I hate those people who watch Anime and write about it but know absolutely nothing about Japan. In the majority of high schools (though not all) throughout Japan, students are required to take English language and Kendo sword fighting classes.))

((Well, is that so... I mean, I knew they had to take English, but I didn't know about kendo. Wierd.))

((Mmhmm, there is a strict set of classes all students have to take, although in high school you generally split up a bit into the maths/sciences and humanities (where they have to learn more about writing in Japanese, Ancient Japanese, and whatnot). You also can choose between World History and Japanese History and you can choose between calligraphy, music, and general art. During your 'senior year' (if you will take the term), you then can specialize in your favorite area of study as preparation for university, or just for fun. However, most people need to take at least one year of each of these: Modern Japanese, Ancient Japanese (which includes some Chinese, too), mathematics, whatever type of history you chose, ethics (seriously), some sort of writing class (which probably includes a lot about writing kanji), your science course, physical education (which you take every year), health, your art of choice, government and economics, home economics (the food half, not so much the sewing bit we sometimes get in America), and usually English for all three years too (one year just learning the language, then composition/reading gets added in for the next two years). And the classes aren't the same every day, it is a bit more like the college setting where you have these classes on Monday, those on Tuesday, and so on... Kendo is usually taught as a part of the P.E. program, but some schools offer it as a separate class or even part of the ethics program.

Wow, that was a completely unnecessary aside. Best include something on topic.))

Since we are talking about school, I'd like to point out that there is no such thing as auditing. They can be absent as many times as they'd like with no consequence as long as they are oh-so-smart and do amazingly well because school is just too easy for your MC. Somehow, though, your kind-of-stupid sidekick should also make it out alright because of the MC's help. And school's will never ask for a note from their parent(s) as to why they were absent, because they were saving an alternative dimension from evil! What other explanation do they NEED?! Jesus.

[ryokomayuka]

What about the rich in your stories?

[Capuziner]

Wolvercote

Capuziner

When you are describing a character, give them one simple distinguishing object or attribute and reference it EVERY TIME THEY APPEAR in exactly the same way so the reader knows who you are talking about without even having to think about it.

I can name several published books that do this... wink

Who has hands the size of dustbin lids, oily black curtains of hair, and half-moon rimmed spectacles?

[Serverus Snope]

ryokomayuka

What about the rich in your stories?

Ah, the rich. Those come in three flavors: 1: the rich MC, who is so nice and powerful that wealth shouldn't be an issue adds to their likeability, 2: the mean rich, which are the cruel, vapid, wasteful Stupid Money *coughGTA4cough* that are xenophobic even to those with less money than them. Your MC is the SOLE exception if Type 1 and Type 2 are together. And finally, we have 3: the Old Money. These are the fine gents with suits, top hats, and monocles. Oh, and the women wear elegant antique dresses with those glasses that are held by a handle.

((I'm thinking of making a Pokemon Anti-Guide, but I doubt it would get much activity or publicity since it doesn't have endless screw-up possibilities unlike just writing a story. In fact, Naruto and Harry Potter probably have more. Oh, and the HP and Naruto guides don't seem very active.))

[Eolande Silvermist]

I have a great idea for a new fantasy series! It's so original, I'm sure it'll be a hit... but I only have a rough outline so far.

A young, seemingly mundane boy is visited by a mysterious person who claims the boy has "special abilities." The boy shrugs it off at first, and returns to his humdrum existence, which includes a fair amount of mistreatment and hardship. crying But mysterious happenings finally convince the boy that something supernatural is happening.

It turns out the boy DOES have special abilities. Not only that, he is actually The Chosen One who is the key to defeating The Big Evil Thing. Someone hands him a sword and a bunch of fairy tale creatures hail him as their leader.

There is a climactic battle scene. Something surprising and magical happens with the sword, just in time to save the world. The boy defeats The Big Evil, not by clever strategy or any particular skill he has to offer, but just because he is The One Who Is Meant To Do It.

Afterwards, the boy returns to the people who harmed him in the past, all glowing and possibly wearing a crown, and shows them just how wrong they were!

I hope you guys don't steal my unique idea. rolleyes

[Aldorel]

Ophiucha

Since we are talking about school, I'd like to point out that there is no such thing as auditing. They can be absent as many times as they'd like with no consequence as long as they are oh-so-smart and do amazingly well because school is just too easy for your MC. Somehow, though, your kind-of-stupid sidekick should also make it out alright because of the MC's help. And school's will never ask for a note from their parent(s) as to why they were absent, because they were saving an alternative dimension from evil! What other explanation do they NEED?! Jesus.

In fact, the teacher won't even ask the student where they were, because they will somehow sense that the MC was doing something really, really great and important.

In the event that they do ask why the MC missed two months of school and the MC does say "I was saving an alternative dimension from evil", the teacher will never refer the MC's parents to a psychiatrist.

