Writer's Workshop

Do you love writing? ​

What do you like? Fanfics, stories or just plain poetry?
Here, at the writer's workshop, you can get tips and hints from the greatest writers around.​

Writing: Well... what is writing exactly? Writing is a form of art and expression. It is a way to let out your feelings through stories, poetry and just about anything that involves words. Writing can be done by many people, one author, or a writer and an illustrator. Writing isn't subject to words, either, writing can also be a form of drawing and painting - such as comics and manga.​

Tools: Do you think you have writing talent and skill? Are you wondering what is needed to become a great writer, and to improve the way you write? There are a few basic tools you need:​

A Brain
Paper
Pencil​

Sounds simple, right? Well, it actually isn't. To write the best you can, you need to have the mental ability to want to put down your paper and fill it with all types of ideas. Anyone can do this at varying levels and degrees - and the more you do it, the better you will get.​

How Do I Get Better?: This is the reason you've come to the workshop, is it not? Here, various members will help you become a better writer, artist, and creative person. But before you do anything, always remember - the best way to get better at writing is to write, write, and write some more. Your brain can't be trained enough to become better, and even professional authors are always getting better. Other methods include reading books you hate to read. This way, you can get a higher range of idea, adjectives, and attributes bobbing around your coconut.​

Basic Tips: In this section will be a few basic tips on how to improve your writing:​

1. Write and read whenever you get the chance. Don't have a book to read? Go get one from the library? Can't think of something to write about? Write about what the food you ate at lunch tasted like. There are an unlimited amount of things you can use to stretch your brain - take advantage of them.​

2. Adjectives - use them carefully! You may think loading a story with adjectives is good, but it can actually be bad. Using about 3 adjectives to describe something is not a good idea, especially one a simple metaphor or more descriptive adjective coudl do the job.​

Example: The smart, cheerful, happy boy quickly walked down the road.​

Now, as you read this, it may not actually seem half bad. But imagine combining smart, cheerful and happy into one word. A stronger word that will get the image across better. Do you have any? Words I think would be better are bright and excited. The paticle 'quickly walked' can also be changed to a better verb. Drop the 'quickly' and use something more cheerful like 'skipped' or 'hopped.'​

3. Brainstorm. I know you all hate brainstorming, but it actually works. You think it won't help you, but when you write down loads of words on a page they will form together intot he perfect idea for a story. This can be a good estimate for some sort of theme or even better - plot.​

4. Longevity is something you should plan out beforehand. Don't go into a story thinking it's going to be 100 pages long and end up reaching the climax by page 20. No your limits and how far you can go when writing.​

5. Know how a story is written. Here are some key elements of story writing:​

Exposition: Build up the characters, and take your time. Have little stories about them, and let your readers feel they are a part of your story.​

Rising Action: Start getting into the main plot, and draw the reader in with strong writing. This is one of the most important parts of a story.​

Climax: The most dramatic part of the story. There can be multiple climaxes in one book - just remember that when you reach this part of the story that it is also the most important part. Write it with care.​

Falling Action: At this point, simply let the story slide from the climax, describing events and the like.​

Resolution: Wrap up the story, and try and go out with a bang, or something that will linger in the back of the reader's mind.​

Finally: So, post your work here! Advertise for yourself - do everything you can. Want someone to revise and edit your work? Post it here! Need help with some adjectives? Ask here! Need to spell a word? Ask here! ​

This place is for all the tips, hints and tricks you need to become a better writer. ​

Have fun.​

 

(-Stickies-)

Great idea Roxas, worthy of stickiness.;)



Well, you've read my work, what do you think man?

 

Woudl you mind posting sections of it in here, for crackdown by other members and such? You can rate other people's work, give them tips and point out grammar mistakes. Anyone can partake.

So would you mind posting all or some of it in here?

 

Crap, there's a writing program I forgot the name of that really helps. Great work by the way, Roxas.

 

Well here's the link to it:

http://www.kh-vids.net/showthread.php?t=199

I'm a pretty amatuer writer. So I'm not sure how good it is. Anyone like to tell me?

 

Hm. This kind of topic is good. Helps alot of writers too.

