Writing 101: A Closer Look

[Vaspira]

I do not take credit for these topics. I am just sharing my knowledge gained through classes I have taken in school and college, as well as courses I have taken on a writing website I am on. Credit goes to the teachers out there, who have shared their knowledge with their students for years now! Thank you teachers!

OKAY THE LESSON IS FINISHED! If you enjoyed it please let me know! I will be working on the second portion of Writing. So look for it if you have found this helpful in anyway!

Thank you for reading, I hope that this will help some of you out.

[Vaspira]

Here we go class, pay attention now!

So, you write this 10 sentence paragraph and you are feeling proud of yourself, then you go back and read the paragraph. You realize that this paragraph is plain, boring, lacking, uninspiring.. You get the idea, it sucks. What seemed like a beautifully written, deep thought provoking, or action packed paragraph in your mind, is dull.

But turn that frown upside down! That is where personification comes in to the rescue! This paragraph should not be trashed; rather it should just be tweaked is all. So do not let it get you down, this is a vital step in the wonderful writing process! We have the story in our minds, we can see it perfectly, but it is more about getting other’s to see it.

Now let us energize that dead paragraph, are you ready? Follow along now kids! Personification is basically where you, as the writer, take an lifeless, inanimate object (your text) and give it active, sometimes human traits. I know it may sound confusing, so that is why I am going to give you an example, to better help you understand.

The sunset on the hills.

This sentence is to the point, but very .. dead and boring. Let us bring it to life!

The vast sky lite up with hues of color, as the orange orb kissed the rolling hills.

Now that is a little better isn’t it? Sure it is longer, but it brings out more emotion, more energy. The before sentence was just lying dull and lifeless on the paper, now it has been brought to life by adding a few descriptive words, adjectives.

Now that is not to say that you should be cramming adjectives in every sentence you write. Then you will be TELLING the reader what something is like, not SHOWING them what it is like. There is a difference in Personification and using adjectives. When you apply personification, as opposed to a bunch of adjectives, you are giving the setting of your writing human characteristics. A human can better relate to human characteristics. Personifications are powerful, you may not see them when you are reading something, but they are there and it makes you want to keep reading.

I am going to show you all a few more examples, I feel like you are not completely grasping the idea yet (if you are that’s great, if not it is okay!). The normal sentence looks like these . The personification sentence looks like this.

• The stars in the sky. The stars danced playfully in the black silky sky
• My life came to a stop. My life came to a screeching stop.
• The water rippled. The ripples danced upon the water’s surface.

Now are you getting the idea? It can be confusing at first, but you will get the hang of it. All you have to do is practice, and you will see that your writing is coming to life before your eyes!

So now that you know a little about personification, I think you should get out a piece of paper and try it out. I am sure you all are already using it in your writing and just have yet to realize that you are. But since you are reading this (at least I hope you are) your mind is starting to think about it now. So get out a piece of paper and let’s practice!

Below is a list of inanimate objects, they are lifeless, and it is your job to breathe life into them through utilizing personification.

• Rain
• Ball
• Shoe
• Sword
• Fire
• Stars

Feel free to post your personifications below, as well as any lingering questions you may have about the topic. I hope this topic has helped some of you with your writing/rping!

[Vaspira]

Remember, you can always PM me if you need help understanding the topic discussed, or if you need help with anything else. I can not wait to see all of your posts (if anyone actually posts that is ) on the inanimate objects!

[Miles]

Rain:

Melancholy drops cascaded from the gloomy sky. Tears for the departed.

Ball:

One kick sent the ball screaming toward Miles. The man panicked; all but diving away from the renegade orb trying for his life.

Shoe:

Miles looked down at the muddy shoes by the door- they seemed to sigh with relief now that he had finally come home and allowed them to rest. What a pity to put them back to work.

Sword
The sword was lightening in his hands- jumping from its resting place to his hand in the blink of an eye.

Fire:

Swelling through the dry leaves, the fire consumed the field in a ruthless torrent of heat and energy.

Stars:

Miles lay upon the cold earth, watching as the stars looked longingly down toward the world of Mizahar.

[Vaspira]

Miles that was beautifully done, 100 times better than I could ever do. Great job!

[Vaspira]

Metaphors and Similes

Okay I would like to start off with the difference of a Metaphor and Simile, as this can be slightly confusing at times.

Metaphor Saying something IS something else.
Simile Saying something IS LIKE something else.
Hyperbole Extreme Exaggeration. althought i will not be spending time on this

Here are some examples to give you a better idea of what I am talking about.

Metaphor Time is money.
Simile She is as sweet as pie.
Hyperbole I'm starving.

So Metaphors and Similes are very similar, and it is up to you to use which ever helps your writing flow better. Using a Metaphor or Simile in your writing, transforms it into something more poetic and gives it that emotional impact. The key to using them though, is balance. It wouldn't sound right if every sentence, or even every other sentence, was a metaphor or simile. You should only place extra emphasis on the sentences that matter not the ones that do not.


When you are writing it is always best to avoid flat writing, so personification, metaphors and even similes help you give your writing the rises that it needs, to make the reading fun. Having fun with writing is what it is all about isn't it?

[Vaspira]

Symbolism

Okay first off, I would like to say, that while using Symbolism in your writing, it is SO easy to turn those symbols into cliches, and you really want to avoid that. The definition of Symbolism is the practice or art of using an object or a word to represent an abstract idea. An action, person, place, word, or object can all have a symbolic meaning. When an author wants to suggest a certain mood or emotion, he can also use symbolism to hint at it, rather than just blatantly saying it.


Now, as always, I will move on to some examples, to give you a better and clear idea of what I am talking about.

Colors

Colors can be used as Symbolism in your writing. For example:

Black is evil or death.
Purple is a royal color.
Red is passion.

