forum Need Writing Advice? Come On In.

Started June 19, 2019 by Deleted user

tune

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I've been writing for over a decade now, so I'd like to think that I can give good advice.

Plot ideas? I got them.
Need help filling a plot hole? Just call me Eris the Builder.
Villain just not villainy enough? I can help make them straight up evil.
Got a Mary Sue/Gary Stu? Let's mess them up.

Think of me as your friendly neighborhood story dealer, leader of the Novel Mafia, the Bookmother.
Come to me in your time of need.

_{Honestly, I'm just bored out of my mind, but I like to help so yea.}

Yes.

Ok question could you help with relationship development. I have an idea of how it will go but it is really vague

Of course I can help. What are the details?

These two guys hate eachother in the beginning. Christopher the prince is basically a prick. And Calean is just annoyed and sarcastic. They end up being sent together to rescue a princess. Calean is only there to make sure the prince stays alive. They barely talk at first though as time goes on and they travel I want them to get to know eachother and become friends ish. Later on save princess and stuff happens princess threatens to kill Calean. Christopher will want to stop her because he was starting to like Calean. But not sure how that will all happen and stuff.

Okay. Cool! So are you looking to make this a purely platonic relationship or turn into something more?

Well basically I'm taking the cliche of saving a princess in a tower but making it gay. But I'm not sure if I want it platonic or romantic

Well first things first, you have to decide what kind of relationship you want between the two characters, because the situations that you put them in to build up into that climax will be based on that. You have to decide if you want Sexual Tension™ or Friendly Rivalry™.

Alright

I think what I want them to have is more Friendly Rivalry but close friends. They care for eachother. So in a way I'm thinking Romantic with more of a platonic feel (If you understand)

They can care about each other without it being romantic. It's just a Bromance

Yeah true

So if you want a platonic relationship, I would suggest putting them in situations where they are constantly competing with each other/showing off their abilities and then realizing slowly that they think the other is just as strong and cool as they are. Boys tend to be more physical therefore putting them in situations where they have to prove their worth will be humorous as well as showing that they care what the other thinks of them (even if at first it is just to appear better than the other.)

Also, you have to build on the respect that they have for each other by testing the morals of the two boys. You can have them come together because they think similarly about honor and justice.

Do you have any advice for describing things? I have a really hard time doing it (especially with places for some reason) and I feel like I'm not describing things with enough detail. A lot of times I have a really clear image of what I'm writing about, but I can't find the right words to describe it. I've tried using more similes but a lot of times I struggle to come up with good ones.

Do you have an example? I just want to take a quick look. :)

Here's a couple:

Crispin wasn’t sure when he had noticed it, but at some point there had been a noticeable change in scenery. The dirty roads gave way to pristine cobbled paths with not a stone out of place. The houses were bigger, and less crammed together. The heavy factory smoke still hung over the city in this nicer part of town, but even that was less noticeable.

They eventually stumbled upon an abandoned farm on the outskirts of the town. The roof was caving in at one end, and the broken windows wouldn’t provide them much protection from the chilly breeze. At the very least it was a step up from building makeshift shelters out of sticks and leaves.
The inside of the building had not fared much better. Cobwebs hung down from the rafters and there was a layer of dust on everything that was at least an inch thick. Rotting hay was strewn all over the ground which filled the room with a musty smell that made Kit crinkled his nose in disgust. At the very least the hay would give them something soft to sleep on, but he would have given anything to be back in his room in the castle.

Blood splattered across the man’s cheek. He released his grip on Kit, and made a sickening choking noise as his last breath escaped him. His lifeless body sank to the ground, leaving him to lay on the rough gravel, surrounded in a pool of his own blood. A single, silver knife stuck out of the very center of his back.

These are actually very good. I know that when it comes to descriptions you want to unleash every little thing so the reader knows exactly what is happening around the characters, but in truth this is not needed. Readers fill in the obvious blanks in author descriptions with their own imagination. For example even though you didn't mention it, a reader can tell that the farm Kit and the other character(s) stumbled upon probably had bugs all over it, and dust moats floated in the air, sunlight probably drifted in through the broken ceiling. All that stuff can be inferred. Authors rely on readers to contribute a bit to the narrative. Not to mention it makes the story more your own when you can add your own details to it. Less is most definitely more in this case.

There will be times where you have to go into extreme detail, but that will be because it is essential to the plot/character development/etc. SI wouldn't worry about the little things. What you have shown me is perfect. Honest to god.

Thank you so much. Maybe it's just a case of me being too hard on myself, but I always felt like the way I described was not that great compared to other stuff I've read. That was really good to hear :)

All writers are hard on themselves. If you feel like you are frustrating yourself then take a step back and look at the BIG PICTURE that is your story and let your character tell you what you need to see and not focus so much on the minute details.

Usually my characters look at me like I'm crazy and are like "Eris…no one fucking cares what color the flowers are…can we get back to fighting now?"
XD

Let them do the talking.

10/10 compliment

No Problemo! That's what this is all about, ya know?