May I suggest some advice?

Make it interesting!

With this in mind, don't put something like this,

...

Sora ran after Ansem. And Goofy ran after Ansem. And Donald ran after Ansem.

...

This really kills the story, not to mention you should not normally use 'And' at the beginning of a sentence.

Here's an good example (well, I think is)

...

Suddenly Sora charged at Ansem angrily, Donald and Goofy looked at him with surprise, "Sora! Stop!" Goofy shouted, running after the Keyblade Master. "Wait, you big palooka!" Donald bellowed, swinging his Mage's Staff impaitently.

...

See how it sounds more interesting? The reader will start thinking (of course, this dosen't work all the time) 'What's going to happen next?'

 

This happens to be a roleplay introduction in forum-wide RP my friends and I are working on. It's a nice example of my ability. Perhaps you guys can give me some tips to make my writing more interesting. ^^ I'm doing this because I love constructive criticism. So be honest, okay?

No one spoke as they ate. Meals had been unusually quiet lately. There had been little news. The stalemate continued and there little he could do. He had to step out of the ranks to deal with matters of the state. He silently pushed his empty plate away. It was immediately cleared away and he was helped from his seat, as were his brother and sister. The king eyed his younger sister; she had that determined look again. He gradually increased his pace as he moved down the hall toward his chambers.

“Brother!” She called, her soft footsteps rushing to keep up with him, “Please wait brother!” she called again, “I’d like to speak with you!”

Regyne sighed and stopped, “What is it?” He asked, not bothering to turn around. The young woman moved around to see his face.

“First, why do you walk so fast? Is there something that requires your immediate attention?” Regyne disliked her impertinence, but she was his sister; there was little to do about it.

“There is always some matter that needs a king’s attention.” He spoke firmly, but his voice was soft. He did care for his sister, but when she constantly harassed him with comments regarding the war, she tended to be a nuisance. And he just knew that that was what her determined look at dinner meant. She meant to talk to him about it again.

“Now, dear brother, this will only take a moment.” She smiled, “I just want you to reconsider your approach to this war. You are a new person… you are not father or grandfather. No one remembers why this war started anymore, it needs to end quickly, yes, but must we continue fighting?”

Regyne sighed and nodded, “Our enemies will not let up. If we do not continue fighting, we may as well surrender.”

“But brother, don’t we have ambassadors? Can’t we try to solve this without anymore bloodshed, this war has been going on for so long…” she stared at her feet when she spoke, but looked up when she felt Regyne place a hand on her head.

“I know; I wish there was another way, but our only chance is to win.” He spoke with certain gentleness, reserved only for family. The woman sighed and her determined face returned; she looked at her brother fiercely.

“What about the ambassadors???” she cried.

“We have tried that and it did not go as planned.” He turned his head and looked away. He was unsure of what had happened, but the ambassadors hadn’t made it, nor did they return to Hikari. It could just as easily been someone within Hikari as it could have been in Rakurai. Either way he had lost any hope of them returning alive.

The girl examined her brother’s face, something was bothering him; he was keeping something from her. She huffed and walked around, going in the opposite direction. Sighing the young king continued on his way to his chambers. His sister was a peace loving girl, yet she understood less than she believed she did. He could not bear to make her face the true brutalities of war… it would shred her pure soul.

Ever since their father died, he had been acting as king and mentor to his siblings. He stepped into his chambers and fell into a chair, waving his attendants away, for now, he just wanted to sit and spend what little free time he had alone with his thoughts. Being king was a hard job, but it was his… he had to do it, for the country’s sake. He was after all, King Regyne Uletharious of Hikari; The Kingdom of Light.

 

This is a really good idea. And I especially like what DarknessKingdom wrote; I find those type of mistakes in many writings and they really take away from a story that may otherwise be quite good.

Anyways, just wanted to commend you Roxas on this thread.

 

Thankies ^_^

Claryssa - I'd say the writing was well written, although it seems at some points you carry on your sentences with a bit too much. It did get the point across, though ^_^

And work on the names.

