CloverReef

While I don't normally do this sort of thing, since this anonymous coward has decided to cross the lines between my role as a moderator and my postings here as an author, I'm going to actually respond.
For Masking Intentions:

Dear Anon,
First of all, I am a moderator, not an administrator. I don't hold myself out to be an administrator.
Second, it is "an admin" as opposed to "a admin." If you're going to try to belittle me, at least attempt to observe the very basic rules of grammar. I am also rarely ahead of myself, since I cannot manage bilocation, no matter how hard I try. You might also want to avoid using the pronoun "we" when speaking about yourself, unless of course YOU are the Queen of England or have other voices in your head.
The author in question was not begging for reviews. If you think that you are the arbiter of what constitutes a Terms of Service violation on this site, by all means report it using the proper channels. However, your sort of bullying and abuse is as much a violation of our ToS as is the practice of review demands. So really, are you saying that two wrongs make a right? You'll never manage to justify that, no matter how much you try. It's an infantile argument, and trivial.
As far as your comments regarding the site itself, you do nothing more than demonstrate your own ignorance. I volunteer my time so that this site won't go the way of other sites which have failed, vanished, or been so overrun with bullies as to be untenable. The entire staff is a volunteer staff. That means we donate our time and efforts because we believe in this site and the freedom from censorship it represents. Before you even attempt to equate freedom from censorship with anarchy, please go and read the Term of Service and Posting Guidelines.
You do nothing more than demonstrate your sole purpose here as one of harassment. Were I actually to give your sort of idiocy credence, I might even find myself offended. However, I'm merely amused. If you expect me to take you seriously, log in. Leave an email. Come out of the closet, dear Anon, and show yourself.

Blackbird Chapter 14
BronxWench
I love your words. ‘Lexicon’ is so much more interesting than ‘vocabulary’, and another of those words that reminds me of Skyrim. Thank you for not spoiling the end, even if my neurosis-turned-separate-entity is dying to know your thoughts, but I am one of those readers that reads reviews before I read the fics, so I appreciate it. 

It amuses me that you chose a line that I almost took out. You’re very good at making a writer take another look at, and appreciate their own use of the language, so thank you! 
Pippychick (for 13)
I’m so thrilled, I’m almost giddy. I think that’s the one technique I read about years ago and really wanted to run with: the use of other senses to bring scenes to life. I’m glad it’s working and I appreciate the validation. 

As for your comments on the events. You’re quite clever. 
(for 14)
In real life, I won’t even kill a spider, but the violent scenes are the funnest to write. As long as I can picture them well enough in my head so the descriptions don’t get muddied and the pacing doesn’t drag. 

LOL And here I am, when the chapters start creeping up on the 4k mark, getting all squirrely thinking ‘ain’t nobody gonna read this long!’ You mean not everyone has my commitment issues? Weird. 

Chapter 14 is up! Thanks for reading <3

With all the quality recent guides, I’m looking forward to “Writing the Deuteragonist and Tritagonist” with step one being “Look up Deuteragonist and Tritagonist in the dictionary.”

Fanfiction writing is excellent practice. It taught me a lot of things about character analysis, and eventually creation. Because usually we write fanfiction for the love of the characters, right? 
 
I think it’s subjective. In some senses, a character is a villain and a hero depending on their actions at any given time, but I tend to categorize characters based on their importance in my story. If they’re the central character, I’d say anti-hero, and if they’re the main conflict/opposition to the central character, then they’d be the anti-villain? 

I’m with Bronxwench and you, JayDee, on this one. I can’t really articulate it any better than either of you, though. I’m about 80% confident it should be “Snyder’s Summers Sexfest”.

I’m with Bronxwench and you, JayDee, on this one. I can’t really articulate it any better than either of you, though. I’m about 80% confident it should be “Snyder’s Summers Sexfest”.

I’m with Bronxwench and you, JayDee, on this one. I can’t really articulate it any better than either of you, though. I’m about 80% confident it should be “Snyder’s Summers Sexfest”.

