Prelude: Top Ten Things I'd Usually Advise New Writers

Before we start with the good stuff, I'm gonna let you in on a little something. Usually, you'll see me around in the threads going on about how you should, say, only let your story dictate how long your chapters should be, don't avoid cliches, don't avoid the word 'said,' etc. Well, here are the top ten things I'd usually advise people who are new or relatively new to writing. Let's start the countdown now, shall we?

10. Better a boring or overused plot with great characters than great, exciting and original plot but bland and two-dimensional characters.

A lot of people get hung up on avoiding cliches and twisting their plots that they usually end up confusing their readers. But don't you know that all you have to do is make well-rounded and interesting characters and let them drive the plot forward? When characters are developed strongly enough to have their own voice, they somehow start to drive the plot forward to the point that an author deviates from what they originally intended to in the story. I'll add in a part called plot-driven versus character-driven stories sometime later to explain this further.

9. A story is only complete if it resolves the main conflict.

Reverse logic: if you leave the main conflict open to your readers, your story is incomplete, even if you've marked it otherwise. Don't get me wrong; a lot of writers do pull off the open ending, although at least they closed the main conflict. But if you're a new writer, I'll automatically assume you're doing this for hype, so that you can keep your readers waiting for the sequel of your book. If you want to end your story in a cliffhanger, in some sort of a teaser for the sequel, at least finish your main story. A sequel is not a sequel if it' basically the continuation of the first story.

8. Read books.

This is one of the golden tips people give the relatively new writers out there. And this is a spot-on advice. Read books for inspiration, for something to add to your own story, for to improve your own writing. But on a darker side, a lot of writers advise newbies to read books for a list of something to avoid when you're writing your story. Not to be bragging, but I'm partly known to have successfully pulled off some cliched plot devices/elements, like the "guy saves girl from a thug" bit, and the dreaded waking up bit. And if I can, then why can't new writers?

If you have been reading my rant book, "HotShot's Hot Shots About Life," recently, you'll see in my writing tips parody (between chapters 12 and 13) that I made fun of someone who cited a famous author who pulled off the bit where the main character introduces themselves to the audience. The funny thing is, instead of advising new writers to read that famous author, that someone told the newbies to completely avoid that bit, cause chances are, they can't pull it off, no matter what they do. As someone who has pulled off the waking up bit, I guess it's safe to say that whoever that user is, she should fuck off and die in a motherfucking hole. Kidding! For God's sake, this is a writing tips book, not a rant book. Anyway, read books, even the horrible ones, and have a critical eye: "What did they do wrong? Can I pull this off in my own story?"

7. Find your own voice.

This should be advised to aspiring writers as early in their writing career as possible. Find your own voice. Experiment with anything. And I mean anything. The bad boy and the good girl, BDSM portrayal, a fictional world where animals like dogs and cats can interact like humans, anything. Don't even worry if it's "cliched" or frowned upon; just do it. You'll never know until you try anyway.

6. The story isn't defined by its length; it defines its length.

This is for those who have been asking in the threads for the ideal chapter length for stories. The answer is, the story defines it. If what you needed to say for a whole chapter is only contained in less than 500 words, then so be it. It may need improvement, but at least you tried. Remember, it's your own story; do what you want with it.

5. Roughly 50% of what is considered "cliche" in Wattpad aren't real cliches.

Well, at least it's less than 50% now. When I first started here, people just threw the word 'cliche' around that the word itself has become a cliche. Be careful; 'cliche' is a derogatory term. It means "overused to the point that it has completely lost its essence." Simply overused doesn't necessarily mean cliched, and for God's sake, just because you've seen it at least twice in your life, doesn't mean it's overused. Cliches are irrelevant to describing tropes; tropes are the basic story archetype. You can't call the entire bad boy/good girl trope a "cliche;" just a lot of the elements in it are cliched due to lazy writing and the basic following of a generic formula that a lot of writers don't care enough to modify.

Also, the word "cliche" is commonly used to define a trope/plot device/plot element that the person using the word personally dislike. Like I always used to say, "it's not that you don't like it 'cause it's cliched; it's cliched because you don't like it." So be careful when you come across the word "cliche" in here; it may completely mislead you.

4. More reads =/= better writing.

Okay, this is more Wattpad-related than writing-related, but as we all know, almost all new writers in here seem to be misled by the impression that the more reads or votes or comments a story has, the better it is. No, it's not. Because if it is, then you tell me, why else did I completely stop reading stories off of the Hot List two weeks into joining Wattpad?

If a story has millions of reads, chances are, they were here when it was legal for someone to directly promote their stories in the forums, when vote trading was legal, and when the Share Your Story club was still here. It was basically 10% writing, and 90% promoting. Or more like 1% writing and 99% promoting, since you can see that those stories are... in need of improvement. So don't fret if your story doesn't get that much attention; just focus on writing the story and you'll be good.

3. Never avoid the word 'said.'

If you look around in the forums, you will see a fair amount of threads that advises people to avoid the word 'said' because "it gets easily overused in the story." Newsflash: 'said' and 'asked' aren't meant to distract readers. If anything, using any of the 7269164918481226410 alternatives for 'said' are the ones that might distract a reader, especially if not used under the correct circumstances. Avoiding 'said,' probably one of the most pretentious attitudes a writer may possess.

2. Never, EVER, avoid cliches.

Tackled it a bit earlier; plot devices or elements that are usually done poorly, excessively overused, or accurately described as "cliche," aren't meant to be avoided. They aren't cliched because too many people do them; they are cliched because most people just aren't doing it right. Chances are, they are also cliched just because people personally don't like them.

1. Don't get too hung up on pleasing the readers.

I'vve come across a beautiful advice in the threads. According to the user who said this, there are two rules in the writing:

- Don't bore the reader.

- Don't annoy the reader.

But I'm gonna add a third one, the rule that tops the other two: don't get too hung up on pleasing the reader. Chances are, there are just too many things that bore readers, and that there are just too many things that annoy the readers. Hell, they are making us shorten our chapters just because Wattpad don't seem to care enough to make the mobile app interface user-friendly; readers are making us suffer for Wattpad's fault!

In short, if you try to avoid everything that bores and annoys a reader or a group of readers, your story will cease to live. You can't please everyone anyway; all you have to do is just write what doesn't bore you; what doesn't annoy you. Cause chances are, a lot of readers may be in the same boat as you. They may like what you personally prefer writing. Remember, it's your book; do whatever you want with it.

That's it; ten pieces of advise that can be useful for someone who is at as early in their writing career as possible. Again, I will expound each one of these advice later when we cover everything you need to know to take your story to its greatest potential. For the next couple of days, we'll be talking all about plot; what consists the plot of a story.