A Story Writing Tips Thread

Jaguar · May 13, 2002, 18:43

Post tips here. (This is so we don't keep linking to the thread with that poor guy

)

Here are some to start:

1. Don't stick to the civ game all the time. You can change things.
2. Don't just tell what your empire does. Get some characters besides the leaders in.
3. Describe actual places/customs/people in your empire. It makes the nation seem more real.

civman2000 · May 13, 2002, 19:00

dumb guys ranting around and being crazy esecially when written by someone (ahem Metaliturtle) are dumb; things should happen to people!

cbraund · May 13, 2002, 19:03

Keep a tense atmosphere if possible, unless it is a funny story.
Try and have a few twists, perhaps one at the ending to leave them wondering.

That's about all I can think of!

Kinda explains why I always have twists, cause I can't remember where the hell the story was going!

Nemesis

Rotten999 · May 13, 2002, 19:46

Originality. Can't stress that one enough.

Conflict. The outcome should be in constant doubt. Surprise developments keep the reader's interest.

Try to create characters that are sympathetic and situations that are believable.

Little details/descriptions really bring scenes to life.

Payoff. The ending should "bring it all home" in a satisfying fashion.

Those are very vague/general thoughts, of course. Anything more specific has to do with individual style, more than anything else.

Rotten999 · May 13, 2002, 19:49

Quote:

Originally posted by civman2000
dumb guys ranting around and being crazy esecially when written by someone (ahem Metaliturtle) are dumb; things should happen to people!

Some people seem to enjoy that, but I agree. I like my humor a bit more witty, as opposed to the obvious sex/violence gags. Of course, that's just my personal preference.

Samuel Johnson · May 13, 2002, 20:47

I would not profess to know anything about writing. I have only been paid once to write and it was technical stuff but I do think this forum is good if your are aspiring because of the relative anonymity, the chance to experiment and the way the game helps you create a setting for your characters. I personally am interested in how the motivations of the characters makes a civilization do great or very bad things. The civilizations are in effect a character.

Seemingly random observation: Did you know that all great leaders are also great story tellers? "4 Score and Seven Years ago" isn't that far from "Once upon a time in a land far, far, away...".

The only advice I would say is that you should experiment with all sorts of styles. If you are into maintaining personnas get multiple IDs and write difdferent styles under different names.

The problems that occur when working under the rules of CIV3 are that the timelines don't match, you have to explain how or if your leaders are immortal, you can't trade or buy military equipment under CIV3 (unlike CIV2, boohoo).

Metaliturtle · May 13, 2002, 22:35

My big tips: Sex/fart/toilet humor is only funny HALF the time, and gets old fast if you continuosly do it.

Random gore, was NOT a big hit, just see what Civman said, but it was just an attempt at something new, keep experimenting, revolutionary ideas, like comedy

*CGW*, can be big, or they can suck

*Fire in Bonschnooglia* just make sure the bad criticism doesn't get to you, and join the storyteller's union when you post your first story!!!

my 2 cents

johncmcleod · June 2, 2002, 16:27

Well, I don't know very much about writing, but I know what I like. Stories thick with diplomatic relations, such as classics like UN Poker and The Chronicles of Imhotep have been my favorites. And whatever you do, don't make it sound like a history book. I made that mistake in my first story The Saga of Upper Earth. It really sucked, and if you want to know exactly what not to do, read it.

Metaliturtle · June 2, 2002, 16:54

john, YOU ARE that poor guy

SKILORD · June 2, 2002, 16:54

If you aren't funny DON'T TRY TO BE!

personal experience there not criticsism

civman2000 · June 2, 2002, 21:55

Hey johncmcleod, we never forgot you, I must've linked to your story about five times to give the advice I gave you

.

Toasty · June 2, 2002, 22:05

I absolutely love plot twists. Grecian, and my new one, The European Family, are full of them. Something to always keep them wondering in what direction you're going: and, don't always make the good guys win

.

If there's one thing I've found, if you're going for intense battle sequences, word them extremely well and carefully. A battle scene must be painted with the thinnest brush, and the characters have to show who they are there.

That's all for me, but then again, it's not like my stories are smash successes

.

Metaliturtle · June 2, 2002, 22:10

10% inspiration 99% dumb luck

The Bloody Baro · June 4, 2002, 00:04

I personally feel that lots of good stories [not all though] start with a teaser. If you can make the story so that it makes the readers cry so much that the very thought of the story will have them burst onto tears /laugh so hard that they have to get the yellow remover detergent out/make them ACTUALLY feel anger toward a character then you have written a truly remarkable thing.

Velociryx · June 9, 2002, 09:44

A good idea, this thread.

I don't know if I'll be stating the obvious or no, but having put a couple of novels together now, I'd like to think I know a bit about makin' an interesting story (tho I guess the final proof of that would be in whether or not the readers OF my books think the same thing! LOL).

In any case, take these observations with a grain of salt, and mix/match freely. Not every idea needs to be used in every story, but most of the stuff listed here should help a whole lot more than it hinders.

