Tips on making a good story! (By Mangoman)

mangoman · Before February 2015

Ever wanted to write a good story? Well, here are the tips on how to! Just follow these and you will become a great author!

Thanks to Zoey2070 and minimania for pointing out stuff.

TIP #1: DON'T USE OVERUSED WORDS

When writing, a thesaurus will be your best friend. You should have one type of thesaurus near you. A thesaurus will help you use better words instead of plain, boring words. Better words help make the writing better! Here's a plain one:

I jumped because I was happy.

Its okay, it does have a subject and predicate which makes it a complete sentence, and it does have the right grammar, but it is sort of plain. Lets use a dictionary to change the words "jumped" and "happy".

I bounced up and down because I was cheerful.

That sounds WAY better, doesn't it? Remember to always use a thesaurus when writing!

TIP #2: PROOFREAD!!!!

PROOFREAD!!!!! This is one of the most IMPORTANT things in writing. You must proofread at least two or three times, just to be sure. Without proofreading, your page may have many mistakes.

Without Proofreading wrote:

Hello my name is mangoman. what is your name?

Well, maybe not like that but in a big essay you may not see any hidden mistakes! Now, lets proofread!

With Proofreading once wrote:

Hello, my name is Mangoman. what is your name?

That's better, but lets proofread one more time just to be sure!

With Proofreading twice wrote:

Hello, my name is Mangoman. What is your name?

That's just AWESOME! Remember, proofread Proofread PROOFREAD!!!

TIP #3: Introductions and Conclusions.

With more than 2 paragraph essays, it may be hard to write the intro and conclusion. Don't worry, if allowed, you can write the intro and conclusion last, so you can get over with the middle paragraphs.

Also, with introductions, don't use sentences like these:

Hello, my name is Mangoman

This is my story.

I hope you like it!

These aren't as pro. You can write these if told so, but otherwise I recommend you don't, especially if you are in high grades or in jobs.

Same with conclusions, don't use sentences like:

I hope you liked my story!

See you again!

And it was all just a dream.

Look at the last one, I've seen that sentence overused LOTS. Unless the prompt is about being in a dream, DO NOT put that. It is too bland and to overused.

TIP #4: Punctuation!

Punctuation is what you use every time you do essays and writing prompts. You know, period, comma, hyphen, etc. This is just a review on grammar, nothing much. All the grammar on this will be in lime.

Period wrote:

Welcome to the store.

- You use a period when stating sentences.

Comma wrote:

Welcome, my name is Mangoman.

- You use a comma to take a short breathe in a sentence.

Exclamation Point wrote:

Look out for that truck!

- You use an exclamation when it is an excited sentence.

Question Mark wrote:

Where, where is the truck?

- You use a Question Mark when you are asking a question.

Apostrophe wrote:

I'll look for the watch.

- You use an apostrophe to conjunct words. ex: I will = I'll

quotation marks wrote:

Dad said, "Okay, I hope you find it!"

- You use quotation marks when someone is talking.

single quotation marks wrote:

I said, "You just said 'Okay, I hope you find it!'"

- You use single quotation marks when someone is talking about what someone is talking.

These are the most basic ones, but what about the others?

Hyphen wrote:

He is a middle-school student.

- You use hyphens when making two words come together.

Colon wrote:

The colors are: Blue, purple, red, green, and orange.

- You use colons when stating a list.

Semicolon wrote:

I have two blue shoes; I love shoes.

- You use a semicolon to seperate two opposed sentences.

ellipsis wrote:

And it was only the beginning...

- You use an ellipsis when you have an unfinished thought or when there is a part of the sentence you don't want the reader to see.

Yes yes, I know there are many more like >, /, ^, @, but these are the ones used lots.

TIP #5: LIE AND LAY

I decided to have a full tip for this, because this mistake is done many times, even by adults. When you say you are going to lay down, you cannot lay yourself down. The right word is LIE. You are going to LIE down. "Lay" is when you are going to lie something down. "Lie" is when YOU are going to lie down.

WRONG wrote:

I am going to lay down.

RIGHT! wrote:

I am going to lie down.

WRONG wrote:

I am going to lie this book down.

RIGHT! wrote:

I am going to lay this book down.

TIP #6: Find the right first sentence

The first sentence must catch the reader to keep reading more. Would you want to read the rest when you read this:

This is story is about sharks.

or this:

I sink into the water, ready for my life to end from a shark.

I believe so the second one. Unless you love sharks, you most likely wouldn't want to read the first one. You got to HOOK on to the reader when the reader starts.

Yup, I forgot some stuff.

