Tips, tricks & discussions: How to make your story better

[fcukforcookies]

Love Triangles - How to NOT Make the MC a Cheap Slut ^^

Well, I’m gonna cover more than that, but wanted a catchy title.

What is important when making love triangles?

• Create equally well-developed characters.

It is so often to see, how the author obviously has a specific preference between two love interests, so he focuses a lot more on the one he likes more.
If you want to create a real love triangle, not a love story with a sloppy side character you just call a second love interest, take your time in developing all of them.
All of them should have their advantages and flaws. Their own problems, dreams, secrets, likes, and dislikes. Don’t make love interests lie rotting in a pool of cliche characterization.
What makes it a real love triangle, is that you really like both of them, otherwise it’s an obvious choice right from the start.

• There is more than one way to display the love triangle.

Who says that MC has to like both of them? MC might be not interested in one of them, or even both of them. It may be a drama where MC is playing with both love interests, with a purpose or just for fun. She might like one but date another, for financial reasons. I remember watching one interesting Mexican or Brazilian TV novella, where MC was a beautiful, charismatic woman, but kinda greedy. She was always fighting her greed and romantic feelings. That was very interesting to watch, and makes you wonder, what will she choose in the end. MC doesn’t have to be good to be loved. She might be a manipulative bitch, but she will be very entertaining to watch. MC might be happy in relationships, but some other guy gets jealous of their happiness, and try to sabotage it. So many directions, that might be executed not only in Romance but in Thriller, Drama, Comedy genres.

• While it may work, to build an entire plot depending only on the love triangle, it will become flat really fast.

The love triangle is a nice drama addition, but I think that there’s gotta be more than this. Some major plotline. Two examples - Twilight (gosh, why I am putting it as an example so often) and Hunger Games. If in the first example the main plot was the love triangle, surrounded by sub-lines, the second had a major plotline, with the minor plotline of a love-triangle. And I donnow about you, but HG was faaar more interesting to watch, than TS, where they were talking for a good half of the movie. Same with Buffy, or True Blood. If the story would contain only relationships, it wouldn’t be half as interesting to watch.
Love life is not the only thing that defines a person. If that’s the only thing your MC’s life revolves around then here’s the news - your MC is a basic flat bish.

• Lastly. One thing I noticed and that made me quit reading one story after like 20 episode when I was really invested.

When MC goes back and forth between two characters for a long time saying she loves/likes them both, and maybe also having a sexual relationship with both of them.
I have a few problems with this approach.
First of all, if MC does this, and love interests are aware, and they still fight over her, my only thought is “what a pair of pathetic miserable losers” . That girl is basically playing with you both, and neither of you has any drop of dignity. It makes me dislike love interests immediately, and what’s the point to read further?
Now the MC. I gotta tell, I don’t have problems with slutty behavior (I call it slutty, because it is a very descriptive word, not because I wanna shame someone). I’m all for girls/boys sleeping around, as long as they are honest about it with their partners and use protection. But if she is a selfish bitch, who wants to have it all, and covers it all with love or whatever bullshit she can think of (well, whatever bullshit author can make up to excuse her behavior), then I start hating her.

It’s okay to like more than one guy/girl. It’s fine in taking your time to get to know them, to decide who you really want. It’s fine to have second thoughts about your choice. But why would I want to read a story about one major selfish slut and two losers with no pride whatsoever?

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[fcukforcookies]

A Big NoNos in Stories from Cookie

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Directing

• When two or more characters in the same scene simultaneously use similar animations - it looks flat, it looks cheap and it makes me roll my eyes. There are more than one laugh, flirt, anger animations. Use different!
  
• You need background characters. You change their looks, and think it will do, without changing their clothes? WRONG . It’s not that hard to put a little effort, and spend like 2 minutes and combine an outfit.
• You don’t really know how to make choices except for the outfit, so you think it’s a good idea to make outfit choice for MC, her friend and her long-lost cousin from Bangladesh that decided to stop by because you wanna hit the club? IT’S NOT! It’s annoying, and no one (almost) cares how other characters are dressed, so these additional outfit choices serve only as a filler-choice. And it makes people like me mad. Conversation choices are even easier to do then outfit choice - so don’t be a lazy ass and just do them.
• Exaggerated animations. I think I meet this thing in around 15-20% Episode stories. Your character bought a slice of pizza and is cheering about it like a cheerleader? This is distracting and takes away realism. Think about which animations are appropriate to use, pick the right range of emotions. Just put yourself in character’s shoes.
  
• More than one sentence in 1 dialogue line. While it can be fine with very short sentences, I don’t think it’s that good to do for longer. Why? Mostly because when you put a few sentences, they take more time to read (Captain Obvious), and in the middle of such dialogue line character stands with his mouth closed (in case of animation is not looped).
• When the character uses the same animation for more than 1 consecutive dialogue line . With some animations, it might work maybe two times. But when the character keeps on going with the same animation for like 3 and more dialogue lines, it becomes obvious and irritating. There are so many animations - just choose a few fitting and alternate them.
• Same thing that when writers use non-talking animation for dialogue lines, is to use talking animation for thought lines. Just don’t.

