Advice for writing needed

[InterCity]

Hello, I'm not sure where else to post this but I have a KSP-mostly-unrelated question.

In my free time, or when I'm stressed, I enjoy writing novels (Mostly sci-fi) : helps me sort my thoughts, and it's overall good mind exercise. So far I've been mostly writing for myself and close friends, but still I'd like to write better.

So I'm asking you, KSP Forums: What do you think a good novel should have? Do you have any ideas for characters I could use? Or stories? What do you hate about some books?

Mods, feel free to delete this post. I'm not so sure it belongs here.

Thanks in advance.

[Brethern]

Best thing to do for a novel is write out a list of who the characters are and a basic backstory, then write out a basic history for the plot and work off of that.

Also reading poorly written stories is a good way to learn what not to do.

[Ten Key]

The best way to improve your writing is to read. Good books, bad books, books you love and books you hate. You'll find yourself learning a lot about the "hows" and "whys" of stringing words together without even realizing it.

Having a plan is good, but don't let it become a straightjacket. Don't be afraid to take an unexpected turn if you find your story suddenly pulling in an odd direction. Spend enough time writing, and eventually one of your characters will snatch the keyboard out of your hands and say, "No, this." There is magic in that-- don't fight it when it happens.

Stephen King's "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft" is really worth reading.

Practice, practice, practice. And don't beat yourself up if something you've written doesn't read back well-- there's a reason published authors usually thank their editors in the acknowledgements section.

[klgraham1013]

Here's a few reading recommendations:

Save the Cat by Blake Snyder

Story by Robert McKee

Screenplay by Syd Field

I've tried writing the great American novel, but never quite managed it. I'm much better with music. Anyway, a few of my favorite tips are as follows:

- Show don't tell. Everyone even slightly interested in writing has heard this.

- Explaining a bad idea does not make it a good idea.

- Don't be afraid to kill your darlings. If a scene doesn't fit, delete it. If a line of dialog doesn't work, delete it. Etc, etc. The audience doesn't care how much you love it. If it doesn't work, delete, delete, delete.

[moronwrocket]

Here's a story idea I've been throwing around for a few years:

What's the real reason aliens would want to come to Earth? Eating humans is just unlikely - we'd probably be down right poisonous. Space is large enough that "living room" doesn't make sense either - just move on to the next planet. And resources? If you can travel between stars, resources are a laughably easy problem to solve. (The Martian Way by Isaac Asimov is my favorite example of solving this.) Really, the one thing aliens would come to Earth would be to take the one thing they can't find somewhere else - our culture. So my story idea is that someone discovers that several world-famous paintings/sculptures, etc are fakes. They end up being approached by someone who claims to be working for Interpol, but that turns out to be a lie - rather they are working for an interstellar indigenous people protection agency. His job is to find out who is stealing Earth's artifacts, and return them, without the Earthlings finding out. My idea for the climax was that the thieves get found out, and decide to stop bothering with replacing the real articles with fakes - they decide to steal the whole Statue of Liberty.

Freely given, have at it.

[Rainbowtrout]

In a book, I like to have developed characters.

[InterCity]

Thank you for all these tips... I'll post the novel once it's finished

[WinkAllKerb'']

also use draw, yours, a friend an artist etc , describe them, making a scheme story board, cara design(model sheet), use colour shceme ref., a few basis psy emphasis, exagerated or not depending of caracters, balance, add intrigue, romance, historical ref, lot of metaphor, actuality event that been popular "re-backgrounded" (overall lot of docu. and specific, generalistic researchs) etc. etc.

"Jule vernes say: 'no it will never happen !' " ; )

(oh and keep in mind a book is never finished, published, or released, it just escape from your mind and hands @ some point)

- - - Updated - - -

(oops double but ...) oh and most important Jeb must be your friend if you want to write a bestseller ; o p

Edited March 3, 2015 by WinkAllKerb''
a few more also, but what 4 xDr

[Brethern]

Thank you for all these tips... I'll post the novel once it's finished

Couple other points, if you come to situation where you are thinking about killing off a character to establish danger try to think of another way around it. Stan lee stated in an interview once that he never killed villains off because creating a good villain is hard work.

Also since you're starting Post the first chapter here and get some criticism. It's for your own good.

