What Makes A Good Writer?

How do you do this?

In all honesty, I find this extremely easy. My mind is working 24/7 when it comes to stories, but I understand that not everyone is like that. So, how do I and all other writers get our ideas?

Several ways. Say you were walking down the street back to your Neohome and you see a rainbow that is stretching across the sky. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flashes across the sky. It utterly amazes you. But how could you put this in a story? What if you said that there was a faerie that could control the weather, but it only depended on his or her mood – i.e. good mood=sunny, bad moon=stormy.

But still, you can’t seem to understand how you would put this in the form of writing. For you can, of course, have a great plot but can’t put it in good words, no?

Bad Version:

The green Lupe walked down the street. He saw a rainbow. Then, a flash of lightning happened. And he knew that it was because of the Faerie of Weather that this was happening.

Revised Version:

A Lupe with a pelt of forest green strode down the empty streets of Neopia, heading back to his small Neohome. The sky was a clear, gorgeous blue. A large rainbow stretched across it. This mystified him. He watched it wide-eyed, the many colors blending into each other. But the magical beauty was interrupted by a bolt of lightning that pierced through the sky like a white-hot knife. The sky grew dark. The Faerie of Weather. That was what had caused such a tremendous propaganda in the sky. Only the Faerie of Weather could have caused this. Surely she had been disturbed for such an awkward thing to happen with someone watching.

Now, can you see the difference? I sure can. Description is important, but you don’t want to over do it, because that can result in run-on sentences, and those are a HUGE pet peeve if mine. Do you really wanna say the golden main of the golden Uni swished in the golden light of the golden sun? No, I didn’t think so.

Another way is by music. In fact, a lot of the stories I have written I was inspired by were because of the music I was listening to at the time. Fore instance, I will most likely have a happy story if I was listening to fast, happy music. However, I may write a depressing story if the music I am listening to is slow and sorrowful.

Another way is by your dreams. Yes, lots of my ideas come from my dreams (counting my daydreaming in class…uh I mean, well…uh, forget I said that!) Okay, so those are three HUGE ways to get ideas.

The Characters:

So, how do we writer folk get our character ideas? Well, mostly for me, I star my pets on one of my accounts and myself and throw in a few of my friends of siblings of something like that. Occasionally I will have a character that has absolutely no origin at all…but hardly ever has that happened.

But hey, if your pets don’t seem to fit the part that you are trying to write about, then don’t sweat. You have freedom of the press (can’t you tell I am one of those editors that barge you with freedom of the press, no?)

But I do have one recommendation – make them have some origin to you. Well, actually, you thought them up, so they do have some background. But have something that relates to you, or that you can relate to. Everything the human can relate to unless you are superman/superwoman, which you are not. Capisce?

Writing Improvement:

No, I won’t make this section like some T.V shows do. I want you guys to be able to improve your writing. So, how do you do it?

Relate to your feelings. Can you understand what it is like to be alone? Then you may have a better chance of writing a better sad story than a happy one. But then again, if you can understand how to be happy and carefree (I sure hope you can!), the perhaps you will have more luck writing a happy story. But maybe, you are like me, the average human being, and have had pretty much every emotion hit you, so you can write about virtually anything!

But hey, practice makes perfect, right? The happiest man (or woman) on Earth (or Neopia) could write about sadness just as well as you or I could. I am just saying how it is easier if you can relate to it.

Another thing is copy, paste, revise, copy, paste, revise, copy, paste, revise…err…I guess you get the point, right? Do that about a million times (err…maybe this is an exaggeration…)

Leads:

What is a lead? It is the beginning of a story, silly! Now, leads are important. I can’t stress how much I get annoyed with how some people write leads. I mean, come on! Don’t you want to throw your readers into an amazing thrill ride by giving them a good, juicy lead to keep them reading?

Like any other part of your story, your lead must be well written. Here is the topic: Shadow Aisha named Bella in Mystery Island.

Bad Lead:

Bella was a Shadow Aisha. She lived on Mystery Isle and loved it very much.

Revised Lead:

The ebony fur of Bella was windswept in the gentle wind of Mystery Island. Her large, amber orbs examined the scenery darkly. Once, she had loved the island and had called it her home, but now things were different.

Okay, in the first one, there is no need to really want to read more. So what, Bella lives on Mystery Island. Wow, that will be the story of the century, that will! Neopia’s #1 pastime. (I hope you caught the sarcasm in that!) On the other hand, the revised lead gives you suspense. What made her hate the island so? Only one way to find out – read the story!

Endings:

Awe yes, the magical endings of a story. You have worked day and night slaving over your now almost finished story. But how do you polish it off? Well, one tip, don’t say ‘Then they forgot their differences and became friends,’ or ‘Angel woke up and sighed. At least it was only a dream!’. Those are cheesy endings, and in my perspective, the work of an untalented and unpracticed writer.

So how do you give you nice little story a polished work so it can be published and cherished by the public? Simple! Lets use the same subject as the leads as I show you some examples.

Bad Ending:

And Bella couldn’t help it. She smiled, and became her enemy’s best friend.

Revised Ending:

Bella looked into the woman’s eyes. A strange emotion came over her. Was it happiness, safety, respect, love? Was she really going to help her escape the darkness in her? She doubted it, but it was worth a try. Slowly, she nodded, and the woman smiled. She wouldn’t be leaving the Island. It had always been her home. She had just blamed it on her misfortune. But now, she had a family.

Now, in the first one, that is one of my pet peeves come to life. How stupid of an ending was that? But in the second one, I still have her being a bit evil, or a loner or whatever, but she has a bit of hope in her, and that mystifies the reader.

TTFN:

Yes, I made a whole section just so I could say good-bye! Isn’t that just fantastic!?! Okay, well, umm…I do hope you have learned something from this article. So now, as I take my departure, I hope that there are a few more good writers out there.

May your quills always stay sharp!

~Arianna