 

You know what's key in being a great writer? Punctuation, that's right, PUNCTUATION! Very important in the author buisness. No one is gonna read a bunch of jumbled up crapload of letters (Pardon the language) that can spell "enemeneminemoe" diagnally. If you're basing the story on mythology, reacerch first, to get the important detailed stuff right. Remember, EVERYONE'S A CRITIC.

 

Thanks, becuase it is an intro for the entire kingdom of Hikari, I wanted to let the roleplayers of characters in Hikari know a bit more about their king.

What's wrong with the names? I've grown very fond of them. :)

Thanks for the comments by the way!

 

Oh, well if you've grown fond of them, then keep them! That's always a great thing to become attached to your characters. I just thought they were a little hard to read off the page.

 

I couldn't agree more Zexion. Punctuation is important.(unfortunatly I suck at it so I have my literary advisers help)

Also I can not stress how important reasearch is. If you do something on mythology, like Zexion said, then you'd need to look up the god/goddess you're story is on. Then look up who they're enemies and friends were, who they where married to and who there childeren where (if they were married or had kids). If your story is present based or a journey through a magical forest look up different creatures or make-up some of your own just make sure the geography is right because Sirens aren't forest faries and Centaurs don't live in swamps. So make sure your facts are straight.

If you're shy about your writting, like I am, and want to make sure that your writting is just right before you show the world get one or two of your friends that are good in language and have them be your literary advisers. (I have three.) Let them read your work and add adjustments. You might think that this doesn't work cause your friends would say that it was good no matter what, but it does cause if they were your friends they would tell you what was wrong and how to fix it. (Trust me you should see my poems when E-chan is done with one of them!)

 

I have two. One loves reading and so does the other except with fanfics. Though he never puts anything on...the last thing he did was two years ago :P

 

i wrote this poem a month ago i think

DRIVEN
drawn with no intention
no thought of art and
no inspiration, unless
you consider this,
passion drives.




people don't like where i change my lines
and i know.. it's short
but it means a lot to me
let me know what you think
OH and i'd love to know how you guys interpret it :D

 

I understand, Roxas. I keep meaning to add the pronuciation to Regyne's profile. XD

It is Regyne (ray-gen or lay-gen) Uletharios (yuu-leh-ther-ee-os), if that helps.

~*~

hahannuh, length doesn't matter, especially in poetry as long as it represents something to the writer, it will mean something to the reader.

Perhaps you could take out the 'and' in the second line and give 'unless' it's own line. Just a couple suggestions to make it flow better.

Otherwise it is wonderful and succeeds in making the reader think on their own feelings and passions in life.

My interpretation: As I see it, it is a very simple poem. Passion drives our choices and actions in life. Though it has no set course, it is there guiding us as we go along.

 

Yeah here are my literary advisers in a nutshell:
Nee-chan~Loves to read.Helps me with descriptions, spelling, and punctuation. She's okay with fanfics but says I should write mah story.
E-chan~Loves writing poems.Helps w/ poems. She keeps me on track with the ryhme, rthym, and theme.
S-chan~She just likes to read. Helps mostly w/ fanfics.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
hahannuh-
I really like your poem! I think it means that a passion that comes natural to us. We have no thought of it. It just comes to us and it motivates us to keep going.

 

Wow, I never thought there was so much to writing. I seriously just....... start writing. I know that, in school, teachers usually skip over steps to get you to do the best at minimum, but I didn´t know they did all THAT skipping in writing.

This is what I wrote in my time of depression when I had to move
(That´s still not over):

The title is "Disaster Moving".

Everything was perfect. That was the keyword. At least, it seemed perfect to me. My dad was in the car, coming home. My mom was in the kitchen, rejoicing from my latest report card.You see, it was the end of the school year. My dad had just walked into the apartment. The apartment had been our home for five years. "We´re moving to San Juan!", my dad announced the second he opened the door. My life had just gone off the deep end.

School, the next day, was perfect! I´d found out I had received a nomination for the coveted "Most Outstanding Girl" award! While, Lunch, on the other hand was horrible. I knew I had to announce it. My friends deserved the truth. Lunch was the perfect time, too, since it´s the only time we´re all together. After a while, I finallygot enough guts and announced, "Guys, um... I´m moving to San Juan this summer." They all fell silent right away. I tried my hardest to shut my ears, but I could still hear their cries of confusionas my eyes began to water.

