Tips and tricks

[Kevb6240]

Experienced writers, what advice, tips or tricks would you give to new writers?

New writers, what questions do you have for experienced writers?

[Marquise]

Some tips of mine:
* Always change the font when you are re-reading what you wrote. Otherwise, you brain might just read over the mistake.
* For writing erotica, check out this guide: https://archiveofourown.org/works/955716. I take it as gospel.
* Read a lot! If you want to write a scene about CBT, read works with it, see how people are describing it (and possibly, try to experience it yourself).
* Don't ever throw anything out. Instead of backspacing a paragraph that you, after typing it, decided you don't need, copy and paste it to a separe document. It might be useful later.

[Kevb6240]

What's the best way to get feedback on your story?

[Marquise]

Originally Posted by Kevb6240

What's the best way to get feedback on your story?

Definitely recommend having a beta reader. After my friend started beta-ing for me, my stories got better, as he catches plot-holes or simply strange lines that I myself wouldn't notice. If you don't want your friends and family reading your texts, you can try finding one in sites like https://cpmatchmaking.wordpress.com/.

If you want feedback after the work is done (a.k.a. engagement) I find that Wattpad has a more interactive community then AO3 (which is the site I most often post to).

Also, reach out to writers you admire and ask them to check your work. Most will be happy to do it.

[Aiedails]

I'm not an experienced writer, but I have both advice and a question at the same time.

Don't wait for inspiration, just do it. You can't write anything if you just wait around for something that won't come.

And the the question: How do you motivate yourself to write? And to actually complete something you're working on?

[Marquise]

Originally Posted by Aiedails

I'm not an experienced writer, but I have both advice and a question at the same time.

Don't wait for inspiration, just do it. You can't write anything if you just wait around for something that won't come.

And the the question: How do you motivate yourself to write? And to actually complete something you're working on?

Quick answer: I don't. Sometimes I'll write 10k words in a couple of days, sometimes I'll go weeks without writing.
If it has been a really long time since I finished a piece and I feel like I need to post something, I'll have my friends holding me accountable, so that they will be constantly bugging me about it.
If you want to write something, but not the piece you are working on, the best thing is to leave it aside and go write a new work. Who cares if you end up with 10 wips?
Writing prompts can also be used to get inspiration from.

Also, I feel like I should state I am in no way a writing expert. I write fanfic, run an unknown writeblr and I did two semesters of creative writing, but I've never come close to being a published author (or even internet famous), so take what I say with a grain of salt. It's just what I've gathered from personal experience

[Aiedails]

Originally Posted by Marquise

Quick answer: I don't. Sometimes I'll write 10k words in a couple of days, sometimes I'll go weeks without writing.
If it has been a really long time since I finished a piece and I feel like I need to post something, I'll have my friends holding me accountable, so that they will be constantly bugging me about it.
If you want to write something, but not the piece you are working on, the best thing is to leave it aside and go write a new work. Who cares if you end up with 10 wips?
Writing prompts can also be used to get inspiration from.

Also, I feel like I should state I am in no way a writing expert. I write fanfic, run an unknown writeblr and I did two semesters of creative writing, but I've never come close to being a published author (or even internet famous), so take what I say with a grain of salt. It's just what I've gathered from personal experience

Haha I see, that's one way to do it. Good to have friends nagging you to do it though!

True, all writing is good writing! It might be useful somewhere in the future

I wrote so much some years ago, I dare say I made a "book" that was over 300 pages, and did two shorter sequels to it too. But ever since I haven't managed to write much at all.

[Luffy90]

Some tricks i've picked up over time would be:
Right after u finish a chapter, look it over a few times to fix typos. Then, once you feel you got most sorted out, put the chapter away for a few hours, or a day. then read it over again after you have let it rest for a bit. I feel it makes it easier to find things that feel off this way.

Also whenever you are unsure how a word is written, it takes like a second to google it, and you also improve your language this way. Helps a lot when english isn't your native language, plus it looks better when the words are correct.

For finding inspiration to continue/finishing stories im as blank as most i think. I can get really stuck on quite dumb small details, and that stops me completely from writing. Then other times i feel like there's no stopping the creativity from coming through.

For feedback, i have no idea either. it'd be great to have some test reader. but i've never felt like things i write is important enough to take peoples time like that. I've been lucky enough that a few have just talked to me about my stories through PM's. But i guess without you specifically asking someone for feedback, you generally won't get it.

[SilverBlue]

This may be basic advice, I don't feel all that confident with my writing. But back when I would write dare reports, I'd often start with bullet points of all the things I need to cover and the order when things took place. I'd expand the bullet points into paragraphs and consider what details I need to add and which ones would be too clunky to include. You could even consider mentioning some details earlier.

Take this as an example; your male character is short and muscular with long hair and a tan. It's smarter to describe him when you introduce him, instead of trying to describe him during a sexual moment when you should be describing his actions - not his appearance!

For reports, I might provide some details up front. If the dare is to go into the mens toilets, remove all my clothes, masturbate, and then leave my underwear behind, I should establish the scene first, describing the bar and my task. Now I have more freedom to write how the events unfolded.

I'd suggest writing in Word or some other editor which can check your spelling and grammar. The added benefit of writing in Word is you can save your work.

Oh, one other thing - paragraphing! It's amazing how some whitespace can make a story or blog much easier to read. A long block of solid text is just daunting and may turn some people off from even starting to read what you've written.

[Runesmith]

The key to getting reads on a story is to have the right title. The title, like a skirt, needs to be short, tantalizing, and appeal to the reader's curiosity. The mistake many writers make is in creating a long, descriptive title, that, like a Kardashian evening gown, is way too long and yet leaves nothing to imagination.

For example, "How Micky lost his virginity during holidays at his grandparents' house to his 16 year old cousin Minnie and had sex in the woods while being watched by a hunter who had sex with them both" is the kind of title that I am talking about. I mean, dude, add a few more sentences and you are done. It was for a reason that the bearded dude named his movie "Star Wars", instead of "How Luke Got His Jedi Powers and Killed His Evil Dad and Almost Had Sex With His Sister Leia on The Moons of Endor".

You could (and probably should) hint about the content of the story in the title, but, like the perfect mini skirt, hint rather than reveal. A title like, "The Riskiest Dare", or "Abducted" is tantalizing, and yet, doesn't give away the plot. When someone reads a title like that, it draws them in with questions in their heads, like "what was that dare?" or "Who was abducted and what was done to them?"

If you are a writer like I am, who starts with a vague concept and evolves the story as you go along, it's important not to set a trap for yourself in the title. Eg. "99 Days of Sodom" would trap you in to describing that entire time period. It would tax your imagination, and probably bore and disappoint your readers (like how the Italian movie with that name probably disappointed a lot of viewers). So before you tap out the title, "My 200 dares", think about whether you can carry out that promise.

[m55uk4younger]

Yes, well said. Never tell the story in the title.