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I'm going to start right off the bat with this link. Read it or not, it usually appears in my reviews of Gaians' works.

Want to know why?

They're boring. By the time I finish the second paragraph, I'm so disinterested that I can't stand to read another word. Even though I've only read a tiny bit of your story, I can still provide writers with plenty of very good advice.

I just figured I'd save myself the time and tell everyone once and for all why their stories are boring.

You've already read that article I pointed out (now would be a good time to do so, if you haven't). So, we can get to some of the other important problems I've seen.

Too Many Modifiers.

Once upon a time, somebody on Gaia believed that, by adding descriptive clauses and sad adjectives and adverbs, he or she could make the story more "emo" or "goth" and, hence, better.

Wrong!

Sure, modifier are fun. And their great to use in sentences. But some writers feel that their works are inadequate if there are too few of them. So they turn their Honda Civic sentences into Hummers. You know what people say about that, don't you?

Bad Pacing

Now, I enjoy imagery as much as I drive. But the real problem with all of this imagry is that it disrupts the otherwise natural flow of sentences. Next time you write, try saying your sentences. If they come out awkward, change them.

No Hooks
You can get into imagery later in your story. The main purpose of the opening paragraphs is to convince the reader that the rest of the story is worth the time it takes to read it. So you have to set things up. Try making the reader ask the questions you want him or her to ask about the story. If the reader really wants to know, he'll keep reading. If not, you'll get a ten second review.

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This would be how I started writing.

Sadly, many reviewers don't like jumping into the action as much as I do.

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Thanks for that. That article you linked to was definitely good advice.

For many writers, their problem is not that their stories are horrendously awful, just that they're tremendously dull. I know I have to fight back the urge to clog up my writing with infodumps and conversations which go on forever.

Some of the best stories I've read are short and fast-paced. You don't need to write a thousand-page epic; some of the all-time classics barely scrape 200 pages, and are more gripping than any lengthy saga. That said, a long book can be just as entertaining, if your writing and plot is such that you make the reader want to keep on reading.
That's what we all aim for, really - to be able to write a story that a reader will want to read compulsively. Or at least, I'm aiming for it, though heaven knows I'm a long way from it.

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I know that it's tough to get yourself out of a infodump frame of mind, but I think it's easier on the writer if he gives the information on a need to know basis.

Here's another tip.

Most of the time, you can omit details that the reader will just visualize anyway. For instance, if the setting is a high school, readers will assume that there are many cliques, many other students, many teachers and each person has his or her own schedule. In this case you can just introduce classes as you go along and you can usually get away without telling the reader when and where they are in relation to each other. Check out the Iceberg Theory.

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I was never able to get into an infodump frame of mind.

I would love to hear your review on the beginning of a story -- I want to see if you really CAN review it in 10 seconds. I'm curious.

http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19130523

Yeah.

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Off to the links list this goes. 3nodding

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Touché OP, touché. Please fix your spelling errors and this thread will become near sticky-worthy.

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Unless I misspelled a word as something else (e.g. typing "not" when I meant "note" wink , I'm pretty sure I caught everything.

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Ludo Monster
I know that it's tough to get yourself out of a infodump frame of mind, but I think it's easier on the writer if he gives the information on a need to know basis.

Here's another tip.

Most of the time, you can omit details that the reader will just visualize anyway. For instance, if the setting is a high school, readers will assume that there are many cliques, many other students, many teachers and each person has his or her own schedule. In this case you can just introduce classes as you go along and you can usually get away without telling the reader when and where they are in relation to each other. Check out the Iceberg Theory.


This helps too sometimes

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A lot of bad beginnings are bad, at least to me, is because they start off with the distant past and a main character that is dead in Chapter 2/Chapter 1 (if this is a prologue, which it usually is because fantasy writers love the little buggers). You make me think that the mother isn't so bad, and then she gets kidnapped and taken away. Okay. Next chapter start, she's been murdered long ago and her sweet little newborn son is a sadistic 17-year-old killing machine. This throws me off just the slightest bit. Why bother detailing this sad event before the readers get to know the main character, who either A) doesn't exist yet, or B) is a screaming infant? I'm seriously more interested in the one who can form coherent thoughts, and if she's kicked the bucket by the next chapter it's mighty disappointing. This method is especially stupid to use if a big part of the plot is the main character trying to find out his origins.

I'm not sure if that's entirely on topic.