Think of the “Summers Sexfest” as an event. If it were to need an apostrophe and an appended “s” to denote possession, or reference to the event, it would correctly be placed at the end of the event title: Summers Sexfest’s location, for example. So, if the possession is on the part of Snyder, then “Snyder’s Summers Sexfest” is correct.

Personally, I looove the antagonist role. I love a good villain, so naturally I have a looot of thoughts on this matter. 

I agree that the villain should think they’re doing the right thing in most cases. (Especially with new writers or writers whose strengths are not in the more naughtiness-inclined characters) But I also do think there are uses for the stereotypes. And the comical bad villains. If done well, a villain who knows they’re doing the wrong thing and loves it can be so friggin awesome! I think my favourite type of villain, usually reserved for the drama or survival genres, is the kind of person you actually find yourself rooting for and getting broken hearted over. Someone you can totally relate to and like, and want to see succeed even if you know they’re doing something they shouldn’t be doing. Like the opposite of an anti-hero. An anti-villain? lol. 

For every kind, though, especially the ones who you try to make sympathetic, you have to be careful not to try to make them sooooo normal and relatable they become uninteresting.

When writing a villain, regardless of the type you go for, I think it’s the same as writing every other character. The most important thing, to me, is to understand what motivates them, to get into their heads, to understand what they’re feeling. Even if they’re motivated by sheer LOLs. I need to see through the villain’s eyes, to feel their hatred, lust, frustration, love, or jealousy. Personally, I always need to love my villains, even if I want my readers to hate them. I was going to say more on that last point, but I’ve gone on long enough and not entirely sure what I’m talking about anymore because I have so many people chattering in my ear. 

Personally, I looove the antagonist role. I love a good villain, so naturally I have a looot of thoughts on this matter. 

I agree that the villain should think they’re doing the right thing in most cases. (Especially with new writers or writers whose strengths are not in the more naughtiness-inclined characters) But I also do think there are uses for the stereotypes. And the comical bad villains. If done well, a villain who knows they’re doing the wrong thing and loves it can be so friggin awesome! I think my favourite type of villain, usually reserved for the drama or survival genres, is the kind of person you actually find yourself rooting for and getting broken hearted over. Someone you can totally relate to and like, and want to see succeed even if you know they’re doing something they shouldn’t be doing. Like the opposite of an anti-hero. An anti-villain? lol. 

For every kind, though, especially the ones who you try to make sympathetic, you have to be careful not to try to make them sooooo normal and relatable they become uninteresting.

When writing a villain, regardless of the type you go for, I think it’s the same as writing every other character. The most important thing, to me, is to understand what motivates them, to get into their heads, to understand what they’re feeling. Even if they’re motivated by sheer LOLs. I need to see through the villain’s eyes, to feel their hatred, lust, frustration, love, or jealousy. Personally, I always need to love my villains, even if I want my readers to hate them. I was going to say more on that last point, but I’ve gone on long enough and not entirely sure what I’m talking about anymore because I have so many people chattering in my ear. 

Personally, I looove the antagonist role. I love a good villain, so naturally I have a looot of thoughts on this matter. 

I agree that the villain should think they’re doing the right thing in most cases. (Especially with new writers or writers whose strengths are not in the more naughtiness-inclined characters) But I also do think there are uses for the stereotypes. And the comical bad villains. If done well, a villain who knows they’re doing the wrong thing and loves it can be so friggin awesome! I think my favourite type of villain, usually reserved for the drama or survival genres, is the kind of person you actually find yourself rooting for and getting broken hearted over. Someone you can totally relate to and like, and want to see succeed even if you know they’re doing something they shouldn’t be doing. Like the opposite of an anti-hero. An anti-villain? lol. 

For every kind, though, especially the ones who you try to make sympathetic, you have to be careful not to try to make them sooooo normal and relatable they become uninteresting.

When writing a villain, regardless of the type you go for, I think it’s the same as writing every other character. The most important thing, to me, is to understand what motivates them, to get into their heads, to understand what they’re feeling. Even if they’re motivated by sheer LOLs. I need to see through the villain’s eyes, to feel their hatred, lust, frustration, love, or jealousy. Personally, I always need to love my villains, even if I want my readers to hate them. I was going to say more on that last point, but I’ve gone on long enough and not entirely sure what I’m talking about anymore because I have so many people chattering in my ear. 

