The Anti-Guide

How do you try to improve your writing?

I try to avoid old, stupid things.	17.5%	[ 2370 ]
I add new things.	14.7%	[ 1993 ]
A combination of both (if one more than the other, pick it).	67.8%	[ 9169 ]
Total Votes:			[ 13532 ]

[I_Write_Ivre]

Your characters are people! Go easy on them! Give them lots of physical presents, too.

[.Farfarello]

I_Write_Ivre

Your characters are people! Go easy on them! Give them lots of physical presents, too.

But maybe I want to torment and torture them until they are a quivering mass of blubber and THEN the presents will be ever so much more satisfying to them. twisted

[I_Write_Ivre]

.Farfarello

I_Write_Ivre

Your characters are people! Go easy on them! Give them lots of physical presents, too.

But maybe I want to torment and torture them until they are a quivering mass of blubber and THEN the presents will be ever so much more satisfying to them. twisted

Only if they decide the story goes that way. They write it, not you.

[twilek_jedi]

I_Write_Ivre

.Farfarello

I_Write_Ivre

Your characters are people! Go easy on them! Give them lots of physical presents, too.

But maybe I want to torment and torture them until they are a quivering mass of blubber and THEN the presents will be ever so much more satisfying to them. twisted

Only if they decide the story goes that way. They write it, not you.

The characters write it because they know best.
Give them everything they want. All the time.
Never let them make mistakes.

[I_Write_Ivre]

No, I got it wrong. OTHER PEOPLE write your story, but since you wrote what they told you, it's yours and yours special.

[.Farfarello]

twilek_jedi

I_Write_Ivre

.Farfarello

I_Write_Ivre

Your characters are people! Go easy on them! Give them lots of physical presents, too.

But maybe I want to torment and torture them until they are a quivering mass of blubber and THEN the presents will be ever so much more satisfying to them. twisted

Only if they decide the story goes that way. They write it, not you.

The characters write it because they know best.
Give them everything they want. All the time.
Never let them make mistakes.

Part of the story is for them to make mistakes. If they don't, then where will come the personal growth and learning experiences? They can't go cruising through life with everything handed to them. That makes a very boring read.

[Serverus Snope]

.Farfarello

twilek_jedi

I_Write_Ivre

.Farfarello

I_Write_Ivre

Your characters are people! Go easy on them! Give them lots of physical presents, too.

But maybe I want to torment and torture them until they are a quivering mass of blubber and THEN the presents will be ever so much more satisfying to them. twisted

Only if they decide the story goes that way. They write it, not you.

The characters write it because they know best.
Give them everything they want. All the time.
Never let them make mistakes.

Part of the story is for them to make mistakes. If they don't, then where will come the personal growth and learning experiences? They can't go cruising through life with everything handed to them. That makes a very boring read.

((Direct your attention to the first page.))

[Grizkey]

marshmallowcreampie

Grizkey

Romances about hetero couples can either be PG, PG-13 or NC-17.
Romances about same sex couples always jump right to NC-17, cause there is no middle ground. No one wants to read about non-taboo, non-explicit, happy homosexual couples. That's what hetero literature is for!

((Excuse me if I sound tetchy. I've just noticed this in gay lit- if it's written specifically for gay audiences, it's usually, about 90% of the time, really explicit. I think this happens because of something on the publishers' end, not necessarily on the writers'. Maybe it's driven by a hope for high sales by shocking audiences? Forbidden sex sells?))

((I think the issue is, a lot of people in the US automatically associate "homosexual" with various sex acts. For example, when children's anime gets sent to the US, pretty much all gay relationships, be they implied or established, get censored out because of that. Sailor Moon, anyone? Kind of why it's hard for people to publish books with homosexuals without going to extremes. Homosexuals in young adult literature, even when they don't do anything, is controversial anyway, maybe they figure they might as well go further.))

((That's sort of what I meant. You rarely ever get stories about homosexual couples that don't go to that extreme. I know it's an old complaint, but it would be nice to get mainstream-style romances where the lovers (so to speak) just happen to be the same sex. It's still very much used for shock value, rather than to promote tolerance or acceptance. I know that's kind of a lofty attitude to take, but it irritates me. When I refer to any of this I mean in adult literature. Lots of things get censored in kid's anime, but adult, and even teen literature can go to many good places. "OMG HAWT LEZ SEXXORS" is one place I wish it didn't go so often.))

[Firlodge_the_second]

((Adult literature, I can see your point with. But...teenagers are horny little devils, so....

[Scribe Azai]

Only the villains can be insane. There is absolutely no way that your precious little Blitherina'haruka could possibly be mad - unless you're looking for angst, but even then it's a misunderstanding, and she's not really mad!

[Scribe Azai]

I_Write_Ivre

No, I got it wrong. OTHER PEOPLE write your story, but since you wrote what they told you, it's yours and yours special.

But of course, writing yourself is so last year! I mean, if you wrote your stories, then they would require thinking, and that's very bad. Waste Spend your time better by thinking up all the ways you can have your characters angst, or how you can save them by opening a portal for them when you write them into a hole.

[The Phoenix Rises Again]

People should not judge you by the way you type. That's just prejudice.

[DED_BOOM]

Have Your Pi

Involve something religious. The Bible's a bestseller, right?

stare

[Broconut]

Anyone that is friends with your main character or in any way shape or form associated with him/her is automatically a VERY IMPORTANT character.

[x_Silver_Starlight_x]

Firlodge_the_second

((Adult literature, I can see your point with. But...teenagers are horny little devils, so....

Teenagers are horny little devils. Whenever you write about teens, their has to be sex somewhere in your story. Otherwise you fail as a writer.

Also, it must either be with their twu wuv, and seals their love forever, or it has to be because their slutty and sleep with everyone. It can never be "I love you" at the time, and then break up because it's not working out. It just can't work that way.