To add something more relevant--don't start your stories off with a character running away from/to something. It's been done a million times. It's ******** boring, and there is no way you can make that any better. So just stop trying. Find yourself a nice little alternative, or perhaps start it before or after the character finds the need to run. Often enough, the run method is used because someone told them they need action at the beginning, not a description of the forest. They can describe the forest in great detail after the character's collapsed form exhaustion. (Note that this doesn't make it any better, it's simply what a lot of newbies do.)

More simply put, avoid cliches in your first sentences. If there's one time you need to be original, then the hook is it.

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Narr

To add something more relevant--don't start your stories off with a character running away from/to something. It's been done a million times. It's ******** boring, and there is no way you can make that any better. So just stop trying. Find yourself a nice little alternative, or perhaps start it before or after the character finds the need to run. Often enough, the run method is used because someone told them they need action at the beginning, not a description of the forest. They can describe the forest in great detail after the character's collapsed form exhaustion.


I've seen running done well, but there were certain factors that 'fixed' it. A) it was amazingly hokey, an audience may (or may not) sometime excuse stupid in the name of hoke. B) the running itself kept changing to an entirely different scene. The quick strobe-like changes kept one interested. C) It didn't last very long and there was no fate contemplation. D) I was TV. The visuals probably allowed for the hoke to work and for the running to be displayed in a way that in text it would just fail.

But the whole scene came from the writing. No one puts stuff like that on camera without writing it out first. It probably would have failed even before it got on camera if it weren't written well enough, though.

I think running fails because the author assumes mild action can be used as an excuse for a characetr to think and thus it doesn't look like an info dump.

I've seen most running scenes fail even in TV, though, so you're mostly right.

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On the subject of infodumps... I've posted stories on other forums and been slammed for not giving enough character information early on. I write novel length, and prefer to let the reader learn about the character a little at a time, the way you meet a real person. I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas how to find a "happy medium" between an info dump and not giving the reader enough to get involved in the events.
If anyone's curious about my work, some of it is posted on www.urbis.com, also under magusofchaos.

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Yami_no_Eyes
Narr

To add something more relevant--don't start your stories off with a character running away from/to something. It's been done a million times. It's ******** boring, and there is no way you can make that any better. So just stop trying. Find yourself a nice little alternative, or perhaps start it before or after the character finds the need to run. Often enough, the run method is used because someone told them they need action at the beginning, not a description of the forest. They can describe the forest in great detail after the character's collapsed form exhaustion.


I've seen running done well, but there were certain factors that 'fixed' it. A) it was amazingly hokey, an audience may (or may not) sometime excuse stupid in the name of hoke. B) the running itself kept changing to an entirely different scene. The quick strobe-like changes kept one interested. C) It didn't last very long and there was no fate contemplation. D) I was TV. The visuals probably allowed for the hoke to work and for the running to be displayed in a way that in text it would just fail.

But the whole scene came from the writing. No one puts stuff like that on camera without writing it out first. It probably would have failed even before it got on camera if it weren't written well enough, though.

I think running fails because the author assumes mild action can be used as an excuse for a characetr to think and thus it doesn't look like an info dump.

I've seen most running scenes fail even in TV, though, so you're mostly right.


"Look mom, my character's doing something. The meanies on Gaia can't harass me about a boring opening because I've got some action, right?"

It fails because it's been seen as an "easy" way to get the reader hooked, so the newbies do it. Books like Eragon don't help either, because people learn from imitation (since Paolini's published and popular, he's just gotta be good, so let's all learn proper writing from him!)

A, yes, I can see it being useful if you're trying to make fun of generic openings. Comedy is an exception to a lot of the rules. B sounds like it would be much more effective as a TV thing than a book. I've never seen it in a novel, and I can't really get my head around how you could do it properly using only words.

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Ah, yes... the prologues.

Note that Tolkien (Father of modern fantasy) does NOT begin either the Hobbit or LotR with a long, boring prologue. He lets you get to know the main characters and the world generally before cuing you in to the epic happenings that our wonderful protagonists are now caught in.

I personally like character-based stories, so I usually start mine by introducing character conflict/personality traits. Hopefully effectively. rolleyes But hey, that's just me.

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I think this would work quite nicely with the MU's list of over-used story beginnings...

Now where did I put it?
Gaia Forums » Artist's Corner » Art Discussion » Promotions

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