Plot

• When MC (or any other character for that matter) drinks a lot of alcohol, so much that the next morning he/she can’t remember how he/she is at this place, and who’s with them, and their partner is like “oh, it was the best sex in my life”. Give me a fucking break. If you never were black-out drunk, ask someone who did like me. If you can’t remember what happened last night, and how you even got where you are, it’s a miracle you didn’t puke all over the place, so don’t get me started on the whole “that was the best sex ever”. Dumb and cliche.
  
• MC goes for a one night stand, she just met a guy and wants to have sex with him. That’s fine. I’m open-minded and I’m not slut-shaming sluts here. But don’t narrate MC’s thoughts like she writes a wedding vow or smthg. “His eyes were the ocean, so full of life yet so uncertain. The blue-green hue carried his emotional currents, and before I could breathe I was drowning…”. It looks really silly.

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[fcukforcookies]

Use of narration. Good, bad and worst.

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This is a kinda hot topic for me, because like less then a week ago I decided to adapt my story for Wattpad, and yesterday already published first chapters. It’s an interesting experience, and the difference between writing narrations for Episode and for Wattpad is drastic .

Basically, to show the difference in amount of narration - numbers. I have approx. 1800 lines in my first episode, out of which dialogue lines (including occasional narration) takes around 320 lines (or sentences), and the length is around 10 minutes. To write this chapter in Wattpad it took me 4 chapters, in overall reading time of around 35 minutes. Huh? That difference.

Anyway, we don’t need this amount of narration in Episode stories because we have a lot of visuals - backgrounds, animations, characters movements, overlays etc. Basically, I think the meaning of good directing is to maximally eliminate narration. The better you direct - the less narration is needed. And it makes sense because Episode isn’t really a book. When I describe Episode to someone I usually say - it’s like a cartoon or a movie. So I would say when writing in Episode we should try our best to restrain from using narrations when describing actions. Now feelings and stuff are a different story.

What’s a bad way to use narration?

OK. One of the very bad ways to use narration, that I actually saw in a few stories - is to use narration in 3rd person. IMO, this way works in books, and, sometimes in fairy-tale-type of Episode stories, but they should be used consistently all the time. You don’t see the use of 3rd person narration in movies mostly, except for some examples, like Grinch movies with J. Carrey etc., and I think you should use this principle when writing for Episode as well. So if you don’t use some kind of specific approach for your story, I’d say always go with the first person POV narration.

Also, excessive narration. Now, this is kinda hard to explain and measure.
A lot of authors use 1st person narrations for story introductions, and nothing wrong with that, if it used in the right way and amount. One of the things I hate seeing in Episode stories, that instantly makes me wanna exit the story right away, is when writer basically describes literally everything about the character, her life, her family and friends. This one of the ways to make your story not interesting.

I also don’t enjoy when writers use long narrations in conversations . These narrations basically stop the conversation and characters just stand there. This in-conversation narration with thoughts and feelings of MC/POV work in books, but not in Episode stories.

Narration without visuals. Like one-two sentences is fine, but when you write a damn paragraph with the black screen or any other static background- you are just lazy.

What’s a good way to use narration?

So I said about in-conversation narrations above. I’d say that a fitting use of narrations could be using them after these conversations, to describe MC emotions and thoughts during that conversation, if you want the reader to know something you consider important.

The common way is to narrate your character thoughts while some kind of exposition, like showing surroundings, or MC daily activities.

What is your preferred style of narration?

I’d say first person Point Of View. You want your reader to feel like he is playing MC - use this type of narration. I think it is one of the things to make the reader more attached to the character.
For Wattpad, that is more like a book, I feel comfortable using first person POV as well + occasional third person omniscient.

What’s the difference between a well-narrated story, and a bad narrated story?

You narration becomes bad when you decide to use narration instead of animating this part. This is one of the things that makes an Episode story bad.

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[ShanniiWrites]

You’ve inspired me to use Buffy to make writing points. I shall now use Spike screaming about magic having costs in my newest blog post

[fcukforcookies]

oooh. Can’t wait ^^

[fcukforcookies]

What is good writing?

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I decided to start on this theme, because I kinda faced a writer’s block that I can’t go over.
After Episode blocked me, I started writing my main story for Wattpad. And I thought I was doing well, at least for someone whose native isn’t English.
Now like a week-one and a half ago my friend posted her story for Wattpad, and I started on it. I liked her writing style a lot, it seems kinda professional, although I can’t really explain what I mean with it. Guess that her piece deserves to be printed and put on a shelf. And then I read again what I wrote and there goes my writer’s block. I felt like it’s a total trash.
So in this post I’m trying to understand what makes writing good. I studied some articles, and below my conclusions about them.

