Tuesday 15 January 2013
The Art of Storywriting-Part 2
Hey there peeps!!
It has been far too long, I know! Time is short and prescious :)
As I promised about a hundred years ago, here comes a new part of "The Art of Storywriting"
Since we are still a writers' site, I thought we should keep takling about writing and creating good stories that are worth reading.
Have a great day everyone!!
The Art of Storywriting 2
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12 comments:
Some very good pointers on here, well worth reading and taking note of.
Thanks for writing this up!
You know that annoying moment you write a comment and then press some wrong buttons and the comment is gone??! Yeah, happens to me and mostly when my comment was long :p Anyways...
Agree with what Bex said, very helpfull! And they are the exact things that a story need for me to read it. Try to use them in my own stories too but meh, dunno if I'm always that succesfull. But then again, I'm no professional and only do it for fun. And for me, having fun with writing is most important although I do love it when others enjoy it too ;) haha
Thanks for writing all of this down, Noa :)
*another attempt to post, hopefully it won't fail again :p*
Urgh that always happen to me too, I tend to copy my comment before posting just in case I mess up haha.
And yes Monique, I give up reading if a story is too focused on every detail of what people are wearing, or what drink each individual orders in a bar, for example.
I'm always very aware that my story will be scripted for the site and so I try to make it work for each member of the band. Sometimes though I will write about the individual, maybe Kian's hobby of surfing is vital to the story and it will only read well as a Kian fic.
I hope some of the newer writers here will use this to aid them in their writing.
Yeah, I usually do that too :p Copying my comment before trying to post. But then I don't F it up for a while and I get lazy and forget it which results in loosing another comment :p I'll know I'm gonna copy this one before posting it :p haha
I give up reading too when it's too focussed on 'unimportant' details. I also don't care for extended story-lines for my 'friends' in scripted stories either to be fair... When the Westlife forum was still around I used to write a couple of fics with loads of friends in there but that was fun, with replies and such ya know... But with the scripted stuff, nah... Friends can be there but I don't really need to read how they enjoy their time in bed with my second lifer if ya get my drift... :p
And what you said about trying to make it work for all lifers, I do try that aswell. Sometimes, when scripting, I even leave things out that I would've written originally just to make it fit. But only if they're not that important for the story ofcourse.
I always struggle with the Sligo and Dublin stuff though... When reading it, I'd hate it if I picked Nicky for my fave or second fave lifer and then he lives in Sligo. But maybe that's just me?!
Hey :)
Thanks for leaving comments!! The usual suspects ;)
But I am glad to see that you feel the same way. While writing and later on also during the scripting, I try to leave out things or sometimes I also make things up to make the habits or some stuff concerning the families more common :) it is hard and I totally understand that it is also hard if you are a real fan and you really wanna read the story as a Nicky story. I even tried something else, like writing about Sunrise Avenue and then trying to bring the Hesinki-story into Sligo or the other way around. I think one discussion in a fic (there are definitely too many people involved like friends and a vacation together) almost made my head explode because it was about the English and the Irish... puh! so what can I do about the Scandinavian then???? :) but it works and that is also something I like about this. We are actually producing fantasy and imagination for the readers and all neverlanders are trying their best and succeed in giving us some new piece to dream about.
During the next days - the baby is again sick and I wanna scream out loud because by now I get some trouble at work - I will try to have home office time and also maybe write another part for the storywriting that is important for the upcoming challenge. So stay tuned :)
Speaking of the stories for the westlife forum, I'm in the process of editing/rewriting one of mine so it can be made interactive. I'm trying to cut our the other lifers/friends story lines and where they're aren't necessary to the main story.
It's another long one haha
I personally don't think there is a right or wrong way about writing, nor is there a particular formulae that should be used. Everyone's different when they write. Like many on here i'm no professional I just write because it's a lot of fun and I get to play with situations that never happen and above all else it's a complete escape from reality for me.
