A Guide to Creative Writing - Advice, Tips and FAQs

[Astronautics7]

Hey there! Welcome to Astro's guide to Creative Writing!

 

On 343i.org, my main focus is roleplaying, especially in the Militia Roleplay. It's all I ever really do, and it's what I complain about the most. So now, whilst I'm waiting for posts, I think I'll try to assist some of the members who want some help with their writing.

 

To sum up how to improve your writing, you have to flesh out everything. You describe things in different, interesting ways, and make your post interesting to read. It doesn't come easily, but you eventually get used to "overdoing" your posts, to the point you realize "Hey, this is a pretty nice read.".

 

Let's take an example, and work on it. I'll use one of my Militia characters speaking:

1. "sorry, staff sergeant." said oliver.
   What's wrong here? Well, for a start, the grammar is poor. Let's fix that.
    
2. "Sorry, Staff Sergeant." said Oliver.
   Now that the grammar is fixed, we can flesh it out. Right now, the statement is pretty boring, so let's add something to it.
    
3. "Sorry, Staff Sergeant." said Oliver, looking down at the floor.
   As well as stating what Oliver said, we show what he was doing at the time. In this case, he was looking down at the floor. Let's continue to expand.
    
4. "Sorry, Staff Sergeant." stammered Oliver, looking down at the floor with a dumb expression on his face, realizing his mistake. Why didn't he just keep his mouth shut?
   Here, I've added a lot more to the example. Oliver stammers and looks dumb, and he's made a mistake. He also reflects on the events, regretting speaking up. You can see that the character seems more human than when he was just apologizing to his superior. The expansion is also more interesting to read, and the word count has been increased from a measly five to a whopping twenty-eight!

That's the most important rule when it comes to writing, in my eyes at least. Flesh it out, flesh it out, and if you think you can't flesh it out any more, flesh it out! The more detail, the better the post.

 

Okay. Moving on from posts with speech. Occasionally, you have to write without saying anything. Perhaps because your character is supposed to be being quiet, or the character doesn't speak at all, or for any number of reasons. When there is no speech, your ability to describe surroundings and feelings is really put to the test.

 

I'll use Oliver as my example again. This time, it's a quiet training mission, where he is trying to be stealthy:

1. oliver walked through the forest. it was dark. he was scared.
   Okay, same drill. Let's fix the grammar again.
    
2. Oliver walked through the forest. It was dark. He was scared.
   These three sentences are pretty boring. Let's expand.
    
3. Oliver crept through the forest. He couldn't see a thing in the darkness. He'd do anything to be out of here.
   Now it's a little more interesting. Once again, we flesh it out.
    
4. Oliver crept through the rustling, creaking forest, his heavy combat boots careful not to tread on loose twigs. He couldn't see a thing in the dark of the night, every leaf that blew with the wind causing his heart to hammer harder in his chest. Right now, he'd do anything short of killing himself to escape the clutches of this godforsaken, ODST-ridden hell.
   As you can see, it now sounds a little over-dramatic, but that's what you want! You can really tell what Oliver is feeling, how damn scared he is. If you think about it, when people are scared of something, they're usually overreacting. This is similar, as Oliver refers to the training ground as hell, when it's really only just some trees at 2300 hours. See how that works? Base your writing style off of real feelings, and you'll go far.

That's just some basic tips for now. I will probably update this thread in the future, with more tips and pieces of advice. In the meantime, feel free to ask any questions about writing, whether it's for class, just for fun or you're considering writing as a career. I'm happy to answer anything you throw at me - I'll try my hardest to help ya.

 

 

 

[BaconShelf]

Yet people won't read this or take anything away.

 

I've tried before, people don't listen.

 

 

Nice guide though, I was thinking of making one, maybe do a lesson on past tense for some members.

[Trae Houston]

Yet people won't read this or take anything away.

 

I've tried before, people don't listen.

 

 

Nice guide though, I was thinking of making one, maybe do a lesson on past tense for some members.

Guilty as charged sorry.

[Astronautics7]

Well, if people don't take anything away from this, that's a clear indication that they don't want to learn. I don't really want to teach people who don't wanna learn, so to hell with 'em

 

If you did read the thread, thanks! Hope it helped