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#1 Different Perspectives

There’s a name for something with a single point of view: It’s called a press release.
Joe Chernov

It’s important to incorporate various points of view about the story conflicts. It’s how it is in real life. Everyone has their interpretation of every situation. This will make the story more realistic, more multi-dimensional, and will add motivation for characters. It’s common (at least for Episode stories) where only MC’s understanding of the situation is explained, while antagonist’s feelings/mindset is left in the dark. Even villains have motivation.

#2 Difference between simple and simplistic writing

Assume the reader knows nothing. But don’t assume the reader is stupid.

There are no specific rules for a good writing style. You don’t have to necessarily quote Shakespeare, or do they use five-syllable words. One thing the writer should care about is connecting the reader to the story. Depending on the story you will have a certain target audience. Try writing the way your style is understood by your target audience.

#3 Be aware of your flaws and weaknesses

A good writer understands what they can and can’t do. If your vocabulary is limited - don’t try sitting there with the dictionary looking for fancy words to make it more appealing. It will stand out and will probably be awkward.

I remember struggling for a couple of weeks when needed to write a love confession scene between MC and one of the love interests. I really rewrote the scene dozen of times, editing it for probably two weeks, trying to set the romantic and touching mood using cute analogies. But it wasn’t working. Just because I tried making my characters, that were created in my style, speak in a different manner, different voice. Once I understood the issue (not without some help from my friends), the dialogue was done very easy, and it had so much personality and was still romantic in its own special way.

#4 Be specific

In his book On Writing Stephen King says that writing is like ‘telepathy’.
When you are writing, you probably have a clear image in your head. How characters look, what is the interior/exterior of the scene, weather etc. But reader won’t see it all, unless you describe it, using clear specific words.

Before : She sat down on the sofa, which she thought was beautiful.

After : She perched on the edge of the tuxedo-style sofa, running a hand over the black silk velvet, admiring the box-like elegance of the design.

#5 Stimulate senses

E.L. Doctorow said that good writing has to evoke a sensation in the reader – ‘not the fact that it is raining but the feeling of being rained upon.’

Before : It started raining and Cara ran back across the beach to her cabana.

After : Fat drops of warm rain pelted Cara’s sunburned shoulders as she sprinted back to the pink cabana, thick wet beach sand clinging to her bare heels.

#6 Life experience

And now. It doesn’t mean that if you don’t have much of a life experience you can’t write. But let’s agree - someone with greater life experience is able to paint a bigger variety of experiences, people, ideas, and perspectives. Maybe this is not something that can be achieved easily, but I personally think that we can get a lot through other people’s experience, by asking the right questions.

#7 Write a story, not sentences

Write the story, not the sentences
James Patterson

Sometimes we get caught up in making the writing too fancy and forget that just have to focus on the characters, emotions, and story itself. Don’t overcomplicate your writing, don’t use pretty descriptive sentences just for the sake of being expressive.
My personal thing - I dislike reading a lot of Russian classics, just because these authors just LOVE to put excessive nature descriptions, that feel unnecessary.

#8 Understanding

To write well, a writer must be able to evaluate the quality of the writing piece. How can you improve your own work if you can’t tell the difference between average and better writing in others’ work?
Writing is also an art form and therefore is a matter of taste. Can you read a book and dislike it but acknowledge that the writing was good? Have you ever read a book and loved the story but felt that the writing was weak?
While I agree with this, I’m not sure I can specifically say how to achieve this understanding. I think that the key is to read. Read a lot of different things.

#9 Good writing gives a good reading experience

So what is it exactly? Good reading experience.
A good reading experience makes you want to re-read the book right away.
A good reading experience is when the story stays with you when you’ve finished reading. It leaves feelings, emotions.
Good writing shows ideas that are interesting and important, although they might not seem interesting in the beginning.
Good writing makes you discover things that you didn’t know or didn’t realize.
Good writing is easy to read also because the language is correct and highly communicative.
Good writing is when you need more.

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I found this summary a bit helping personally for me. How about you?

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[PensiveShadow]

Bump

[fcukforcookies]

Would be cool if you comment on what topics you want to discuss.

[ShanniiWrites]

I’d love to see a post on how to start stories well!

[PensiveShadow]

Please do!

[fcukforcookies]

start stories in terms like…the idea itself? or after you have an idea

[ShanniiWrites]

More like first scenes! Starting off strong to capture the audience

[Kimballet]

Oh and also your outline tool that you showed me a while back. That’s helped me get through beginning (some) middle, and end(s) of my nearest to completion story!!!

[fcukforcookies]

i think it is already here xD

[Kimballet]

Silly me! I clearly need to re-read the whole thing and not just the piece that I’m working on atm (characters)

[fcukforcookies]

How To Avoid Reading Episode Original Stories if You Have a New Account

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[ChaoticDeluge]

Oh yo life hacks xD

[Kanubish]

@fcukforcookies

Just to clarify, if someome wants to find an unpublished story, should he/she log in the Episode forum? Or there’s another way to find an unpublished story?

[fcukforcookies]

I heard one guy just used his own stories. It just has to have at least 2 chapters

[Kanubish]

bump