I didn´t know how I was going to survive the rest of the day. To me, it seemed I couldn´t explain enough to my friends that it wasn´t my fault. But, little did I know, the worst was yet to come. How could I tell the competitive drama teacher, Mr. Ramirez, that I was "ditching" them, to join the school who had buried us alive in competition? I decided to tell him the last day of school, when I could take less anguish and more understanding. Those days I waited are the most horrible memory of my life thus far.

Afterwards, the whole summer had passed, and it was the first day of my new school. Trust me, my new school wasn´t as cracked up and mighty as it seemed from the outside. Most of the kids there had an attitude problem and wore clothes as if they were going to a disco afterwards. I couldn´t believe that a recognized school could be so insane! I felt so alone, and I wanted to throw a book at my parents for ruining my life! Shortly after taking some time to think, I decided to audition for the fall show. It felt so good to get back on the stage and throw myself into being somebody besides me! While working on it, I gained good friends that were going to phase me through my depression.

I understand now, that by deciding to move to my new house, I learned that home really is where the heart is. Right now, my heart is still back in the apartment, and won´t be moving anytime soon. I hope, with all my heart, that, if there is a next time, I´ll remember not to break down when life doesn´t come at me easy, even when there´s no other choice.

In the new school, this was my for benchmark. I got the highest grade, but everyone at the new school say I stole the grade....

 

In stole do you mean, in a good way or a bad way? Cause that was really good!

I'm working on this new Devil May Cry 4 fanfiction. This is what I've done so far...

Nero drew Blue King (I don’t know what his revolver is called so I’m just calling it ‘Blue King’ as the opposite of ‘Red Queen’. Because of the attacking style difference and etc) from it’s holster. The revolver had an distinctive under-and-over barrel with a dark brown leather on the grip. It has become Nero’s prized weapon, second to his Red Queen, as it had saved him on many occasions.

He looked at his right arm, and within his mind, a voice rang out…

Blood, I smell blood…Let me free…Let me loose, and let me show you my power!

Nero gritted his teeth angrily, ‘Shut up!’ he thought, ‘I told you not to NEVER talk to me unless I talk to you!’

Please…just let me be free! Let me use my power!

‘I’ll let you free when the time is needed,’ Nero replied in thought firmly, ‘Until then, shut up and don’t say another word.’

The voice stopped and then started snickering. ‘What’s so funny?’

Nothing, mortal. Nothing.

Nero pressed his lips together but finally sighed with defeat, ‘The craziness of demons must be getting to me,’ he thought, twirling the revolver with his finger, ‘No matter. It’s hunting time!’

Stepping past the broken and worn door, Nero found himself in a large reception room. The room was dark and dusty, and the corpses that seemed to be now skeletons were at least spare. That brought him some relief. One was on the reception desk as if the person had seen the demonic beings before being beheaded. He shook his head angrily, trying to get rid of ‘what had happened to this person’ in his mind.

The sound of glass shattering was then heard. The planes of the Astral and Earth corresponded and the seven forms of Death Scythe appeared right in front of Nero’s eyes. Smirking, Nero stepped forward, throwing a faint punch, “Come on!” he shouted, “Show me what you got!”

The first Death Scythe appeared in front of Nero, swooping down on him with its scythe above it. Bringing the weapon down, the highest-ranking ‘Sins’ demon awaiting the agony cries of pain and defeat from the human but was surprised to find that the blade had instead gotten stuck in the wool carpet. Behind the demon was Nero pointing the Blue King at exactly point blank range at the Death Scythe’s skull. The young adult had easily pulled off an evasive dodge, putting himself behind the Death Scythe. Pulling the trigger, the bullet pierced through the demon’s skull, killing it on impact as the head went spiralling out the building. With the head gone, the body then fell forward into the ground and crumbled into sand. The remaining Death Scythes moaned in surprise, and at once swooped towards Nero.

