Writing Tips and Techniques (Writing Help)

Your Story Description

Sorry guys, but if you don't have a story description, or if it is only half a sentence, no one is going to read your story. That description is critical to getting people to read your stuff (so is you cover art. Even though you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, everyone does and will. Try to pick something eye catching). I know it's the hardest thing in the world to condense a 70,000+/- word book into a few paragraphs, but it must be done. Something you'll want to include:

A Hook: Just like starting a story, you want to draw people into your description. 

Brief Character Intro: Don't give me the character's whole bio. That's a sign of an undeveloped story, and let's face it, it's boring. No physical descriptions (I mean, if it fits in your sentence, go ahead, but don't go into listing traits. Something more like, "Tris Prior, a short, skinny blond girl, will save the world" is acceptable because it paints a picture of this tiny teen up against the world). For the most part, physical description should appear in the actual story. I have seen intros where people will start with "my name is _____ and I have fiery red hair and green eyes and I am the daughter of the devil." -_- Simply stick to the character's name and maybe some background information (as it pertains to the story).

Plot/Conflict: The meat of the description should be about the story. What happens in it?  Have a brief summary of what is about to be read (I know. I don't like giving things away either, but that's just not how it works). Introduce the conflict. What is your character up against? You don't want to give too much away, but you need enough so that there is an idea of what the conflict is. If you give too many details, why does the reader need to read the story? They got the whole thing from your description. Leave some mystery in it, but don't skimp.

Another thing. Don't pose questions to the reader. It's amateur, and the answer is almost always yes. What I mean by this is when someone will write "Will she make it? Will she manage to uncover Janine's evil plot and stop the Dauntless from killing Abnegation? Read and find out!" The "read and find out" thing is obvious. How else are you going to find out? Also, these questions are assumed. By saying that there's some trouble going down in the factions, you assume Tris will fix it. The readers aren't reading to see if the conflict gets resolved. They're in it for the ride.

Here's an example of a story description I just came up with off the top of my head:

Zak was never normal. Even before he started hunting demons, he'd exhibited... signs. Symptoms and oddities that marked him as something extraordinary.

Ever since his family has been killed, he's been searching for whoever-- or whatever-- did it. But when he gets close, he notices a bigger threat brewing in his city. Demons are flocking, gathering, preparing for something that could endanger life as we know it.

And Zak is the only one who seems to notice.

---------------------

Okay, it's not the greatest storyline, but you get the idea. In the first sentence, I introduced the main character: Zak. I didn't give any physical description, or his age, or his current situation. You know he's a demon hunter, and you know there's something special about him. Notice how I let that go. Now I've generated interest. Demon hunter. Cool. Oddities. What oddities? What is he? What's 'extraordinary' about him? Is he part demon? Is he just really brave? Is there something else to him? You don't know. You have to read if you're interested.

Next, I introduced a plot. Family was killed: Background info. He's searching for their killers, but there's a bigger conflict in motion. Demons are going to do something. Here's some more mystery. Endanger life as we know it? What are they gonna do? More interest generated.

Then the cliffhanger. Will he avenge his family's death and ignore the bigger picture? Will he let that slide and try to stop whatever mystery mischief is going on? Will he do it alone?

All of these questions are good. Mystery is good. You're baiting the hook.

For more examples, look at the back of one of your books at home. Seeing examples from published people is always a good idea. 

 Some things you don't want to do 

-is start with "Sorry if this is terrible. I'm new and I don't know what I'm doing." -_- While this may be true, it isn't something people want to see when looking for a good story. It just shows that you're insecure about your work. 

-**under construction** This shows that you have issues that you are self-conscious about and suggests to possible readers that the grammar or story isn't at its best, therefore not worth reading. With Wattpad, the best thing you can do is to just fix it for the next batch of readers.

-Don't say something like "Clara just moved to a new town and meets Harry Styles at her new school" and then immediately in the first chapter show Clara meeting Harry Styles. Put some space between the description and the story. Plus, those types of descriptions don't give you any info. They just give you one highlight, you get that highlight right away, and then you're like... so what now? 

-Don't have bad grammar, incomplete, or run-on sentences right at the start. If your story description has to be deciphered, that means your story almost certainly will too. Nobody wants that.

-Don't be vague. I know you want people to read and find out, but people want to know what they're reading before they read it. Definitely don't actually type "read and find out!" That's the worst. Like I said, just describe the plot without too many details.