Wait, so it’s starve a troll, feed a fever? I always get that mixed up.
But yes, agree with everyone that the best response usually is no response.

Well, this is a new one on me. On another site, some time ago I received a troll review which was full of swearing and nastiness. It was deleted and reposted again and again over the course of about an hour. Since the troll review was from a registered user, I took a screenshot from my notification email and reproduced it on my review page so that I could reply, thinking that would be the end of the matter. And it was… for a while.
This morning, I have a new troll, and I find there is a long rambling discussion about me on the comments section of the original troll’s story (I won’t repeat it – it’s pretty nasty), where they are encouraging each other to continue trolling. I’m hesitant about ignoring a public discussion of myself containing harrassment and namecalling, which leaves me with two options. I can either report the abuse right off the bat. Or I can calmly ask them to stop (on the review board where they’re having this public “discussion”), then report if they do not subside. The second option would seem to be preferable, but I don’t want to start some kind of flame war. I was thinking along the lines of:
 
So… what do you guys think? I am kind of at a loss… *sighs*
 

I wonder whether playing role-playing games early one helps one avoid the Mary Sue trap. Character creation in an RPG usually involves tradeoffs (or at least the odd bad die roll), so unless you are crazy lucky (or cheat like mad), your character can’t be perfect. As a result, you’re always thinking about characters in terms of their strengths and their weaknesses.

Little Red Part 2
Mona Thompson, I know, right? The ending definitely left it open for some continuation potential. Maybe I’ll do a sequel or a longer fic with these fellas sometime, if inspiration grips me. I’m so glad you enjoyed it; thank you for your reviews! <3  
Tiddly, I’m not modest, I love my characters too. That other people do is great validation, thank you so much. 
BronxWench, oh yes, I definitely battled with the urge to make Loto do all kinds of nasty things. I wanted this story to be less hardcore though because it was a gift, so thank god it worked! BTW you made me blush with the line you picked. I don’t often see peen in reviews, lol, and apparently I haven’t gained the maturity not to giggle and blush like a schoolboy. Thank you so much for the reviews!
Nyan, Much as I love an ugly-fied story, I try not to make things gratuitous. So I’m glad the bit of gore I did throw in there wasn’t too much. Thank you for the review! 
 
RamblingRobin, writing short stories is so hard! When I was planning this story I kept thinking up all these intricate plots that no way could fit under 5k words (and admittedly I probably wouldn’t have finished if I had breached my self-imposed word budget) And even the simple ones I came up with felt like they should be chaptered fics. I am definitely not a short story writer. What I’m really trying to say, I think, is that I’m hella relieved that readers enjoyed it. Annnd your review made me laugh, so thank you for that too. I don’t know if I’m making sense anymore. I’m pretty much asleep right now. Thanks!

As I recall, the word “snuff” was included in at least two of the story summaries for the stories I removed. Were it not for the larger issue of fan fiction for profit, I’d have merely hidden the other four and asked that the warnings be made clearer if I did not think the current tags were sufficient. After 6 years moderating for AFF, I’ve been sandbagged by more than enough unexpected content to be well able to know when tags need to be added. I read things every week I’d not read by choice, but I do it because I value what AFF stands for in terms of artistic freedom. And yes, we try very hard to make sure trigger issues are labelled, but the answer isn’t always simple.  
For example, I do not consider the Shota or Loli tags an acceptable substitute for Minor1 or Minor2. They are not clearly defined by age ranges, and are anime-specific. Similarly, Noncon is never a substitute for Rape as far as I’m concerned, and I will not accept Noncon in place of the Rape tag. We actually don’t have much snuff fiction here, and while we all might have varying ideas of what constitutes Contro content, we have a clear label for BDSM as well as for SandM. I’m not sure how specific you want Torture to be defined, but I’d strongly suggest having to add tags for every possible act of torture ever conceived of by the human race would be exhaustive to create and not terribly useful. Despite a personal fondness for the Wicker Man, I can’t imagine Ritual Immolation would be a frequent tag choice. 
Similarly, I would not recommend free-for-all tagging such as I’ve seen elsewhere. It would completely negate any ability to search by tags, a feature we’ve recently been able to expand, and one which has been requested for quite some time. 
But in this particular instance, we were asked to review newly posted material because of unlabeled content. A larger issue was revealed, which resulted in the stories being removed from the site, and which disappointed other readers. The long and short of it is that we’re not going to please all the people all the time, and in this case, I’m not sure anyone came away happy.