Those are some simple ones, rather cliche though right? Even though they are slightly cliche, they can be utilize in a unique way, and that is up to you, as the writer with the imagination, to discover how to use them. Symbols can be a object, picture, written word, sound, numerals or even languages.


So let us move on to some other examples of Symbolism, ones used in some Literature that you may or may not have read.

The story The Cathedral by Raymond Carver is a story of transformation of a human character's life from depression and carelessness to belief and diversity. A cathedral is a symbol of faith, conversion, creativity and strength and is therefore a substantial component of Carver's story.

Another great example would be The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe.

One could view the entire story as one man's descent into hell (the pit functions as a symbol obviously), then his progression into purgatory (the pendulum serving as a way to pass time or work off his sins), and then finally his ascension into heaven (the French soldiers freeing him symbolic of heaven by the sudden light shining into the gloom and the sound of horns heralding his release).


Now that you have read this, and seen some examples, I hope it helps you and gives you a clearer idea of what Symbolism is. Thought I would say, do not over use this in your writing, you do not want to confuse your reader, but you want to give them something to analyze at the same time. Once again I hope that this has helped some of you out, feel free to PM me with any questions or confusions you may have.

[Vaspira]

Dialogue


So the next topic is Dialogue, which a lot of people seem to think it is just a boring structural addition to one's writing. But it is not, it is VERY important in creating your story (or threads)! If you can use Dialogue correctly it will help your writing soar, if you use it incorrectly it will make it plummet and boring to your reader. With out Dialogue in your writing, your story reads like an essay would, and really who wants to read an essay? That is just plain boring, and I do not know about some of you, but I personally do not like reading boring essays.


People read stories to be entertained, to laugh, to cry, to gasp, to feel emotions from your writing. You have to captivate your reader with your writing, not with just one paragraph, but ALL paragraphs! Dialogue helps make your characters believable and interesting! They could have an accent or maybe they do not speak English (or common!) that well. Dialogue helps express your character to your reader.


I think they are a few concepts when it comes to Dialogue that people should focus on, but this is just my opinion mind you!

Understanding your character(s). This is really important!
Where is your scene going?
Keep it real, not fake.
Mix your Characters personality in with their Dialogue.


Understanding your Character

So this is one of the MOST important things when it comes to Dialogue, to me anyways. Because if your character is six-years old, you want their Dialogue to portray the way a six-year old speaks, not how you speak.

Would a six-year old say: "Mother my stomach is having terrible pains!"

OR

Would a six-year old say: "Mommy my tummy hurts!"


PLEASE tell me you picked the second one (lol) because it is the second one that would fit a six-year old language style!


Another Example!

Would someone that did not understand English very well say this:

"Thank you Sir for your help with that tire."

OR

"Thank for help."

The latter would be more accurate. So you see it is all about understanding who your character is. How old are they? Can they speak English? Are they intelligent or dumb? Do they have an accent? Are they unsociable and with drawn? Are they shy? Are they outspoken?

All these things matter when it comes to dialogue, so it is best to answer personal aspects of your character, then develop how their dialogue will read, practice it if you need to!


Scene


Scene is another important aspect to Dialogue, and I know that it is hard to know the exact scene when you are RPing sometimes, but maybe you and the other player should brainstorm these things before approaching it. Anyways, not only do you want to keep in mind the direction of the scene, you also want to look at the big picture. I’m talking about the plot, theme, and direction of the entire piece of writing.


So let us move on to a example:

The salt laden air drifted in the sleepy tavern from the sea, old lamps glowed lazily humming a peaceful tune. An middle aged man sat across from another older man, his wrinkled face expressing fright and shock as he whispered to the older man, "I swear it! I saw it Ken! Rolling on the waves, as big as three of these darn Taverns! Someone's going to be swallowed by that monster Ken, mark my words..."


So the scene is obvious, a Tavern near the sea, and two old fisherman talking. You can also see where the plot is going, the theme, and the direction of the entire piece of writing in this one example of simple Dialogue.


Make it REAL

So when you are writing your Dialogue you should also try and keep it believable to your reader. The read wants to see and hear the characters in their "minds eye."

An example:

Mother: "I love you, I'm so sorry, I just want to talk!"
Daughter: "You love me? Hah! You just do not get it. Leave me alone!"

The reader can sense the emotion being portrayed in this dialogue, it is raw and real. You do not want the reader to just READ the dialogue, but you want them to HEAR it.


Character's Personality in Dialogue

This is pretty simple to do. You just need to ask yourself, would my character say that? What emotion would the evoke in my character? Does the dialogue serve a purpose? Does this dialogue sound natural, real? Does this express who my character is? Would my character understand that language?


If you can answer these questions you should be on your way to figuring out the Dialogue of your character pretty easily!


Hope that this helps!

[Vaspira]

Developing Your Character

I think that one of the best ways to Develop a character is having a picture of that said character, then answering questions about that character. Which can be found ~HERE~

But if you feel intimidated by all those questions, you could just answer a few simple questions about your character, start out with the name and work your way to 20 different aspects of your character, then go from there.

Another useful thing I have found is these videos!






He has a lot of amazing Videos on you tube that are VERY helpful, so you should really check them out if you are interesting in honing your writing skills!

Another helpful place, is of course ~HERE~ as well.

I think if you utilize the information that is out that for you, you can really develop some great characters. Just start off with an outline of your character, then build off of that. I personally think it is hard to get to know your character COMPLETELY with out RPing or writing about them first, then they come to life and show their true selfs.

Hope that this has helped you out some!

[Elysana Demeni]

I'm wondering if you can give me some tips on writing dialogue in this context. The long nature of posts seem to make longer dialogue difficult without either interspersing it with lots of unneccesary description, or taking over the speech of another PC. How do you get around this?