Zoey2070 wrote:

Plots.
They're what makes a story a story and not just a boring bunch of goop. No one likes goop.
A story has a BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END. If it doesn't, your story sucks.
In the beginning, you introduce your characters. Don't be so thorough like you're analyzing their appearance, and don't be all, THIS IS SAM HE IS x YEARS OLD AND GOES TO xyz SCHOOL. Make it relevant or don't have it. The reader doesn't need to know everything.
The middle should bring about a conflict, which is actiony and stuff. It's what makes a story good.
And then the end has the climax (which is more borderline middle-end) which is the peak of the conflict. And then the resolution, which is how it ends, and the end.
Also, whenever you have two characters speaking, don't do this. "Hi." "Hello."
Um, who is speaking? "Hi," Bob said. "Hello," Sam said.
That's boring and very repetitive. "Hi," Bob said. "Hello," Sam replied.
There's still a huge flaw here. Let me point it out in bold. WHEN ANOTHER CHARACTER IS SPEAKING OR THE VIEW SHIFTS TO THEM, HAVE A NEW PARAGRAPH. That's a line, folks. Yes, it takes up more space, but too bad, that's how English works, folks.
Like so.
"Hi," Bob said, looking perfectly happy.
"Hello," Sam replied, his voice dull and gloomy sounding.

C=

minimania wrote:

Use a partner to use the u.n.r.a.a.v.e.l. strategy. Try to use maybe some suspense or drama in your stories too.

Anything I missed? Post down below and I'll be sure to add it in. Good luck on becoming writers!

EXTRA:

ee forumify has many great stories and poems, here are some you might like:

John's Bench: A Scary Story by Deetz
The nickel-plated machine- a story by deetz
Grave Sight Woods (A Story written by Haze123)
Half Asleep Madness (A Poem written by Silverstar29)
The War of Planet Cow (A story by Cow) May not be suitable for those under 13

My stories! ^W^
Realm of the Z May not be suitable for those under 13
Under a Cherry Blossom Tree May not be suitable for those under 13

Last edited by mangoman (Apr 23 2012 9:14:03 pm)

Zoey2070 · Before February 2015

Okay, you know what, this is a topic I am what I'd say experienced in because I'm an aspiring writer and should in fact be continuing to write something at this moment.

Don't rape the thesaurus. There's using it effectively, then there's overusing it. Don't have flowery, purple prose when you could just say GREEN. Don't say GRASSY ERIN ISLES or something. That's just lame.

Also, funny thing: Practice what you preach.

op wrote:

When you say u are going to lay down, you cannot lay yourself down.

you
say
u.
Seriously?!

Also, you're mainly just saying how to write legibly and properly, and not really making an actual story. This topic has nothing about plotting or characters or much of anything. So I'll help with that.

Plots.
They're what makes a story a story and not just a boring bunch of goop. No one likes goop.
A story has a BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END. If it doesn't, your story sucks.
In the beginning, you introduce your characters. Don't be so thorough like you're analyzing their appearance, and don't be all, THIS IS SAM HE IS x YEARS OLD AND GOES TO xyz SCHOOL. Make it relevant or don't have it. The reader doesn't need to know everything.
The middle should bring about a conflict, which is actiony and stuff. It's what makes a story good.
And then the end has the climax (which is more borderline middle-end) which is the peak of the conflict. And then the resolution, which is how it ends, and the end.

Also, whenever you have two characters speaking, don't do this. "Hi." "Hello."
Um, who is speaking? "Hi," Bob said. "Hello," Sam said.
That's boring and very repetitive. "Hi," Bob said. "Hello," Sam replied.
There's still a huge flaw here. Let me point it out in bold. WHEN ANOTHER CHARACTER IS SPEAKING OR THE VIEW SHIFTS TO THEM, HAVE A NEW PARAGRAPH. That's a line, folks. Yes, it takes up more space, but too bad, that's how English works, folks.
Like so.
"Hi," Bob said, looking perfectly happy.
"Hello," Sam replied, his voice dull and gloomy sounding.

That being said, you don't have to actually describe how they're talking each and every time. Seriously.

I apologize for hijacking your topic.

Minimania · Before February 2015

Shall we not forget the tools of writing? Use a partner to use the u.n.r.a.a.v.e.l. strategy. Try to use maybe some suspense or drama in your stories too. Remember that mangoman.

Deetz · Before February 2015

[example]
hehe suspense? look here
[/example]

mangoman · Before February 2015

Ty Zoey2070 and minimania, I am still young and I forget stuff =w=.

BTW, u.n.r.a.a.v.e.l?

deetz: Your story did have all the right grammar and stuff, excluding the "story breaks".

Last edited by mangoman (Apr 23 2012 9:11:59 pm)

Minimania · Before February 2015

u.n.r.a.a.v.e.l ...
Sorry, I forget stuff. Your not the only young one on the forums.

mangoman · Before February 2015

I know, it just feels like to me that I'm somehow losing my memory o.o.

Minimania · Before February 2015

IKR, just... happens

PlayboyXD · Before February 2015

thats good but too short

Maybe spice it up a bit

im just saying
hi

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