A Few Writing Tips }}:)

Created by General VaQ'taj Lon'HocH'tul on Mon Apr 26th, 2021 @ 11:21pm

Hello again, this is Ye Ole Captain sounding off about something that’s kind of important in our little realm of science fiction fantasy writing.

Writing!

I did take writing courses in college years and years ago and learned a good many things. Even with that knowledge, it has taken years of writing to get to where I am now and I have learned a lot, as I cut my teeth on other sims. Over that time, I’ve noticed that people seem to have issues in a lot of the same areas, so I thought that I’d share some of that knowledge that I’ve gleaned as I, even today, continue to hone and improve my own imperfect skills. After all what is knowledge and wisdom if its not passed on to others?

1: A number of us write in Google Docs for the most part. This allows for a real time, fluid interaction between characters as well as giving us the option to leave ‘~Tags’ open for those that can’t be there at any given moment.

~Tag is what we use to show that we’re done writing and its someone else’s turn, normally along with the name of the person expected to write next.

2: We write in past tense, third person for the purposes of this Sim. It simply adds uniformity to our stories as well as an even flow to the writing in general. Save for personal logs, which tend to be written in a first person journal format.

For example:

She walked into the room and flipped her hair.

Instead of:

I walk into the room and flip my hair.

3: Paragraph length. There are some that can fill a page of text with little punctuation and few breaks. There are others that manage a sentence or two. I’ve found that a good rule of thumb is three to four sentences to a paragraph. As well as helping to maintain the flow of the story, it keeps it from feeling like too little has been written, while not overwhelming the reader with a solid block of text. This is not to say that you only have to write one paragraph and pass it off to the next person. On the contrary, feel free to elaborate, simply keep this structure in mind as you do.

4: Try not to start a paragraph with your character name. Work it into the sentence, or paragraph further along. Try not to use your character name in consecutive paragraphs, skip one or two, then use it again. I’ve also found that coming up with a list of basic descriptors gives more depth than using your character name repetitively.

For Example:

The short-statured Klingon woman stalked onto the bridge and glanced around at her officers. After that brief moment of scrutiny, HoD VaQ’taj stepped up to her place of rightful authority, growling towards her First to remove his weathered hide from her command chair. An order that was immediately obeyed and with a bit of a sly grin, the red-braided Colonel flopped ingloriously into the recently vacated, nicely warmed, leather seat.

Instead of:

VaQ’taj stalked onto the bridge and glanced around at her officers. After that brief moment of scrutiny, HoD VaQ’taj stepped up to her place of rightful authority, growling towards her First to remove his weathered hide from her command chair. An order that was immediately obeyed and with a bit of a sly grin, VaQ’taj flopped ingloriously into the recently vacated, nicely warmed, leather seat.

5: Explore your character, create a past, maybe even a future. How do you want them to be perceived? What weaknesses and struggles do they face? What do they hold dear? What would you want your character’s obituary to say? What songs would you want sung about them? Do what it takes for you to become intimately familiar with your creation in all of its facets. The better that you know your characters, the easier it is to write for them.

6: This is probably the most important thing on this list:

RELAX!

Remember that we do this for fun and amusement. Remember to revel in the moment of it, that chance to advance a concept that your unique mind has conceived of. The challenge and camaraderie that comes with collaborating with others that have done exactly the same thing, and likely for similar reasons, holds the potential to be an amazing experience. If you strive for anything in this shared exercise, be it that you come to love what you’re writing.

This is definitely a topic that’s open for comments! Please leave comments and share any tips or knowledge that you may have gleaned during your experiences!

Thanks for your time and attention. I hope that these basic ideas help in some way. }}:-)

HoD VaQ’taj