[Off topic]
I can’t shake this mental image of Resident Evil’s Nemesis in a dainty sailor fuku, going after Brad Vickers for snuggles and long walks in the moon light
[/Off Topic]

I am now known on the Archive as ‘PlagueClover’. 
This is a review reply thread for my fiction in general. Because I can’t be arsed to clutter the forum with separate threads for each story anymore.
Like most writers here, I’m insanely grateful to anyone who takes the time to drop an encouraging or constructive word or two. Even when writing is as natural/unavoidable to some of us as breathing, many of hours of work, frustration, and self-doubt go into our stories. Your support really makes it a thousand times more fulfilling and makes us feel validated and encouraged to soldier on. So if you leave encouraging and constructive reviews, even a simple “I like this”, you better believe you’re making someone’s day/week/month.
Review Responses:
Blackbird Chapter 13
BronxWench, I’m always in awe of how eloquent you are in reviews. I’ve probably said that a million times by now, but I said it again anyway. You seem to understand Malti and Lorelei’s relationship well, even with how little of them I think I’ve shown. 

I’m relieved Yew shone a bit this chapter. I really wanted people to see more of him and his pain. I think it’s important for understanding Bee a little better, you know? Thank you for the insightful review! 

Little Red Part 1
Addiena Saffir, to me, appreciation is very constructive. Thank you so much!

 
BronxWench, I friggin’ love the old fairy tales. My mom used to tell me about the original sleeping beauty story when I was a kid. I’m afraid this story isn’t even half as dark and twisted, but if I managed to capture some of that feeling, I’m fucking thrilled! The lines you quoted though, the oath one I debated a long time about including. I loved it but I worried it might be too cheesy, so I’m glad you liked it too! 
 
Mona Thompson, you’re right! He does! And there’s meat strewn all around them too, damn senseless humans. lol thank you so much for the review! 

Author: CloverReef
Title: Little Red
Summary:
A vicious man-eating beast has been devouring the local hunters and Ansel intends to stop it. He goes in thinking he’s hunting a simple wolf, but he’s wrong. There’s nothing simple about it.

This is a two-part re-imagining of the ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ tale.
Feedback: Absolutely! From simple encouraging words to constructive criticism, it’s all enormously helpful.
Fandom: Original
Warnings: Semi-anthro, violence, anal, oral, rimming
Length: 2 chapters
URL: http://original.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600108475 
Review Replies: 
 

This stuff is soooo important. I’m loving these guides you’re posting, and I hope everyone reads them, newbies and seasoned writers alike. Thank you! 

Writing Descriptions
 
When we walk through the world, we’re surrounded by a huge range of things, but we usually don’t notice everything in intimate detail. And that’s because much of what we’re surrounded by just isn’t that important to what we’re currently doing; it’s little more than visual background noise. So when your character walks into a room, just how much of what’s in that room should you describe?
In every situation, there are things that need to be described, things that shouldn’t be described, and things that don’t really matter whether you describe them or not. Some people might even cut it down to the first two I just mentioned, and suggest that you never describe anything that isn’t relevant to the story. I disagree with that. While it’s never a good idea to go waffling on describing a whole laundry list of irrelevant crap, mentioning things that might enrich the story in some way is never a bad idea. If it doesn’t enrich the story or a character in any way, though, then leave it out.
So what should you describe? You need to provide enough detail to allow the reader to create a visual in their mind that follows your guidelines but is still distinctly their own. People have their own imagination, and we all visualise things differently. By trying to describe every tiny, insignificant detail, you’re attempting to ride rough-shod over their imaginations and force your own into their heads, which can annoy enough to pull them out of the story. By giving your readers the necessary descriptive tools, you allow them to visualise the scene and fill in the blanks, rather than trying to do it all for them.
Some writers just love to use extremely flowery language peppered with obsolete words, because they presumably think this makes their descriptions better. Personally, I find this unnecessary at best, annoying and frustrating at worst. You shouldn’t need a dictionary when reading a story. A thesaurus is handy, but make sure your new favourite word hadn’t already fallen out of fashion when Queen Victoria was still a girl.
 
