Generic Writing Tips

generic writing tips

diversity is not just race!!! It’s also background, religion/lack of, sexuality, gender identity, personality, and difference unique character traits and flaws

If you create a character of a background/sexuality/religion etc. that is different from yours, do research and ask people who can relate instead of guessing

Leave no character undeveloped. If you read books with ships/characters you didn’t like, they probably weren’t characterized very well

Not all of your characters talk or move the same way. If your main character talks exactly like the old grandmother they met on the street, then one of them will sound very strange in context

Everyone mentions a characters’ flaws, but also pay attention to their behaviors that are slightly weird rather than bad. Maybe they talk to their plants when they water them, apologize when they bump into furniture, or speak in weird accents when they think they’re alone

Humor is not universal! Older characters might not understand the humor of younger counterparts, and vice versa

Women do not describe their body shape or chest area to themselves when they look in mirrors, and men whose characters do that frequently are single or divorced

The ‘bad boy’ stereotype is harmful and those characters almost always display extremely toxic traits, so it might be better to write a different type of guy

Avoid the ‘white suburban mom’ style of naming characters: long and convoluted spelling does not make a unique name, ashleighay. Try, again, doing research to find the best name for each character

The first thing people notice about another person is usually not their eye color, unless their eyes are somehow out of the ordinary

Over-description should be used for very memorable and important scenes, but not the entire story. That will just give the reader a headache

Creative Writing vs Screenwriting for Novel Writing

This is my opinion and based off my experiences. I also can’t speak for all colleges, just my own.

Something I have definitely noticed is this: Creative writing focuses more on the craft and artistry of the sentence. The actual words of writing whether it be a novel, a poem or nonfiction. It can be split and they can touch upon both, but n my experience there’s an emphasis on the writing vs the story in most studies. From what my professors have said, too, that’s often the case across the board.

Screenwriting focuses almost exclusively on how to write a strong story.

If you want to learn how to tell a strong story, as in characters, plot, structure, pacing, stakes, etc. I would seriously consider focusing on screenwriting in school or screenwriting resources.

Screenwriting focuses on what makes a story compelling whereas Creative Writing will give you the tools to make it read well. Not that it CW doesn’t ever focus on story, but there’s a general divide in the community about what to focus on that boils down to preference and other social factors.

I recommend doing both (and I wish I had the time to get a Creative Writing minor in school), but this is just my two cents.

TIP: One reason why screenwriting is helpful, too, is because if you cannot see it or cannot hear it then the exposition doesn’t work. You can’t get into your characters head without them acting it out in a way that’s visual. This can help make your ability to convey characters stronger so you’re not just constantly relying on telling your readers how your characters feel. In screenwriting, you have to show it or it doesn’t work.

If you want to know how to tell a great story: study screenwriting.

If you want to know how to write well on a sentence level: study creative writing.

If you want both: Study both.

Realistically speaking, imo, your average reader will forgive your writing artistry, but they won’t forgive a weak story. That doesn’t mean skimp on writing craft, but if you had to choose, get a stronger grip on story.

How To Reference Romantic Attraction Between Your Characters:

Person A’s inability to make eye-contact for long periods of time while Person B is constantly looking into A’s eyes. (extra points if Person A looks away and blushes)

Interest Copying (When interested in another person, humans tend to copy that person’s movements, stature, etc)

Cute nervous ticks while around one another (Dont just use blushing and stuttering! Other ticks exist! Shuffling, fiddling their thumbs, scratching the back of their neck, bouncing their leg, nervous laughter, picking at their palm, biting the inside of their cheek, etc!)

Remembering little details about one another (How person A never eats the beans on their plate, or person B’s favorite color, the color of their eyes, where their birthmark is, are they a morning or night person? Bonus points if they figure this information out by observation, not by being told!)

Constantly smiling or laughing around their love interest

Confessing their love (but only in Spanish)

K. Imani’s 2020 Faves

What a year! I decided to use a fancy planner to keep track of my reading this year and I started off on my usual pace, but with quarantine and a slew of so much literary goodness, I’m on track for a new reading record. I knew this year was going to be a banner year for Black SciFi/Fantasy and I wasn’t disappointed. So, of course, this list will be full of Black SciFi/Fantasy because I couldn’t get enough!

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus. A flying demon feeding on human energies. A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down. And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw. The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates. She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko

Nothing is more important than loyalty. But what if you’ve sworn to protect the one you were born to destroy? Tarisai has always longed for the warmth of a family. She was raised in isolation by a mysterious, often absent mother known only as The Lady. The Lady sends her to the capital of the global empire of Aritsar to compete with other children to be chosen as one of the Crown Prince’s Council of 11. If she’s picked, she’ll be joined with the other Council members through the Ray, a bond deeper than blood. That closeness is irresistible to Tarisai, who has always wanted to belong somewhere. But The Lady has other ideas, including a magical wish that Tarisai is compelled to obey: Kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Tarisai won’t stand by and become someone’s pawn—but is she strong enough to choose a different path for herself?

A Song of Wraiths & Run by Roseanne A. Brown

For Malik, the Solstasia festival is a chance to escape his war-stricken home and start a new life with his sisters in the prosperous desert city of Ziran. But when a vengeful spirit abducts Malik’s younger sister, Nadia, as payment into the city, Malik strikes a fatal deal—kill Karina, Crown Princess of Ziran, for Nadia’s freedom. But Karina has deadly aspirations of her own. Her mother, the Sultana, has been assassinated; her court threatens mutiny; and Solstasia looms like a knife over her neck. Grief-stricken, Karina decides to resurrect her mother through ancient magic … requiring the beating heart of a king. And she knows just how to obtain one: by offering her hand in marriage to the victor of the Solstasia competition. When Malik rigs his way into the contest, they are set on a course to destroy each other. But as attraction flares between them and ancient evils stir, will they be able to see their tasks to the death?

