Gnome

I just read about palatable tension and thought that deserved a mention here.

'Best of Friends' by Lunarwench http://original.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600095632

Actually if you're going to use a speech tag said is the best word to use. It is invisible. It lets teh reade know who is speaking without them realising they are taking the information in. As a result it keeps them in the story. In a conversation between two people once you have established who is talking the reader can usually follow the exchange from one person to the other without reminders. Personally I avoid all speech tags though and go in for action tags. That way you can convey emotion at the same time. Where a speech tag tells the reader who is speaking an action tag can show who they are by how they react to a situation. For example: Ok so I took liberties with the characters. I have no idea who they are. But I gave them personality. I made Phil dangerous. Joe wary yet for some reason biddable to Phil's whims. Vivian seems to manipulate the boys for her own amusement. Why? Who knows. That's for the rest of the story to find out. I decided to make Joe the POV character and looked at the situation from his perspective, though only lightly. If this were my story I would embed myself more deeply in his psyche. Or at least the psyche of whoever the POV is.

I would suggest googling the three act structure and the Hero's journey. They aren't the be all and end all but I've always found them a good place to start when it comes to planning a story. In general, if you don't know where to go next, throw your character into a pit of lava. This pit of lava may be a new relationship, a drunken one night stand, a stabbing, or quite literally a pit of lava. In other words conflict. My issue is that I can always blitz out the first 'Act'. I love throwing my characters into trouble. Solving the trouble? Not so much. The second Act hits and suddenly I'm floundering. So I use Act I to get to know my characters. When I start to drown I down keyboard, pick up pen and plan my story in a flowchart. What I want to happen. Where I want to go. Usually new ideas will leap out at me. I have a much higher ratio of finishing a story if I've gone through this step with it. The plan isn't fixed. I can add or change or take away as I wish. The point is I have something to aim for. My best dialogue always comes to me when I'm far from computer or paper. Always write it down the moment you have a chance because no matter how often you tell yourself you'll remember, you won't. If you want to improve your dialogue evesdropping may not be moral but you'd be amazed what can come out of people's mouths. Reading also helps. Never stop reading. Even reading crap can help because if you can pinpoint what makes it crap then you won't make those mistakes yourself. As for describing the setting, show it as your character experiences it. Use all the senses. You don't need every detail. Readers will build a picture in their mind of a log cabin or a five star suite and they won't all be the same. It doesn't matter if your imagination put the chair Jack fell over on the right of the room and mine put it on the left. How many of us have seen films of our favourtite books and said 'That's not how I imagined it'? So rather than telling your reader what the surroundings are like, let them know through action only what is important to your character.

The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler - Fantastic for anyone who needs help in particular with structuring a story. It breaks down the hero's journey into twelve steps which can be great building blocks for new writers. After all it's easier to follow rules until we know how to break them. On Writing by Stephen King - This one has already been mentioned. Both of the above are easy to read, even when tired. I read them on the the train commuting between London and home. If you're only going to read one of these two though I'd point you at Vogler.

I'll second that.

That really depends on the POV I'm writing in.

What a great little story, foeofthelance. I see an epic in the making.

*waves*

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This makes me think of the song Schaudenfreude from the musical Avenue Q. You should look it up on youtube. I can't say I enjoy public speaking. I tend to psyche myself up and build up a huge adrenaline buzz, and then bounce my way through it. I'm more afraid of speaking to strangers on the phone. I hyperventilated the last time Mum shoved the phone in face and told me to speak to the scientist dude friend of hers that could give me work experience. The time before I burst into tears. Mum still tells me I just need to keep doing it. Shudder.

Everyone should read Ender's Game by Orson Scot Card once in their life.

Well it made me laugh I'll give it that, but on an ordinary day I would have stopped reading at the first line.

Tub?

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That's a wonderful analogy! On a more relevant note, in my opinion all reviews are precious. They are so hard to come by (when you take into account hits compared to reviews) they have to be. Some reviews, however, are more precious than others.

I really like Melrick's suggestion. It's simple, gives the reader an idea, but also frees each individual's imagination. I'm a minimalist when it comes to character description, clothing or otherwise. Setting and actions paint the picture.

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There's something in it. My original piece does ok for itself. 19 reviews, five chapters, been up for about a month. It is not sexually explicit. It will have slash elements but I'm not sure how far it will go. I posted a very bizarre, slashy Inuyasha story yesterday (Sess/Inu) and got 15 reviews in about 24hours within about 400 hits. I was rather surprised by that one to be honest. My slash oneshot on the other hand sucks up hits, probably from people looking for smut, but it's actually an experimental piece into plant and nature metaphor. Only the one review.

Way, way back on FF.net before the great crackdown. I was just bobbing along through a few fics minding my own buisness when WHAM! It sent me running for the hills. Then I got curious. Now as of March 2008 I've started writing slash too.

I don't believe in writer's block. I believe in procrastination. Sometimes I spend far too much thinking about writing when I should just get on and do it. Even if the words aren't there if I sit down in front of a blank screen, or a new chapter, tell myself I'm not allowed to move until I've written something, and jab out some nonsense, the words usually start to run. If it really isn't working then either I'm trying to pull a story from no inspiration or somewhere a long the line the plot has derailed. I try and tweezer out a few words a day. Sometimes it's agony. Sometimes the flood gates open.

Firstly, Before thinking about publication, finish the story. 99% of started stories are never finished. You should not query publishers and/or agents without a finished project. And by finished I mean rewritten, edited and polished then put in a trunk for three months before repeating the tidying process. Secondly, never give up hope. This book may not be the one to make it, nor the next. But the more we write the more we grow as writers. I got so far as to meet an agent and have rewrites requested when i was 18. Even when they eventually turned me down they asked to see my next project. That was two years ago and the project they wanted to see though drafted, I am not happy with and it will stay in the graveyard of my computer until I can think of a solution. My point is, if you persevere you will get there. I've been researching the book market since I was 13, learning the ins and outs of submissions, learning what houses like what genres. The novel I mentioned above that garnered interest was my third completed MSS. That doesn't count the stories that hit 10,000words and fizzled off. My first two MSS will never again see the light of day. I even find the third one hard on the eyes when I look back at it. But that is because I'm still writing and improving, a process that will never end unless I let it. Now if only I could come up with endings to go with all the stories Ive started.