Tips I Created for Those Writing Stories

For Writers New or Old

I made this so that I can hopefully help people with their writing. I myself am a writer, as you must have noticed if you are on my Wattpad profile: Supergirl8666. This, I created to just help as many people with the process of writing as I can. So, this is what I would suggest to you.

For the chapter or part that you are writing, just write what comes to your mind, or write basing it off of the dot points that you could have created for your story. Read through it. Then save it as a draft.

Wait for at least a week, then come back to it. Re-read through it. While you read through it, fix any mistakes that you notice. It can help if you read your work aloud although you don't have to.

After or during the process of fixing your draft, add in more detail. Use different words or phrases. This is called a Synonym.

When writing dialogue for your characters, here are some tips: you may use 'I said' or '(Insert Character Name) said' or '(Insert Character name) says'. (The part where it says: insert character name, you just put the name of your character in and leave out the brackets.) You can use other words instead of said and says. Other words that include but are not limited to: voices, vocalises, utters, breathes, speaks, replies, states, declares, sighs.

For example, you may have written; from the first movie: Captain America – as it was the first thing that I thought of, "I can do this all day," Steve says. Instead you could write, "I can do this all day," Steve declares.

As you would have noticed, writing a different word instead of the word 'says' can give a sentence more purpose or emotion. It also sounds better if you use different words instead of repeating a single one in a story or chapter. Play around with what word will fit the sentence best.

When editing and fixing your chapter, make sure that you use descriptive language.

Describe the characters. Describe what they look like. Describe what they are doing. Describe what emotions they are showing if someone can see them – although you don't have to all the time as the tone of a character's speech will indicate emotions and what the character is doing. For example, this is something that I just wrote – I'm using a different character now, Harry Potter. A lame – or badly written sentence if you wish to call it that, whichever one you prefer – and a descriptive one:

'Harry ducks behind cover. A spell hurts him. He grips his arm, before firing a few spells.'

'Harry quickly dashes behind cover. A barrage of spells raining down around him. Just as he settles down behind some debris that has fallen from Hogwarts' walls, a spell grazes his arm. The spell that hit his left arm was a purple colour. To him, it feels broken, a pain filled arm. He knows that it will heal but he also needs to take care of it soon. He grips his arm, gritting his teeth, before letting go. He quickly jumps up and fires a spell. Following that, he quickly casts a chain of different spells as the Death Eaters attack.'

As you have noticed, the second paragraph was a lot more detailed and thrilling to listen to. This is because of the use of description. In the second paragraph, I used Sensory Imaging. I chose two types of Sensory Imaging to create this description: tactile and visual imagery.

There are five sense, so there are five types of Sensory Imagery you can chose from. They are: Visual Images – what people can see, Tactile Images – what people can touch or feel, Audio Images – what people can hear, Gustatory Images – what a person can taste – and Olfactory Images – what a person can smell.

If you use those types of Imagery, your books or chapters will be greatly descriptive. Try not to be vague, try to add detail. But remember, if you have many paragraphs about seven sentences long, about one of the specific senses, it can become unappealing to the reader, although it depends on what you are writing about. If it is just a description of the outside of a house, probably keep it to one paragraph. If it is a description of different parts of a valley or a large stretch of land, it is alright to use more than a single paragraph. It all depends on what you are writing about.

After doing this, save it as a draft and wait for a while longer. Then read through it another time. If it is to your liking, feel free to publish it, although you don't have to if you aren't at that stage. If it isn't to your liking, and you think it doesn't sound as good as it can be, go over the steps again or get someone else to read through it so that it gives you ideas and ways to make it better.

Also, when you write, you can create it in three different POVs (Point of Views). First Person Perspective. Second Person Perspective. Third Person Perspective.

Here is an example of each point of view:

I looked around before I drop down to the ground to take cover.

You looked around before you drop down to the ground to take cover.

Benjamin looked around before he started dropping down to the ground to take cover.

First Person is where you read it as if you are in the Character's thoughts. Second Person is when it is created so that it seems like you are the one who is the character in the story, the one doing everything. Third Person is when you read what happens like you are an observer on the outside. Unless you leave some kind of indication or sign, you should not switch between them. Not only can it be confusing to you but it will also be extremely confusing to the readers.

After you do all this, your chapters and story will take a turn for the better.