I like to write for myself first I try not to conform to what others want (even though it is important) because if I'm writing something to please other people I know I won't have any enjoyment from it and I wouldn't put the effort in. That is just me.
Hey Neverland! Thank you for the good advises, I can really use them! While I am writing I often forget that the people don't see what I have in mind and that they maybe get bored. Sometimes I am too focussed on detail and they are not important for others. I write for fun too but I want people to like it and enjoy and sometimes it gets the wrong way. Many stories here on neverland are very good, but some are the same and they use too much unimportant details. I will try my best to improve a little and maybe also send in a story one day. By now I am still not too sure if it is worth reading. Thank your for writing this comments, it really helps me!
@Vicksta; I do agree with you, when writing you shouldn't have to conform to what others want to read, it should be what agrees with you.
People should make no compromises in storylines and such. But for me personally, when I share my story I do want it to be in best shape grammar-wise with as little spelling-mistakes as possible and interesting enough to draw people in and keep them reading till the end of the story. I have to admit, I struggle with that often, it would be so much easier for me if all of you were able to read Dutch as that's my first language and it's much easier for me to expres myself in it lol But I still do try and I mainly do that to make it readable for others, so therefor I treasure all the tips and pointers I get.
It's not so much that I want to force people to write to my standards (for what they're worth...), that's not why I wrote my earlier comments at all. I totally agree with you that you should write whatever you feel like.
But I do think that when you decide to post on a website like Neverland and want people to enjoy your story and let you know so there's some things to keep in mind y'know. If that makes any sense at all... ;)
Hey guys!
Thanks again for discussing this so intensely!
Just one more comment from me so far, because I dont want you guys to get this writing-posts wrong!
As far as I see it, neverland is a westlife-site but it is also a writer's site and I personally do not only want the stories and the fantasy, I also want to improve my English and I want to play with styles, scenes, ideas and all kinds of narrating types.
Of course, like Monique pointed out, we could all do much better in our mother language and sometimes I really have a hard time to show you guys what I see and what I want you to feel with my writing. I never expected anyone to become brilliant only by reading my posts and I do not only want to give you one way of doing something "right", the posts are of course no milestones in literature :) But I really want this site and its fics to be more than just the typical "they have constant fights, they fall in love, he betrays her, she takes him back"-kind of storysite so me and Steffi and also the staff try to come up with ideas and challenges for you to give your own fantasy an little boost. And we want good stories, of course :) we like it to see people improve and enjoy writing and also see the people enjoy reading the fics.
I'm sorry Vicksta if it felt for you as if I was trying to talk you into something or not worship the work of the authors, that is definitely not the case!!
We want to give advice. Put it that way: Steffi is a teacher and I am a journalist, we earn most of our money with writing, so maybe we are in a good position to hand out some advise and give you tips, and I promise: I only want this to be tips, we dont want everybody to write the same, use a standard (that surely doesnt exist) or whatever. We want you to enjoy writing but maybe avoid a few things or find the obstacles in your way to make people suck your story in :)
Now have a great day everyone, I have some German story to write and finish :)
Cheers,
Noa
@Noa
No I certainly didn't feel that way at all. We write what makes sense to us and if people like it great, and if they don't...well it doesn't matter. I think your suggestions make sense, I've come up with my own suggestions on what works for me on my site too. I think it's good other potential writers get an idea from others what they should or shouldn't do because it will always help them. Sometimes learning from other people's mistakes is a good stepping stone to become better. It's really what makes a writer most comfortable. Ultimately we all want the same goals and that is key :-)
I can be fussy when I read things to, if I don't see anything I like in a story within let's the say the first few lines or paragraph then I don't read on. And it has nothing to do with the author or how they write, it's just me being fussy about what I want but I read pretty much everything on here when I have the time and I don't mind them. :-D
My only downfall as a writer is procrastination. Such a lazy writer me sometimes, I don't know maybe it's habit.
I think all of you guys whose first language isn't English do a fantastic job by the way. In fact better than some people whose first language is English haha
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