Describing rooms
Here’s an example of BAD description and BETTER description.
BAD:
Stephen turned the door nob and gently pushed the mahogany door, which eased open without a sound. It was a smallish room, perhaps about the size of an average bedroom, or maybe a bit larger. The only light came from a shiny silver candelabra which sat on the mantel over the unlit fireplace. The three candles cast dancing shadows around the room, but there was enough light for him to make out the details.
A well-worn three-seater leather couch sat in front of a low, rectangular coffee table. Strewn on the coffee table was a magazine called Country Life, an empty glass, car keys in a small silver dish and a circular metal ashtray filled to the brim with ash and cigarette buts. A wing-backed leather single seater sat near the couch, perched at an oblique angle.
The walls were lined with sideboards and glass-fronted cabinets, all stuffed with glass and porcelain ornaments and knick-knacks of all shapes and sizes. What little of the walls he could see were adorned with old-fashioned wallpaper, with stylised patterns of flowers alternating in vertical rows.
As Stephen stepped into the room, he felt the thick, shag-pile carpet under his feet. It was hard to tell the exact colour in the dim light, but he thought it was probably a dark red.
Taking a seat on the three-seater, Stephen’s first impression was that it wasn’t quite as comfy as he thought it would be; he could feel one or two springs pressing against him. It was only now that he noticed the gentle ticking sound, and saw the mantel clock sitting at the other end of the mantle.
 
BETTER:
Stephen eased open the mahogany door without a sound and stepped inside, feeling the plush carpet under his feet. A fireplace sat cold and empty, but a lit candelabra on the mantle cast dancing shadows around the room. The warm glow revealed a busy room bordering on cluttered, but it was the leather lounge in the middle that he made his way to. Leaning back in the slightly uncomfortable chair, Stephen’s gaze fell on the coffee table, showing a small assortment of objects including a glass half full of some dark liquid, but it was the ashtray that caught his attention the most. Ash and cigarette butts filled it to overflowing, with a dusting of ash surrounding it.
 
The ‘better’ description is certainly shorter, but that doesn’t make it worse. Does it really matter exactly how big the room is, that there’s three candles in the candelabra, the other single seater chair, the exact shape of the coffee table, the name of the magazine, the car keys in the dish, the ornaments, the wallpaper, the colour of the carpet, or the clock? I mentioned the ashtray because, in my mind, that has some relevance to the story. Also, describing the half-full glass suggests to the reader that there’s likely to be someone else in the house. If there’s nailhead trim on the leather couch, then mention that, but only if someone is going to snag their clothing on it later, or they subsequently find one of the nailheads elsewhere in the house. Perhaps there’s two empty glasses and a bottle of wine on the coffee table. Or maybe the ornaments are important. But for me, none of that other stuff was significant enough to warrant mentioning.
One way you could end up describing more of that room is by having the owner enter the room, strike up a conversation with Stephen and begin talking about some of his ornaments. You’ve already described the fact that the room is cluttered, so the fact that there’s ornaments in the room won’t come as a surprise. On the other hand, if the owner starts talking about the dog in the room then the reader is going to think, ‘Hang on, what dog?’. Adding detail a bit at a time is better than doing it all in one big block of text.
When you’re describing an interior, the most important thing is to convey the feel of the room. Is it sparsely furnished or cluttered? Brightly lit or dark and forbidding? Give them enough detail to provide the overall feeling you want, and leave them to furnish the rest of the room in their own minds. Remember, though, if there’s some object in that room that will have significance later in the story then you need to discuss it. The longer you hover over that object, though, the more you tip off the reader that this object is very important.
 