[Colserra3]

-Try to avoid 'deus ex machina'. Always good to remember that.

-I've never really been a fan of plans when it comes to writing. I'll usually create guidelines, for example: This has to happen at the middle of the conflict, or this character must experience this while performing the action. I purposely keep the guidelines vague so I can come up with and change minor details without having a huge effect.

-Always read over what you've written. As klgraham1013 said don't be afraid to remove/change things that don't fit, don't make sense, or are unnecessary. Try to improve something each time you read over it.

[jevam]

here is the same, when i get free time i also spend my time writing .and you know for a good novel you have to write well and chose character well , i know all of this from college paper transition inventory that is helpful to me. however are you gonna write a book for your writing or some other reason or as you have said when you get time you write? please tell me

[InterCity]

here is the same, when i get free time i also spend my time writing .and you know for a good novel you have to write well and chose character well , i know all of this from college paper transition inventory that is helpful to me. however are you gonna write a book for your writing or some other reason or as you have said when you get time you write? please tell me

It's due to my job, I work in a trauma center and I see bad things all day. Writing helps me to sort my thoughts and to cope with bad feelings coming from seeing a lot of misery. It often ends up really dark, though...

[Bill Phil]

Novels are usually about the characters. Good character development throughout the novel is important. You should also create your characters before writing. You might learn something about the characters you didn't know.

You might want to write short stories, too.

And if you have too much trouble with novels, write a whole bunch of interrelated short stories and put them together a la Foundation.

[Vaporo]

Something that I still struggle with when I try to write: Remember that your characters are people, not actors who are there to act out your story. They have their own ideas, opinions, and personalities that may not always agree with yours. Instead of asking "what do I want to happen at this part?" ask "what would this character do when confronted by this situation?" and design your characters so that they behave how you want them to in your story's climax.

And I give these links to anyone asking for writing advice because they're good advice for any genre, but especially fantasy and science fiction:

http://brandonsanderson.com/sandersons-first-law/

http://brandonsanderson.com/sandersons-second-law/

http://brandonsanderson.com/sandersons-second-law/

Edited August 3, 2015 by Vaporo

[KSK]

The best way to improve your writing is to read. Good books, bad books, books you love and books you hate. You'll find yourself learning a lot about the "hows" and "whys" of stringing words together without even realizing it.

Having a plan is good, but don't let it become a straightjacket. Don't be afraid to take an unexpected turn if you find your story suddenly pulling in an odd direction. Spend enough time writing, and eventually one of your characters will snatch the keyboard out of your hands and say, "No, this." There is magic in that-- don't fight it when it happens.

Stephen King's "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft" is really worth reading.

Practice, practice, practice. And don't beat yourself up if something you've written doesn't read back well-- there's a reason published authors usually thank their editors in the acknowledgements section.

Another vote here for "On Writing". One thing that King mentions, which I've found particularly helpful, was not to overuse adverbs, particularly to describe a character talking. Done right, the reader should be able to imply the adverb for themselves from what the character did or said. It's another example of showing not telling I guess.

I haven't done a lot of writing (99% of my creative writing is right here on this forum ), so make of this what you will, but I've found "so how does that work then?" to be a really useful question when thinking about my story. Doesn't have to be a piece of technology, it can be a social custom, a style of architecture, or anything really. But asking why that thing is the way it is can lead you down new and interesting directions. Although this is probably more important for fantasy, sci-fi or alternative-history, where worldbuilding is a significant part of the story, it can make that worldbuilding much more coherent.

[Flymetothemun]

I usually write poetry, my short stories are s**t. It's your choice to listen to my advice. The only thing that I'd say to read a lot, if you don't read then when you go to write it'll be like trying to operate a car without gasoline. I think that, in the case of non-academic & fictional writing, it's important to loosen up, put all the rules and regs that you think you need in the closet, and let the words flow when you write. Then, when you edit, take your rules out of the closet and run your writing pas them. There's a reason why you edit; It's to get rid of the stuff you don't want in your writing. There's also a reason why there are editors, they help you get rid of the stuff you don't want, even the stuff you don't know you don't want.

And don't worry too much about planning. There's a quote, I can't remember who said it, but it's so true: "Writing's like driving a car at night. You can only see the road that's right ahead of you, but you can make the whole trip that way."