Tips for beginner writer?

Question

I wanna do something new, and I have alot of ideas for movies and stuff swimming around in my head, so I decided to try writing a short story.

I was wondering if anyone who has good experience in writing novels can give me some tips to begin writing a story, or some common mistakes that beginner writers makes?

Thanks

Answer 1

Hi Nightvision, I think you'll find these links useful.

How to Write a 'Darned Good' Novel

http://www.write101.com/dgnovel.htm

http://secretgeek.net/nonwriter.asp

7 tips for writing a novel

Getting started on that novel you've always wanted to write. Some tips that may help you.

http://tn.essortment.com/novelwritingti_rsim.htm

Eight Tips to Write Your Novel Faster

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2190/eight_tips_to_write_your_novel_faster.html

Making Time to Write a Novel

http://www.howtobooks.co.uk/leisure/writing/write-novel.asp

Writing a Novel Synopsis

http://www.fictionwriters.com/tips-synopsis.html

http://www.charlottedillon.com/synopsis.html

http://www.fmwriters.com/Visionback/Issue%2015/workshop.htm

http://www.writing-life.com/fiction/synopsis.html

Answer 2

Laura, Many stories and movies start with a character dreaming. There is nothing wrong with that. 'Said' in dialogue is what writers call a 'tag line.' Example: "Don't avoid using the word said in dialogue," Laura said. Laura said is a tag line. Exclamation points show the reader that a person is raising their voice for some reason. "I can't believe you said that to me!" Laura folded her arms and turned away. Don't go overboard with descriptive data either. Describing a person, place or a thing. It gets a bit boring after a while. Try not to use the word 'that' and 'had' when possible. Example: I knew that he couldn't see me. I knew he couldn't see me is just fine. He had seen that once before. He saw that once before is just as good. Don't put more than one character speaking in the same sentence or paragraph. All dialogue should be separate. Cap all names. This question was asked by Laura. Make sure your punctuations are correct and consistent. Get a few books on writing in general. Include a book on dialogue as well. Buy them so you can yellow mark them up for future reference. PJ M

Answer 3

" Dear Writer:
Although it must be a thousand years ago that I sat in a class in story writing at Stanford, I remember the experience very clearly. I was bright-eyes and bushy-brained and prepared to absorb the secret formula for writing good short stories, even great short stories. This illusion was canceled very quickly. The only way to write a good short story, we were told, is to write a good short story. Only after it is written can it be taken apart to see how it was done. It is a most difficult form, as we were told, and the proof lies in how very few great short stories there are in the world.

The basic rule given us was simple and heartbreaking. A story to be effective had to convey something from the writer to the reader, and the power of its offering was the measure of its excellence. Outside of that, there were no rules. A story could be about anything and could use any means and any technique at all - so long as it was effective. As a subhead to this rule, it seemed to be necessary for the writer to know what he wanted to say, in short, what he was talking about. As an exercise we were to try reducing the meat of our story to one sentence, for only then could we know it well enough to enlarge it to three- or six- or ten-thousand words. "

John Steinbeck

Answer 4

I am not a writer, but I know some who write for fun and occasionally profit. I think that the best thing I can tell you is to write more, and write often. Look online for writing groups, and see if you can find one that suits your style and areas of interest.

My friend tends to hang out on the Elfwood website, but I'm sure there are others if you look for them.

Answer 5

Call the university and community college in your city and ask if they have writing classes. Often the class is taught by a professional writer, with a wealth of information to give the class.

He often will tell the class how to contact Literary Agencies and how to prepare the material to send to the Agency.

Answer 6

The best advice? LIVE.