Describing external scenes
Describing external scenes can be a lot easier, at least as far as describing landscapes is concerned. Is it a forest dense enough to make it difficult to walk through, or an open forest? Open flat grass plains or rolling hills? You don’t need to – nor should you – attempt to describe every rock and tree. If the weather is cold or hot then you should describe the effect it’s having on the characters. Describe the ice and snow, and how he’s still shivering in spite of his warm clothes. Or how his sweat trickles down his face, and how the sun beats down on him like hammer blows. You shouldn’t need to specifically tell your reader what season it is; that’s what good description is for.
If you’re not an architect then describing buildings facades can be difficult, but who wants to read that level of intimate detail? If the style is important – Gothic or Art Deco perhaps – then describe it, but remember that you’re not writing a story on architecture. Describing the condition of the building is important if it’s run-down. Talk about the peeling paint, the cracked and broken windows, the holes in the walls, the kicked in front door; that’s if it’s an abandoned building. If the place is simply run-down rather than abandoned then you’ll probably want to dial that back a bit, unless you wont people to be surprised to find someone still living in it.
 
Describing clothing
It’s usually not important what exact clothes your characters are wearing. While you’re spending a full page describing in intimate detail what Samantha is wearing, your reader is working overtime putting all this together and visualising what you’re forcing down their throat. If an item of clothing that she’s wearing will later become significant then discuss that, but only in as much detail as strictly necessary. For example, let’s say Samantha goes jogging. You could mention that she’s wearing her usual tracksuit or active wear, etc, including her old and battered, but comfy, sneakers. You mention the sneakers because later, after she’s been reported missing, these sneakers are found. A detective talking to Samantha’s best friend describes how these shoes are her favourites and was dreading the day she would need to buy new ones, so there’s no way she would simply throw them away. So you could have initially had Samantha having an internal monologue about how these are her favourite shoes, etc, but that’s usually silly and unnecessary, especially when you could have her best friend later relate this information to someone.
If the character wears very weird clothing, then describe it; if they’re wearing an ugly tie, then describe it; if there’s something significant about their clothes, then describe it. If you want to convey the idea that it’s hot or cold outside, then describe it. Otherwise, don’t.
 
Describing emotions
There’s an old writer’s maxim: Show, don’t tell. You should never have a reason to say “Jeff was angry”. It should be obvious that Jeff was angry from your description. Facial expressions and body language are invaluable in showing what a person is feeling, regardless of what they’re actually saying. Does your character have a nervous tic? Do they blush even more than normal when they’re embarrassed? Or maybe they stammer a bit, or get angry? Do they always scratch an imaginary itch when they’re lying? It should also be obvious that a person is in love with someone, without you needing to type the word ‘love’.
 
 
Descriptions are vital, but they can also bore readers with great speed. Try and break up your descriptions over various scenes. Bite-sized pieces of descriptions are more palatable than big blocks of them every other paragraph.

Writing Dialogue
 
Writing dialogue can be a very tricky affair for novice writers, and even more experienced ones. So here’s some hints and tips on writing good dialogue.
 
There are very few stories where dialogue isn’t included. Some are dialogue heavy, while others are very light on dialogue, often because the writer isn’t confident in writing them. Dialogue, though, is an extremely important part of story writing. Dialogue moves your story forward; it provides important information; it brings your characters to life. If the dialogue isn’t believable then the readers pick up on that immediately and damages your story, often to the point where your readers simply stop reading. Dialogue is that important, yet it’s perhaps the one area where writers have the most problems with. If you wish to call yourself a writer – even an amateur writer – then dialogue is something you need to get right. So if you feel you’re bad at it, keep practicing!
The very first thing you need to do is to understand your character. This is vital for every story you ever write. If you don’t know your own character then how do you expect your reader to? You need to know how he or she thinks and feels and behaves. Once you do this, you’ll be in a much better position to know how they would talk.
The dialogue needs to be realistic. This is where many people go wrong. I’ll give an example of bad dialogue and better dialogue.
 
BAD: “Hello Jennifer, how are you? I haven’t seen you in a long time.”
BETTER: “Jennifer, hi! Wow, I haven’t seen you in ages! How are ya?”
 
