How to Write Stories People W...

Bởi Zoe_Blessing

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If you're a writer struggling to improve your craft, this book can help. It breaks down the basics of a good... Xem Thêm

1. Be Realistic
2. Write What You Enjoy
3. Find Inspiration
5. Be Authentic (plus Sensitivity Readers)
6. Add Tension
7. Read Other Books
8. Get Critiques
9. Practice Your Craft
10. Maintain Motivation
11. Deal With Fear
12. Demonstrate, Don't Explain
13. Tailor Your Descriptions
14. Recognize Can't Versus Won't
15. Ease Up On Backstory (and Prologues)
16. Kick Writer's Block
17. Create Interesting Dialogue
18. Beat Back Self-Doubt
19. Use Strong Verbs
20. Intermission
21. Carve Out Time
22. Streamline Your Sentences
23. Give Your Character a Journey
24. Read Big Magic
25. Avoid the Info-Dump
26. Break Stereotypes
27. Plan Your Story
28. Intermission 2
29. Manage Your Expectations
30. Find Your Voice - Part 1
31. Find Your Voice - Part 2
32. Rework the Beginning
33. Develop Your Characters
34. Shameless Plug
35. Continue Kicking Writers Block
36. Create Active Characters
37. Avoid Predictability
38. Follow Writers Connect
Questions?
Question 1: Writing outside the box
Question 2: Writing short stories
Question 3: Plot twists
Question 4: Keeping your story on target
Question 5: Writing a series
Question 6: Foreshadowing
Question 7: Writing faster and routines
Question 8: Pushing through to the end
Question 9: Seamlessly weaving in backstory
Question 10: Too many story ideas
Question 11: How to write a blurb
Question 12: Connecting scenes
Question 13: Creating original characters
Question 14: Descriptive writing
Question 15: When to start posting a story
Question 16: Determining chapter breaks
Question 17: Breaking cliches
Question 18: How to end a book
Question 19: Alternate universes
Question 20: Staying in character
Question 21: Narrating dialogue
Question 22: Conveying emotion
Question 23: Changing viewpoints
Question 24: Avoiding cardboard characters
Question 25: Fight scenes
Question 26: Filter words
Question 27: Flashbacks
Question 28: Writing about feelings you've never felt
Question 29: Avoiding the "Mary Sue"
Question 30: Making readers cry
Question 31: Avoiding a rushed plot
Question 32: Deus Ex Machina
Question 33: Making chapters longer
Question 34: Unhappy endings
Question 35: Introducing characters
Question 36: Dialogue with deaf characters
Question 37: Phone conversations
Question 38: Not sounding forced
Question 39: Avoiding repetition
Question 40: Fixing awkward scenes
Question 41: Chapter length
Question 42: Text messages
Question 43: Writing uncomfortable scenes
Question 44: Romantic scenes
Question 45: Dream sequences
Question 46: Humor
Question 47: Dialogue arguments
Intermission
Question 48: Sex scenes
Question 49: Emotions through eyes
Question 50: Stuttering characters
Question 51: Switching POV across a series
Question 52: Believable romance
Question 53: Car accidents
Question 54: Unexpected love
Question 55: Vivid visions
Question 56: Mixing in other languages and culture
Question 57: Breakups
Question 58: First person character descriptions
Question 59: Character deaths
Question 60: Writing from an unfamiliar POV
Question 61: Kissing scenes
Question 62: Nostalgic stories
Question 63: Dialogue from the Middle Ages
Question 64: Sensitive topics
Question 65: Writing pain
Question 66: Too much plot
Question 67: Characters with low self-esteem
Question 68: Is my story too long?
Question 69: Turning random ideas into a story
Question 70: Opening lines
Question 71: Accents
Question 72: Meet cutes
Question 73: Cliffhangers
Question 74: Avoiding melodrama
Question 75: Subplots
Question 76: How to edit
Question 77: Dealing with numerous characters
Question 78: Character names
Question 79: Startling the reader
Question 80: Story within a story
Question 81: Distinctive character voices
Question 82: Pacing
Question 83: Blind characters
Question 84: Writing about future technology
Question 85: Injuries
Question 86: Side characters
Question 87: Characters with negative attitudes
Question 88: Opening scenes
Question 89: Love triangles
Question 90: Insecurities about writing
Question 91: Signs of intimacy
Question 92: Introducing characters to each other
Question 93: When to be detailed or vague
Question 94: Killing off a character
Question 95: Characters in gangs
Question 96: Slow burn romance
Question 97: Arguments that end friendships
Question 98: Writing smart characters
Question 99: Making characters attractive to readers
Question 100: Future technology for sci-fi
Question 101: Animal POV
Question 102: Hijabi characters
Question 103: Second chance love
Question 104: Autistic characters
Question 105: Writing Villains

4. Create Relatable Characters

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Bởi Zoe_Blessing

In other words, give the characters in your story traits that people can identify with. As writers, we often dream about being other people. We want to be smart and beautiful and able to lift a train with our bare hands. We want to be special.

Too Much Perfection

In that quest, sometimes we write characters that are too perfect. They have no flaws. While I enjoy reading about a flawless girl who kicks ass, if there's nothing wrong with her, two problems exist: 1. I can't see myself in her. She's too close to perfect for me to imagine myself in her shoes; and 2. There's no room for character development. Good stories have a character who changes during the course of the plot.

Room To Develop

A character can be powerful or seem to have everything, but as long as they are lacking something--even if it's just one thing--there's room for that character to develop. Take Superman. He flies, is super-strong, bulletproof, handsome, has ridiculous abilities, and even has a job. A near-perfect person. He has it all, right? But he leads a lonely life. Never mind the kryptonite weakness, he has very a human problem anyone can relate to.

Redeeming Qualities

Now let's look at the opposite end of the spectrum: Bad guys with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. They're ugly, mean, and inhumanly cruel. I, as a reader, don't enjoy these kinds of bad guys because I hate them so much. They're so bad they don't seem believable, and it would be appalling if such a person actually existed. Give them a trait to humanize them. Maybe offer a piece of their past to explain why they're so mean and cruel. Or maybe they're mean and cruel to people, but they're kind to puppies. By humanizing your bad guys, it makes it seem like such a person could exist, and that makes the story more compelling.

Emotions

Even if you ignore all the above, one quick way to make characters relatable is to share their emotions with the reader. Humans are emotional creatures, and can identify easily with emotions in other people. If your character can express sadness, elation, or even boredom, we can relate, because we've felt all those things too. In any situation, make sure your character has facial expressions or other physical cues so the reader has an idea of what he or she is feeling about it. (Shoutout to AndresFelipeCurreaCa for inspiring this chapter update.)

Readers want relatable characters. Believable characters. If you give your characters at least one problem or one human trait that people can relate to--even if it's just emotions--then your story becomes more believable as well, and you're one step closer to finding an audience.

***

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