So....In no particular order....

*****
Characters
If I want to read a report about something happening in another country, I can pick up a copy of USA Today and get that. The Who, What, Where, When, and Why of a story. Tales told to entertain us though, must do more than just this, and Characters are the first line of defense for an author. Make them real. Make them believable. Give them hopes, dreams, aspirations....FAULTS. Bad habits, peculariarities....any and everything you can think of to make your characters more real...more human. Sit down and think about each of them carefully. What was their past like (even if it doesn't come up in the story, knowing where your charactes came from is illuminating for when you write about what they're doing now!)...what motiviates them? How do they deal with pressure? Failure? Hardship or pain?

Important questions, if you want your characters to be believable.

And don't just have one or two characters....again...believable. How many people to you interact with on a daily basis?

Now, obviously, not every character your main characters interact with needs the kind of depth and treatment as your main characters, but you should think at least a bit about even the most minor characters in your story, else why bother including them at all?

Make them real, and your story will truly come to life for your readers.

Dialogue

If you can't do good dialogue, your choices are to either practice at it till you GET good, or don't try to write fiction. Stories NEED dialogue....the characters have GOT to communicate with each other....if they don't, you're back to writing for USA Today.

What is good dialogue? Mostly, it's conversation that sounds natural. When you write something for one of your characters to say, read it out loud. How'd it sound coming from your own lips? Would YOU have said it that way, under the conditions your character is speaking it? Why or why not?

Dialogue is an amazing tool, once you get the hang of writing it convincingly....it can be used to both show and tell parts of a story....it can be used to convey emotion of any kind (or enhance its conveyance), and perhaps most importantly, it can help shade and shape the readers' opinion of your characters. Their (the characters') manner of speaking and dealing with each other is a clear indication of the kind of person they are. You want your readers to think that Sir Rotgut is a fiendish ba$tard? Then show him BEING a fiendish ba$tard when he talks to and deals with his people! That's huge.

Show and Tell
You gotta do both. Don't always just TELL the story ("there was an explosion at the armory"), don't always just SHOW the story ("with a loud WHUMP, the armory exploded....the shock wave hit Johan squarely, and sent him sprawling....")....mix it up a little--actually, mix it up a lot...the more the better!--you will lull the reader's mind half to sleep if you fall into the rut of doing one or the other absolutely all the time. The best stories tend to show and tell in balance (showing when great detail is warranted, telling to brush past a thing quickly and advance the story).

The main point here is that there's stuff going on in the world that your characters may not be involved with....it has relevance, but can't be shown....has to be told. You need both if you hope to create a vibrant story.

Conflict
Every story needs conflict, and it needs it on a variety of levels.

The looming war between France and England = Conflict (Civ games have plenty of that, as a rule).

The fact that one of your main characters is engaged to be married, but because he's an honorable servant of the King, feels compelled to join the army to help drive the sniveling Frenchies from the field = Conflict of a different sort.

Battles where our young hero tastes victory or defeat = more conflict...up close and personal, this time.

False reports of his death reaching the ears of the young maid at home (perhaps courtesy of the Evil Sir Rotgut) and a mysterious new suitor on the horizon expressing interest in the maid = yet more conflict.

You get the idea.

Conflict DRIVES the story. It is what keeps the reader going from page one to page two, in order to find out what happens next.

Twists of Plot....Twists of Fate
Sudden reversals of fortune and unexpected events help to create conflict AND tension....both are good things for a story. Going back to the examples above....it's a plot twist when our young hero, off fighting in the war is suddenly reported dead (even tho we know full well that he's not...we saw him kicking a$$ and taking names three pages earlier!). It's a plot twist when some rival for his girl's affection shows up...and now, we're rooting for our hero to hurry up and conclude his business in the war to go home and take care of this usurper....but what if Sir Rotgut doesn't want to see that happen?

He might conspire with the enemy to CAPTURE our young hero and imprison him...another plot twist.

And our young maid at home might get wind of it all and wind up being the one to save HIM....that would be unexpected...especially if you establish earlier that the young lady is quiet and not given much to adventure, but when confronted by the potential loss of her love, turns into a lioness...

....which brings us to the next big thing....

Character Mapping
Characters are not static....well, good main characters ought not be static, anyway. They grow and evolve as they respond to changes going on around them. These changes should be realistic and believable, and they should add depth to your character.

Using the above example, the character of the young woman who's love is off fighting the war....early in the story we see her as the Lady in Waiting....keeping the faith and lighting candles in memory of her love, off fighting.

Then the report of his death, and the arrival of a new suitor throws her life into dissarray. In the confusion, perhaps a part of her begins to weaken, and we, the reader, worry that she'll be with another when our good hero returns.

But then....she gets wind of the plot to keep them apart and suddenly....enraged both at herself for her former weakness, and at the fiendish Sir Rotgut for daring to play with their lives in such fashion, trains herself to fight in secret, cuts her hair short and joins the army specifically to rescue her love....

