The Writer's Block

Okay, so, if you weren't already in-the-know, I am a TOTAL grammar Nazi. If there is something wrong or spelled incorrectly, I will not be a happy camper...and there are a lot of you out there who tell me you struggle with grammar structure, SO HERE I AM!

USE SPELL CHECK. CHECK YOUR CAPITALIZATION, PUNCTUATION, AND SPELLING.

When you're writing a story, I'd suggest writing it in either some sort of document on your laptop, if you have one. That way, your computer will catch the errors you've made.

If you use your phone, read over the chapter you wrote and check it yourself before you publish, then I know that if you give it to someone else to read (that should be an OLDER SOMEONE ELSE like your mom or dad or an older sibling) then they might catch those sneaky grammatical errors you've made.

CAPITALIZATION: This is used at the beginning of every new sentence, names, and places. (PROPER nouns and the pronoun " I " in general)

PUNCTUATION: Use commas to break up the sentence when there is a pause, use semicolons ( ; ) to replace conjunctions, use periods, exclamation points and question marks at the end of your sentences (mostly dialogue w/ ? and !) and use quotes ( " " ) for dialogue.

SPELLING: use spellcheck or autocorrect or whatever. CHECK IT. It's vital for a good story. :)

DON'T BE AFRAID TO USE ACTIVE VERBS AND ADJECTIVES.

Okay, so this bothers me. People often write using ADVERBS, like you'll see sentences that read:

The man walked quickly down the street. He was late for his meeting.

As a writer, you really want to paint a picture in your reader's mind that SHOWS (do not tell me what I need to see. Stop that nonsense right now.) them EXACTLY what you want them to see. DESCRIBE. Don't go too overboard with it, there is such a thing as overdoing descriptions, but you want to set the place and the characters up by using active verbs and descriptions. Read the new and revised sentence(s) below:

The chubby man, blinded by taxi lights, shoved his way through the crowd. Unable to see where he was going, he began to rush through the open gaps, dodging angry glares. He glanced down at his watch, sweat breaking out on his forehead as he knew that he would be in immense trouble if he was late again.

See how much better it sounds? Not only does it have a better description, but it does this wonderful thing called TRANSITIONING. Know what that is? I'll show you. If any of you have read my stories, you'll see something like this sentence:

[LOOK! I described my eyes here!] [Can you see that I'm mad through my verb tense?]
My (green) eyes flashed angrily at the empty room as as I (stormed) towards the exit,
muttering to myself. As I (slammed) [Still mad...] my hand into the door, I realized something. Patting my back frantically, I turned around, trying desperately to see in the dark room, but I already knew. He had my seraph blades.

Okay, so do you see that I use commas a lot? They are your best friends. Instead of building a paragraph with a bunch of mini sentences, use TRANSITIONS. It's a magical thing. They help make your thoughts flow together nicely. (Commas can be viewed as transitions as well, technically speaking)

To help expand your view on transitions more, here's a link to a bit more detailed description.

http://www.writing.ucsb.edu/faculty/donelan/para.html

Third of all: DIALOGUE

Okay, this isn't hard. At all. Whatsoever. When you have someone speaking, put quotation marks around the dialogue, and separate it from each section. Here's how it should look:

(a chunk from my story By Your Hand)

“Are you okay?” The voice came closer, until I could make out a form, then an angular face. It looked like the new boy, Jem.

“I’m fine, thanks.” I muttered, hauling myself to my feet. It was unsuccessful, resulting in me falling again.

“I. SURRENDER. I give up. Luck is overrated ANYWAYS!” I yelled at the sky, hoping my mother could hear me.

“You’re not okay.” Jem’s voice held a tinge of amusement, gray eyes sparkling in the pale light of morning.

“I’m FINE.” I hissed. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I drew up my dirty legs to my chest, resting my head on them.

“Considering the awkward angle at which your ankle is bent, I’d say you weren’t okay.”

I glared at his annoyingly cute face. It was like trying to deny a puppy a pat on the head for doing something right.

“Okay, okay. I’m not fine. Happy?”

“Well,” Jem started. “You’re right. I’m happy. Fine. Great, even. You, on the other hand, look like hell run over by a truck.”

“Wow.” I laughed shortly. “Thanks.”

“You could be pretty, I think. Minus the mud and dirt all over your pale face.” He mused. “You do have very nice eyes.”

“Ah. Of course.” I gestured wildly. “My eyes.”

“They’re a luminous hazel.” He sounded indignant.

“Thanks. I think.” I rolled my “luminous” brown eyes and tried to stand up. I almost collapsed from the pain in my ankle, throwing out a hand to catch myself.

So do you see what I did here? It's really not that hard to separate your dialogue, plus it's easier to read and understand who is speaking. If you have any questions, ask!

CHAPTERS

This is just a bonus idea: When you write your chapters, don't make them too short, plus make a good cut off point that sort of concludes what's going on, but keeps the reader wondering and waiting for more.

Notes