In the ‘bad’ version, about the only people that would speak like that are unfeeling psychopaths. And no, I’m not kidding. There’s no emotion there at all; it’s like a robot talking. In the ‘better’ version, there’s much more emotion. You can tell the speaker is surprised and very happy to see Jennifer. Now, in my mind, the speaker would pronounce the last ‘you’ word as ‘ya’ in that situation, but perhaps your character would pronounce it properly? This is all about understanding your character.
Would your character use slang in their speech? Then use it! But you need to be careful about this. Some slang is not just local to only your country, but perhaps even local to just your town. If there’s lots of slang then your readers might soon get confused and not have a clue what’s really being said. A confused reader is an unhappy reader. If the other character is from out of town then this can give you a good reason to explain what various slang means. But remember, most people don’t speak in non-stop slang.
What if a character is a foreigner, where English is a second language? How do you portray that without your character coming across as a stereotype? This is… tricky. Very tricky, in fact. The problem is that stereotypes are there because real people can often actually fit that stereotype. For example, I have an Asian girlfriend and I’ve been to Asia, and the simple fact is, in many occasions, their English really does sometimes sound like what we might call stereotypical. For example, my girlfriend initially pronounced ‘broccoli’ as ‘broccori’. I nearly wet myself laughing when she said that the first time. Thankfully, she too saw the funny side of her mispronunciation, and worked hard at getting the pronunciation correct. But if you wrote your Asian character mispronouncing every letter L as the letter R, is that a good thing? To be honest, most people would see that as you simply being racist, even though you’re just trying to portray your character in a way that you see as accurate. So what’s the alternative? Perhaps have them mispronounce the odd word here and there instead of every one. Have someone comment on their very good English, thereby eliminating the need for the stereotypical speech at all.
If you’re not sure if your dialogue sounds natural then there’s a very easy way to find out: read it out loud. If it sounds awkward and unnatural to you, then it will sound that way to your readers. Next time you’re with a group of people, listen to how they communicate with each other. If you do that then you’ll quickly see that people are much more relaxed and casual with their speech when they’re talking with friends and family.  Proper English and well constructed sentences are frequently not adhered to.
On the other hand, though, people are usually a lot less relaxed and casual if speaking with their boss. Is your guy shy and nervous around women? Then that will reflect in how they talk with them, particularly a woman he’s interested in. As a guy who is shy and nervous around women I’m interested in, I’m all too familiar with this. Not knowing what to say is common, and if you do say something, saying the wrong thing happens a lot, and eventually walking away thinking “she thinks I’m a moron” is definitely not uncommon. But what if he’s a braggart overly blessed with self confidence? That will also reflect in how he talks with the opposite sex.
Remember, understanding your character is the very first step. The second step is to write your dialogue in a realistic, natural, believable way. If you’re unsure, read it out loud to yourself or to a friend. The third step is to keep practicing!

There are actually a looot of interesting word processors out there for free. I’ve tried most of them because I’m not a fan of the typical MS Word style. Too many features I don’t use so it takes up too much Memory. Like yWriter, which is designed by a writer for writers. It lets you plan and organize scenes and keep character lists in the writing file and much more. Downside was it cluttered the folder it was in, which was what made me ultimately stop using it. 

There are a lot of distraction-free processors (Designed to write full screen without panels/menus visible) , from simple no-bells-and-whistle ones, to slightly more complex. My favourite of these is FocusWriter, because it has a spellcheck and wordcount, and it allows you to customise the background so I can write on any picture I stick in it, from blue birds to half naked men to, I don’t know, Grumpy cat. These kinds of writers you’ll wanna pair with something like Libreoffice or WPS writer for formatting/editing.

But when it comes to ones like MS word, I agree with the others, Libreoffice is excellent. I like it much better than OpenOffice even if they are from the same vein. If you want something lighter with similar features, WPS writer is an excellent lightweight alternative, and Google docs is great. I use google exclusively for collab work, but I prefer to work offline for my solos with Focus/Libre combo (since I’m on Linux and WPS doesn’t work well on mint, sadly.) 

An unusual one I haven’t mentioned is Jarte. Some people looove it, some people hate it. It’s certainly different. Have fun with your return to writing! Trying new processors is fun. I envy you!