Over the course of the story then, we have watched her character EVOLVE....and that's really cool, especially if you can make that evolution really speak to your readers.

All this, happening in the context of the story in general (where the larger conflict serves as the backdrop for what our characters are going through) is what helps create a deep, compelling story.

Continuity
In a story that could potentially span six thousand years of human history (if the story is written from the founding of the first city to the end of the game), obviously we have to take some short cuts. You don't want to spend tooooooo much time on the details I mentioned above. If you did, your story would be ten thousand pages long and span an untold number of generations, so a balance needs to be struck.

Decide at the outset what period of time you intend for your story to cover, and stick with that.

Also decide, if your story is to span generations, how you're going to deal with that, where your characters are concerned. Will they die, to be replaced by their children, and the story continues that way? Or are your characters long-lived, and will be in the story through the whole thing? If so...you'll need to explain the how's and why's of that to the reader....maybe not right up front, but sooner or later, the question will form up in the reader's mind....answer it, and be creative with it.

Continuity also deals with consistency in the actions of your characters. If Sir Rotgut is a total ba$tard, then don't suddenly show him being Mr. Nice Guy, unless your readers know up front that he's doing this to trick someone into doing something they don't want to do. If he suddenly reforms and really IS a nice guy now, your readers will be confused about that, unless you tell them why? What changed to make Rotgut reform....that's part of the story....an important part.

There are plenty of others, I'm sure....but the notions mentioned above should put you on the right road. Do that stuff well, and your stories will sparkle....

-=Vel=-

Metaliturtle · June 9, 2002, 12:46

I was waiting for when Vel, king of my favorite civ3 strategies, would pop up on the stories forum. Write the story about rotgut, I'm intrigued

Bugs ****ing Bunny · June 9, 2002, 13:08

Some great tips from Velo there. I'll just add that, as a contrast to the story flows and character development guidance he offers, when writing short "stand-alone" stories you needn't be afraid to "zoom in". Rather than stretch it at the seams by offering background and other details, a sudden, hard focus in sharp detail can create an image that stamps itself on the reader's cortex like a hammer blow.

I'd be wary of writing a novel-length work like that, however. It would be like getting repeatedly punched in the face.

High Lord J · June 9, 2002, 13:29

Anticipation-Make sure you have interesting character combinations. You want the reader to really want "A" to meet "X". At the same time they can't wait for "B" to meet "Z". You want that anticipation because it makes the reader eagerly reading everything.

History Guy · June 9, 2002, 15:18

"10% inspiration 99% dumb luck"

All I have to say is: Huh?

Captain · June 9, 2002, 22:03

Wiser people than me have posted great hints and guidelines, but I have one more thing to add:

PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!

Eventually, you start to pick up on your own habits and styles and become more aware of your writing. Read other people's stuff, stuff that you like, and see how they draw you in. What kind of methods/style do they use?

If what you start with sucks, keep writing. It may take 100 crappy stories before you write one that you think has potential. Better to get those crappy hundred out the way... that's what I'm trying to do anyways.

Learn from experience and mistakes, and you can only make mistakes if you try.

Bella Hella · June 11, 2002, 09:49

i'm not an experienced writer, but personally i get annoyed when there are 50,000 characters in a story. it's like, ok, who's doing what? where did this guy come from? what's going on?!?!

if you include 7 new characters in one paragraph, it's just too confusing to read. unless it's a full-length novel, i would stick to a few main characters and a couple supporting ones. i've seen quite a few stories here that just have too darn many characters in them. and plus they're always military dudes with varying titles which makes it even MORE confusing.

AND they're rarely developed well. ok, end of beef. my freekin' story isn't even finished yet, so i shall now shut my pie hole.

Grundel · June 16, 2002, 03:43

Allow me enter my 2 cents worth...

1. Practice. No matter how crappy you think your story is, just write. you would be surprised. If it sucks, write again. You will sometimes hit, and sometimes miss. That is simply the nature of the game.

2. Details. The best stories are ones where you bring your world to life. Talk about your city...its market district, leaders, what they were, how they look, where did they get that scar from, etc...

3. Take a small portion of you game, and expand it. For example, instead of writing about how you defeated the russians, focus on how you won just one battle with them. Take something that happened in only one turn, and zoom in...a city going into revolt, you successfully spying on someone, landing of colonist on an island, etc..

Above all else, just have fun with it. YOu may surprise yourself

jdd2007 · June 17, 2002, 18:10

im not that great of a writer, but i can at least point out three things i dont like in stories

first, dont give turn by turn: for example

-founded rome
-built a road
-constructed a warrior
-explored
-found village
-...

(very boring)

anyway, secondly,
stories usually are best when the main civ is not the most powerful in the world. people (me) dont want to hear about how u defeated the russians, then the iroquois, then the french...

third, umm i forgot...

Space05us · June 18, 2002, 00:53

this should prove useful for me