Two of the Death Scythes stayed at the rear of the demons, conjuring around the room these strange formless whirlpools. Nero didn’t know what these whirlpools did but if demons had made them, they weren’t exactly good for him.

Crouching low whilst putting away the Blue King, Nero gripped the Red Queen with his two hands. With a powerful horizontal slash, he had easily sliced two of the Death Scythes in half, sending their bodies flying along the floor. Bending backwards, he brought the Red Queen close to his face to parry the scythes. Pushing the scythes away from his face, Nero then stood up and jumped into the air. Taking out Blue King, he fired two bullets into a Death Scythe that had stupidly decided to face him off in the air. One had collided into the demon’s bony chest and the other had shot off the hand that was carrying it’s scythe. Bringing the Red Queen overhead, Nero brought the blade down across the middle of the demon’s head, slicing it into two.

Landing on the ground, the demon hunter quickly counted the remaining demons with a total of three overall. Catching the spinning scythe that had just momently being the brutal weapon of the Death Scythe that he just brutally killed, Nero gave the remaining three a very grim smile. “Anyone up for some boomerang?”

‘I’m going to need some of your strength for this one.’

Well, well, well. Look who came running back for help.

‘Just shut up will you? I just need a little bit of demonic strength in this arm for a second.’

…I suppose it is better than nothing…

His right arm then was then alit with yellow energy, flickering like a strong fire. “Are you ready?” Nero declared as he pulled his arm back in preparation to throw the weapon.

 

I have been working on an Organization XIII fanfic. It was kinda random. I got the plot down. The time period is between Kh1 and Kh:Com. Xemnas wants to get rid of the keyblade master before he does too much damage. So he orders a bunch of rabid moogles to take care of the keyblade master. But the moogles turn back on him and the orgie...so... they fight them off. I just started so I only have a little bit. Oh, and I'm planning in here to explain my little tale on how Axel got short eyebrows and Saix got the scar. (Rabid Moogles rule!)

It was a silent day at Castle Oblivion. Too silent. There was no sound of lonely footsteps walking up and down the pure white corridors. No loud raucous laughing or singing. Not even the sound of quills scratching.
Yes, Castle Oblivion was a lonely place. On the outside, it was painted golden and green. It jutted sideways, and all over the place. But on the inside, everything was perfectly straight, and strangely, perfectly white.
But, enough about the living quarters. All of the younger Organization XIII members, from numbers 7-13, had been shipped off to Castle Oblivion to keep out of the way.
But, most of the time the 7 members weren’t even at the castle. Saix was off tending Xemnas’s every whim, Axel was off doing assassination missions, Luxord was off gaining money, Marluxia was off growing rice, Larxene was off doing spy missions, Roxas was off doing Heartless extermination missions. Which left Demyx to do nothing but sit around and wait.
Right now, the blonde musician was sitting on his bed, splayed out on the ocean blue sheets, and sleeping. He was wiped out from watering all of Marluxia’s plants, running from Larxene when she realised that he had borrowed her brush, hiding under the sink from an angry and berserk Saix, and avoiding Axel for he had squirted him with a water gun the other day.
The 7 members were like a family. Saix was the father who had to keep everyone in line. Larxene did most of the cooking (which led to people having electric shocks whenever they ate); and everyone else were the troublesome children.
Demyx didn’t stir when he heard someone suddenly open his door. His head tilted a little, but he did not wake as a silver haired man stealthily entered the room. The man, dressed in an Organization XIII black trench coat, crept his way across the room; pass the sleeping Demyx, and started shuffling through several papers on Demyx’s desk. There was more shuffling, then the figure turned away, and started sneakily making his way across the wooden floor before he stepped on a loose floor board and a loud CREAK was emitted.
Demyx instantly leapt up. His sitar was out in a flash, and the words, “Dance water, dance!†were on his lips before he saw his Superior, looking mortified at the now awake Demyx.
“Xemnas?†Demyx asked, “What are you doing at Castle Oblivion?†Xemnas instantly looked shifty, glancing this way and that before asking back, “Demyx, have you seen my order form?â€
“No... order form? What are you ordering?†The question brought a guarded look to Xemnas’s eyes.