[x]

Writing is like math. If you don’t follow the right formula, you end up in a state of mass confusion. Synonymously, punctuation is like following a map. If you miss the street signs, you’ll end up completely lost. The following is a list of common English punctuation marks and their most basic functions. Contrary to popular belief, there are no exceptions to these rules. Breaking them has never been in style.

The most common English punctuation marks include the following:

. = period
? = question mark
! = exclamation point
, = comma
“” = quotation mark

Elements of Story - UPDATED

Updated Mar. 18th 2009

The following is a self-discovered list of elements contained in an excellent story:

An interesting and intriguing main character, an individual with a unique past that has made him who he is at the time of the story. Be sure to explain the important aspects of this backstory where appropriate.

This main character must have a story goal: a mission to accomplish, a mystery to solve, his past to reconcile, a villain to overthrow, a treasure to find, a person to save, etc.

Along with this goal, the character must have an all-consuming desire that drives him to accomplish what he sets out to achieve. Love, re

Writing DESCRIPTION

Tricks for Writing DESCRIPTION

------------- Original Message -----------
"I think the biggest problem I have is lack of detail. I can see things in my head, but other than the general surroundings, I'm always too intent on what my characters are thinking, or doing, or about to do to remember to add the details necessary to paint a really clear picture of where they are and their environment." -- Wanna Rite Reel Gud

The way to deal with that is by writing what you can. When you're done, go back and put in all the rest. Also, in situations like this, a beta-reader is your best bet at seeing where you skipped something.

As for What to desc

Character Creation - Tips

Note: I wrote this after reading a similar article in The Writer magazine about a year ago. Hope it's helpful!

Not all characters are created equal. Here are some steps to make yours superior.

1) Desire

Figure out what your character wants, needs, desires. A closer relationship with God? A place to belong? Just to survive? Figure it out. You can’t move on to number 2 until you have.

2) Fear

Now that you know what your character most desires, you should be able to figure out what he/she most fears. Doing the wrong thing, being alone, death? They are the polar opposites of your character’s desires.

3) History

Go back i

Essentials of a Short Story

Essentials of a Short Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quotes raped from a critique of Nathanial Hawthorn's Twice Told Tales by
Edgar Allen Poe - 1837

Edgar Allen Poe, celebrated as one of the finest short fiction writers of all time, was also a literary critic. These are bits of his wisdom on writing short stories, gleaned from one of his critiques.

"The true critic will but demand that that the (story's) design intended be accomplished, to the fullest extent, by the means most advantageously applicable…" -- Poe

Poe's Prerequisites -- in a Nutshell:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To deliver fullest satisfaction, a short story should be structured:

1) To

How to name your characters

NAMING YOUR CHARACTERS

There are many problems that a writer can come across when selecting a name for a character, here I hope to deal with some of the major pitfalls, and hopefully give some useful tips…

~ Unique and different names are not an excuse to ignore good characterisation. Would you take these characters seriously?

Randilynia McDanovich
Southern. D. Wattserfield
Floyd Picasso
Ise Speranza
Nine Purple

These are all names that I came up with off the top of my head or based on words about my desk. It is not difficult to come up with a new, unique name. But that doesn’t instantly make your character interesting or

Writing Style--The Bottom Line

Writing Style - The Bottom Line

“Words are like sunbeams.  The more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.”       - Robert Southey

“Prose is architecture, not interior decorating.”       - Ernest Hemingway

Writing style is made up of two things: cadence and variation.

Good style is clear, readable, and invisible.  Its purpose is not to attract attention to itself but to transport readers into the world of your story.  If your readers notice your style without purposefully intending to study it, your style needs to be impro

Plotting-Murphy's Law Method

Plotting Tricks: The Murphy's Law Method
"What Can go Wrong SHOULD go Wrong."

If you want an easy way to plot out a story that your readers can't guess the end to by the fourth chapter, then THIS is the method for you!

Basically, you begin with a character and something they desire. They go after their desire which immediately sparks complications which become a Problem that your character has to solve.

Once the character applies their chosen Solution to their Problem, Murphy's Law kicks in. The Solution triggers yet another problem.

This pattern continues--Problem > Solution > Problem--so on and so forth until All the problems are solv

Writing Tips - Organisation

Writing Without Confusing Yourself (Or Your Readers)

Writing is a very personal, individual undertaking. Everybody approaches the activity a bit differently from the next guy. Some people can come up with concept, plot, characters, and everything else and just sit down and write. Others need to take time to figure out what's going on; what's going to happen in the story, and how it all fits together. Others still will find themselves getting stuck somewhere along the middle, losing track of everything or changing an idea mid-way through, or never know how to end. These are the people for whom this has been put together. Those of you who can

10 Second Tip - Foreshadowing

------Original Message------
I hear the term 'foreshadowing' a lot. That's when you hint at stuff to come, right? So yeah, but how do I DO it?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Foreshadowing is when the opening scene of a story is a kind of nutshell prophecy for the whole story.

