So I’ve decided to make a thread to share all my tips that I use when writing anything.
Essay writing help
First off, when I have to write an essay and I’m struggling to meet minimum word count I don’t try to drag out the subject when it’s already finished. I go back to the start and insert words wherever I can, mainly adjectives but when it’s last minute at 3AM I’ll take that over not finishing.
Two, (also about making essays longer) I focus on the topic but at the same time stray away from what I’m supposed to be talking about. Allow me to explain;
E.G. I’m writing an essay on world war 2. I’m supposed to be focusing on the end of the war, so I stay on topic for a couple paragraphs then reference back to something that happened a few years before. So when I’m talking about pearl harbour, I might explain a bit about how the USA even got involved in the first place.
This gives me extra words, and of course a more I depth essay.
Story writing Advice
Plan it, then draft the first chapter. If you don’t like something after you’ve drafted 5 chapters then go back and change it. You have time.
Explain. It’s hard for a reader to enjoy a story if it doesn’t make sense to them. Remember the reader doesn’t know what you know about the story, so therefore they won’t immediately understand everything. I’m not saying to over evaluate on everything - or that it’s bad to not tell your readers certain things. I’m just saying to explain how this world works - is it modern day, fantasy… etc.
Get SOMEONE ELSE to read it. They are 10 times more likely to spot a mistake than you are. Also they will be able to tell you if you need to explain more, or if the story is dragging.
Re read everything, polish it to perfection. Correct minor grammar issues, and proofread it again once your done. I cannot stress this enough; grammar is like flour in bread. It’s impossible to write welll without it. - bad flour, bad bread = bad grammar, bad writing. Don’t let yourself down.
Back for more later
Publish the first chapter or 2. And listen to the comments if there are any.
I feel like with planning… That just doesn’t work for me. I know the general things, like how it’s gonna end, but I mainly don’t plan things cuz then it just gets boring.
I kinda… plan as I’m writing lol. Like if I “plan” I don’t write it down or anything, just keep it in my head. For my story that I’m currently working on, I’m thinking about how I want to end each chapter so I have a gauge of what to write, but other than that, I do what I want lol. I also have a vauge idea of how I want the story to end.
But I can write stuff and just naturally have stuff hint about what will happen in the future. Cuz what i do is make things very vauge and then slowly fill in certain details. Like I (in my opinion) did something really amazing in a chapter that hinted towards a twist and this whole other character developement, and I didn’t even plan it or anything, just had a vauge idea of what a character would say in the future. Idk it’s kinda natural for me to do that, planning is just boring and ruins the story for me. But absolutely zero planning also ruins the story, so I do have a mix, but I never write down what I plan, I just keep it in my head and stuff lol.
A writing tip I’ll give is to make it fun and to not put too much pressure on yourself with it. (I mean, unless it’s your job and you’re on a deadline writing a novel)
I think that all this writing advice is subjective and people have a lot of different processes so it is important to find yours. For example it doesn’t work for me to go back and change stuff, I’ve found that for me i have to just plow through the story and maybe after I’ve made the first draft then I can start changing stuff. If I start changing when in the middle of drafting then I won’t write the story and will get really nit-picky.
My advice that has worked well for me: Don’t pay attention to any of the mistakes you make when drafting for the first time. Just let it be what it is- a little bit of an organised word vomit. You just need to get it onto the pages, and afterwards you can edit.
This trick has worked for me when writing bigger projects, I’ve gotten farther on the first draft then I have in a long time, and I started this story like three years ago.
Write short stories so you can actually finish things.
I’ve got another example for writing essays: use examples! It gives you extra words and makes your essay more understandable. I did this a lot when I was still in school and didn’t reach the minimum word count
I basically got this from a youtube clip analyzing marvel and dc or something like that.
What you could do to give the character a good arc is to give them a want and a need that are in conflict. The character would normally not know what they needed and probably think that their want is a need.
When you can’t reach the minimum word limit, just like RainbowCat said, give examples, explain, put more adjectives in it, and maybe say the same thing again with other words You may end up dragging it though, so be careful!
If you are writing an essay and can’t reach the minimum word count, just write a bunch of words and gibberish at the end, then color them white. It works for me!
You may end up dragging it though, so be careful!