[Summer Fallwinterspring]

((Question, what do you all think of this?))

[Ame_To_Ame]

Shantard

I have a great idea for a new fantasy series! It's so original, I'm sure it'll be a hit... but I only have a rough outline so far.

A young, seemingly mundane boy is visited by a mysterious person who claims the boy has "special abilities." The boy shrugs it off at first, and returns to his humdrum existence, which includes a fair amount of mistreatment and hardship. crying But mysterious happenings finally convince the boy that something supernatural is happening.

It turns out the boy DOES have special abilities. Not only that, he is actually The Chosen One who is the key to defeating The Big Evil Thing. Someone hands him a sword and a bunch of fairy tale creatures hail him as their leader.

There is a climactic battle scene. Something surprising and magical happens with the sword, just in time to save the world. The boy defeats The Big Evil, not by clever strategy or any particular skill he has to offer, but just because he is The One Who Is Meant To Do It.

Afterwards, the boy returns to the people who harmed him in the past, all glowing and possibly wearing a crown, and shows them just how wrong they were!

I hope you guys don't steal my unique idea. rolleyes

((HARRY POTTER?
The whole muggle-wizard thing, Voldemort, that one sword that kills the basilisk in book two, etc etc, he turns out NOT to be a liar about Voldemort being back, and being evil, and on and on and on...
Sorry, seriously off-topic, and it doesn't exactly fit, but that was honestly the first thing that came to mind. ))

[Misuki Marishima]

Remember that anyone who's done bad deeds will get redemption in the end. Karma will bite their rear end eventually, especially by death. (Any tropers should recognize this.)

Any artists in your story will be the starving artist variety. No exceptions.

[SoulSalvage]

((I was just thinking...Are anticlimactic moments okay in a piece of literature? I mean, moments where people aren't dying/being tortured/etc? I don't really know why I had to ask this, I just did.))

[Ame_To_Ame]

Misuki Marishima

Remember that anyone who's done bad deeds will get redemption in the end. Karma will bite their rear end eventually, especially by death. (Any tropers should recognize this.)

Any artists in your story will be the starving artist variety. No exceptions.

Well, there are college students that could be considered 'artists' that aren't quite starving yet.

And it will never be pointed out that karma can apply to multiple lives- it always comes back to you in THIS one. This only ever doesn't apply when someone says something akin to "What did I do in a past life to deserve this?". No one that believes in karma ever thinks "This is going to hurt me in my next life." when they do something. Never.

[Mello_McQueen]

Helen Mint

Hikari_Riku

((Oh, wait. . . Seriously, I hate those people who watch Anime and write about it but know absolutely nothing about Japan. In the majority of high schools (though not all) throughout Japan, students are required to take English language and Kendo sword fighting classes.))

((Well, is that so... I mean, I knew they had to take English, but I didn't know about kendo. Wierd.))

((Yeah, I thought it was weird too at first, but then I started wishing it was mandatory where I went to high school, learning how to sword fight would have been awesome. I think it only seems weird because we don't live in Japan (although I'm just assuming you don't, you could I suppose. . .). I'm from America so the idea of a class on sword fighting makes my brain threaten to explode. lol))

[Mello_McQueen]

Aldorel

Ophiucha

Since we are talking about school, I'd like to point out that there is no such thing as auditing. They can be absent as many times as they'd like with no consequence as long as they are oh-so-smart and do amazingly well because school is just too easy for your MC. Somehow, though, your kind-of-stupid sidekick should also make it out alright because of the MC's help. And school's will never ask for a note from their parent(s) as to why they were absent, because they were saving an alternative dimension from evil! What other explanation do they NEED?! Jesus.

In fact, the teacher won't even ask the student where they were, because they will somehow sense that the MC was doing something really, really great and important.

In the event that they do ask why the MC missed two months of school and the MC does say "I was saving an alternative dimension from evil", the teacher will never refer the MC's parents to a psychiatrist.

((I just have to say that, in 4th grade, I got really dehydrated and missed 2 weeks of school because I was in the hospital, and when I got out, I went back to school, sat down in my desk, and nobody even asked where I'd been or for a note or anything. . .so, maybe that's not entirely true. <<; I still don't think anyone knows I was in the hospital, and I'm not even sure they noticed I was gone. lol ))

[Reinna Astarel]

ryokomayuka

What about the rich in your stories?

If the main character is rich, it's never because they've actually worked for it (needing to work for a living cramps the style of going out on a big quest). It's because their parents were geniuses or the top of their field, and they died (horrifically tragic) deaths, leaving the bulk of their wealth to their young teenage child. Bonus points if these aloof and distant rich parents abused him or her and they get to come out of it all with an Angsty! Past and infinite wealth.

Otherwise, rich people are all bastards and greedy hoarders of wealth.