* In a Horror, this is when the originating Bad Thing happens.
* In a Mystery or Crime story, it's when the first victim is slain, and/or object (McGuffin) goes missing.
* In a Romance this is where the main character meets their soon-to-be lover for a fleeting but memorable moment.
* In a Sci-fi, this is where the ruling Theory is presented.
* In a Gothic, this is where

Character Motivation

Everyone's heard that characters should have goals, something they want and must strive for, overcoming obstacles and antagonists in order to obtain. Because, well, a story is the record of your character's journey toward achieving a goal.

While all of this is true, I think a lot of writers lose sight of an even more important aspect of character. That is, motivation. Sure, you know what your character wants.

Why?

That's the gist of motivation. What is the psychology and reasoning behind your character's goal? If your character is driven to make money, is his motivation greed? To pay off a debt? To support his family?

Motivation is your c

The Wasteland AKA the MIDDLE

The Trackless Wasteland known as: The MIDDLE

-----Original Message-----
The middle (of a story) KILLS me. I freeze when I have to decide which way things are going to go, and how, and that happens during the middle for me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----Original Message-----
Middle, middle, middle... It's the Slough of Despond!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-----Original Message-----
The Middle is where I usually fizzle out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The middle is DANGEROUS territory.

Why? Because the Middle of a story is where you have a million-and-one options, a million-and-one directions to choose from, and a million-and-one ways to really sho

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Top Ten Grammar Errorsby *phantom-inker

Resources & Stock Images / Tutorials / Writing

A number of people asked for this, so here it is: The top ten grammar errors most frequently made by inexperienced storytellers.

_________________________________

The document itself is fairly self-explanatory, but what is not self-explanatory is the rationale behind writing such a thing. I know that a number of people don't like being told what to do when it comes to grammar, and my aim here is not to exacerbate their grievances. Rather, my purpose here is simply this:

If you write, and you don't follow these rules, no-one will want to read what you wrote. You could be the next Shakespeare, but if you ignore the rules --- and I don't mean break the rules, because there are times when breaking them is useful --- but if you ignore the rules entirely, no-one will ever want to read what you wrote. No-one will ever get past your first mangled sentence, much less to the good part involving the llamas and the chickens and the ghost of the boy's father in the bathhouse.

Like it or not, most readers are much more harsh and judgmental than I have been in this document. So follow the rules to the letter until you learn the correct times to break them. Astute readers will know the difference between you voluntarily choosing to break the rules and you being ignorant of them.

_________________________________

There is also one unspoken rule here, which is simply spell correctly. I think that almost goes without saying in an age where spell-checking software is cheap and plentiful.

_________________________________

So there it is. If you want a printer-friendly PDF version of this, just ask, and I'll be happy to prepare and post one to my scraps.

_________________________________

Edit, 2008-03-22: The typographical error in the example in #4 has been fixed.

Daily Deviation

Given 2008-10-22

Let's face it: spell check doesn't catch all your mistakes, and even if it does, you may not know exactly how to right your mistakes. Top Ten Grammar Errors by *phantom-inker is an excellent resource for those of us who are grammatically challenged and need a little help with editing. ( Featured by !lovetodeviate )

~~mad 0 0~~

~~fear 0 0~~

~Face-of-Darkness Jan 28, 2013

This is the most beautiful thing in the world...

~Eszies-Eszie Aug 7, 2012 Student Writer

This is really funny to read. (I'm sorry, I can't think of any other word)
It made me think back of my first story when I thought to be a great writer.

I know different nowadays. But I definitely will keep this, because I'll have English classes again next year and I want to see how many people are going to make those mistakes (including me, because I know myself better now and I know I will make mistakes)

*PyroJames421 Aug 2, 2012 Hobbyist Writer

Oh God yes, this so hard.

*EbolaBear Jul 31, 2012

You; rock!

!C-A-E-K-Y May 8, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

4. ...People*

LOL

*phantom-inker Jun 23, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

Actually, the correct pluralization is "persons." In that use, it's not "person" = "human being" but rather "person" = "part of speech," which is a different noun entirely and uses the traditional pluralization. That said, "people" is not the correct pluralization of "person" anyway, but is merely common use. See [link] for more details.

~Gurt-B-Froe Apr 4, 2012 Hobbyist Artist

I have that spell check to help me write my sentences using correct spelling...

*phantom-inker Apr 6, 2012 Hobbyist Digital Artist

[link]

~Gurt-B-Froe Apr 6, 2012 Hobbyist Artist

Thanks! Ha ha ha ha ha!

~karlarei2003 Sep 20, 2011

“John goed through the garden and would of saw a bird.” <- Made me crack up. I don't know if it was because I read it out loud or what but it was lol-tastic.

A great into on having better grammar. Thanks!

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