Description
Every story needs description. But not every author knows how to do it! The answer is quite simple, actually.
Step one: Showemotion. If it's an emotion, show, don't tell. We don't want to know, "she was angry". We want to know, "her face was red as a beet, and her fists were balled up by her side as it took every ounce of her self-control to
stop her from hollering".
Limit the description to about 1-2 sentences at the most. Otherwise, you'll be rambling on and on about how angry she was.
Step two: Tell feelings. We want to know, "she was tired that morning". We don't want to know, "she could barely keep her eyes open as she sleepily stumbled around". Otherwise, the whole story will be descriptive. Pretty simple, right?
Affect or effect
Honestly, who doesn't have trouble with this one? Surprisingly, you'll find that the answer is simpler than you could ever imagine!
The AVEN technique:
Affect-Verb Effect-Noun
Or: Affect is the action. Effect is the end result.
Too confusing? Use the word "impact" for either situation!
Inspiration
Personally, I find this one most important. How are you going to write a story if you don't know what's to write about?
Step one: READ BOOKS! I honestly can't emphasize how important this is. You've pretty much got zero chance of writing a good book if you don't read some. Here's why:
•Finding good books and reading themwill help you understand how to make your books better by seeing examples
•Reading may help you find some ideas that you like (for instance, if you like books told form an animal point of view, you may want to write a book from an animal point of view)
•It could help you clear up some things you're unsure about in writing, like how to start a story, describing characters, etc.
Step two: Writethe book you want to read.
Have you ever thought, "man, I wish that there was a book about dragons and how they met humans" or something similar? Not about the dragons, but wishing there was a book about...something. Well, chances are that barely anyone else thought about that
too. So, instead of waiting for someone to write aboutwhat you want somebody else to write, write it yourself! It's as simple as that.
If you have any questions, ask me!