A Phoenix First Must Burn edited by Patrice Caldwell

Sixteen tales by bestselling and award-winning authors that explore the Black experience through fantasy, science fiction, and magic. Evoking Beyoncé’s Lemonade for a teen audience, these authors who are truly Octavia Butler’s heirs, have woven worlds to create a stunning narrative that centers Black women and gender nonconforming individuals. A Phoenix First Must Burn will take you on a journey from folktales retold to futuristic societies and everything in between. Filled with stories of love and betrayal, strength and resistance, this collection contains an array of complex and true-to-life characters in which you cannot help but see yourself reflected. Witches and scientists, sisters and lovers, priestesses and rebels: the heroines of A Phoenix First Must Burn shine brightly. You will never forget them. Authors include Elizabeth Acevedo, Amerie, Dhonielle Clayton, Jalissa Corrie, Somaiya Daud, Charlotte Davis, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Justina Ireland, Danny Lore, L.L. McKinney, Danielle Paige, Rebecca Roanhorse, Karen Strong, Ashley Woodfolk, and Ibi Zoboi.

Editing Tip: How to Speed Up or Slow Down Your Pacing

Hey friends. I’ve been thinking a lot about pacing lately, as I’m in the process of editing a few of my own stories, which tend to be too slow in the beginning and too fast in the end. Fortunately I have a ton of experience speeding up or slowing down pacing when I edit my clients’ manuscripts, and I wrote up a whole section about it in my book The Complete Guide to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers.

One important thing to keep in mind about pacing is that there’s no one “right” pace—each story and genre need something different. A crime thriller will usually have faster pacing than a character-driven literary novel; language-focused writers will usually create slower-paced stories than plot-focused writers. So when you’re revising your pacing, It’s about finding the right pace for your story.

At the same time, remember that stories generally build in tension, continually ramping up the conflict until it crests at the climax and falls at the resolution. While you’ll want some ebbs and flows in tension so the reader doesn’t get completely exhausted, the story shouldn’t feel resolved for too long without introducing another problem or further complicating the conflict.

A story’s pace is controlled by a number of factors but luckily, there are pretty much only two problems you can have with your pacing. A story can be too slow (which usually feels boring), too fast (which can produce a lot of anxiety), or a combination—too slow in some parts, too fast in others.

In either case, you’ll need to learn how to put the brakes on or apply the gas as needed to moderate your pacing.

Speeding Up Slow Pacing

If we feel the pacing is too slow, it’s usually either because a scene is too long, too wordy, or not enough is happening. The result is a sense that the story is dragging, and a lot of yawning on the part of the reader. When the pace feels slow, we will naturally start to skim or read ahead to find out “what happens.”

Let’s look at how to address each of the three main causes of slow pacing.

Too long. Sometimes the pace feels slow because your scene is simply too long. To remedy that, you might need to start the scene later, end it earlier, or cut slow transitions where not much is happening. Shorter sentences and more frequent paragraph or scene breaks can also help to break up a lengthy scene and make it feel like it’s moving faster.

Too wordy. The more words you use, the slower the pace. Long passages of description, excessive dialogue or inner monologue, info dumps, repetition, and filler words are often to blame. If you simply can’t bring yourself to cut excess words, you can also try breaking up long sentences or paragraphs to give the illusion of a quicker pace.

Nothing is happening. A lack of goals, conflict, or stakes can lead to the feeling that “nothing is happening” in a story. Has your character slipped into the bathtub to ruminate at length on an issue that she’s already mulled over a thousand times before? Have you used five pages to detail a long, boring traveling sequence that should’ve been summarized in a few sentences of transition? If your scene has scant conflict, and no change by the end of the scene, it may need to be rewritten or cut in order to improve your pacing.

Slowing Down Fast Pacing

On the other hand, if a story’s pace is too fast, an excess of action and dialogue are usually to blame, as well as short, choppy sentences, and a ceaseless maelstrom of conflict. In that case, you have the opposite problem: Your scenes are either too short, too shallow, or too much is happening.

Too short. Short sentences, paragraphs, scenes, and chapters pick up the pace of a story, but can leave readers exhausted when overused. Mix it up, using longer sentences or paragraphs slow the pacing where needed. You can also lengthen action- and dialogue heavy scenes by adding brief spurts of description, inner monologue, or narrative summary.

Too shallow. An action-paced scene often skims over the deeper, more nuanced aspects of the story like theme, emotional depth, and character development. If your too-fast pace is the fault of a flat character, take a moment to let readers know what’s driving her with a few sentences of interiority or narrative summary. The more readers feel like they’re inside your protagonist’s mind and heart, the deeper and slower your scene will feel. Description can also help give depth to a shallow scene—all that action and dialogue isn’t taking place in a vacuum, and writing it that way can shift your story into turbo speed in no time at all.

Too much happening. If your protagonist is fighting off a centaur in a crowded marketplace, resolving a longstanding resentment with her brother who works at the tomato stand, looking for a choice hiding place for a trunk of buried treasure, wooing the delivery boy, and realizing the true nature of love and war all in the same scene, you might need to dial it back to control your pacing. Decide which storyline is the most important to highlight, and push all the others into the background or save them for another scene.

No breathers. If the protagonist never gets a chance to catch her breath, readers won’t either. Look for places where she can pause and reflect, like right after a problem is resolved or a new one is discovered, when new information is revealed, or as your character undergoes an important internal change in her motivation or perspective.

Hope this helps!

"Humans are an invasive species" you're thinking of the British, actually 💙