Questions

How many of us have made the big mistake of adding too many characters and too many plots in a short story? Well, I actually did. That was way back in my college days and I was tasked to make a short story but I ended up making too many characters that in the end, I did not submit it. Sometimes, our strong imagination can overcome our logic and we begin to pour all of our ideas and that often is the number one mistake for aspiring short story writers.

A short story is, well, a brief fictional or non-fictional piece of literature. This is why it is very important to limit the size and content of the piece. How? Here are some important pointers for short story beginners in order to save you from the frustration that I have felt.

First rule is to set a number of characters. A short story should only have a few characters. This is not an epic play where you deal with 20 characters and side-characters. By having a small number of players in this literary piece, the conversation, plot and the entire story is made brief and this is the basic foundation for a good short story.

The next thing you need to understand is the simple plot. Of course, we all love a good mystery and sometimes we cannot help but place intricate and skillfully designed plots in order to raise the level of surprise in a story. The only problem with this is that you also lengthen the story itself and this is not a good sign. The plot should be simplified, allowing the story to reach the climax in a short span of time.

These are the basics when it comes to writing a short story. For most beginners, keeping the content ” short, but sweet ” is a sound advice. Just because the story is brief doesn’t mean you have to take away the quality of the piece. If you want to be double-sure, try using an English writing checker or have the short story checked by a pro. Besides, writing short stories are meant to be fun, not a chore.

There you have it, my ideas on how to become a great short story writer. With more practice, you might become a master in writing them and you can earn a lot because of your talents. However, keep on learning them for now so that you will learn a lot.

These are the basics when it comes to writing a short story. For most beginners, keeping the content ” short, but sweet ” is a sound advice. Just because the story is brief doesn’t mean you have to take away the quality of the piece. If you want to be double-sure, try using an English writing checker or have the short story checked by a pro. Besides, writing short stories are meant to be fun, not a chore.

Want more story writing tips? Then I suggest you wait for the next articles that I will be writing with regards to short story writing. These will indeed help you in becoming a professional writer in the future! Who knows? You might become very famous and very rich because of your stories. Happy writing!


- Mary Simmers

How many of us have made the big mistake of adding too many characters and too many plots in a short story? Well, I actually did. That was way back in my college days and I was tasked to make a short story but I ended up making too many characters that in the end, I did not submit it. Sometimes, our strong imagination can overcome our logic and we begin to pour all of our ideas and that often is the number one mistake for aspiring short story writers.

A short story is, well, a brief fictional or non-fictional piece of literature. This is why it is very important to limit the size and content of the piece. How? Here are some important pointers for short story beginners in order to save you from the frustration that I have felt.

First rule is to set a number of characters. A short story should only have a few characters. This is not an epic play where you deal with 20 characters and side-characters. By having a small number of players in this literary piece, the conversation, plot and the entire story is made brief and this is the basic foundation for a good short story.

The next thing you need to understand is the simple plot. Of course, we all love a good mystery and sometimes we cannot help but place intricate and skillfully designed plots in order to raise the level of surprise in a story. The only problem with this is that you also lengthen the story itself and this is not a good sign. The plot should be simplified, allowing the story to reach the climax in a short span of time.

These are the basics when it comes to writing a short story. For most beginners, keeping the content ” short, but sweet ” is a sound advice. Just because the story is brief doesn’t mean you have to take away the quality of the piece. If you want to be double-sure, try using an English writing checker or have the short story checked by a pro. Besides, writing short stories are meant to be fun, not a chore.

There you have it, my ideas on how to become a great short story writer. With more practice, you might become a master in writing them and you can earn a lot because of your talents. However, keep on learning them for now so that you will learn a lot.

These are the basics when it comes to writing a short story. For most beginners, keeping the content ” short, but sweet ” is a sound advice. Just because the story is brief doesn’t mean you have to take away the quality of the piece. If you want to be double-sure, try using an English writing checker or have the short story checked by a pro. Besides, writing short stories are meant to be fun, not a chore.

Want more story writing tips? Then I suggest you wait for the next articles that I will be writing with regards to short story writing. These will indeed help you in becoming a professional writer in the future! Who knows? You might become very famous and very rich because of your stories. Happy writing!


- Mary Simmers

I need some sites that will give some pointers on how to describe characters, locations, and events. Most of the sites are not free, and I just want some pointers to help me improve my writing skills.
- honduranhansens

t several months, our content team has written over 20,000 trivia questions on 100s of movies, TV shows, video games and celebrities. We thought you might like a few pointers.

10. You cannot please everyone

It’s hard to balance questions between easy (for the casual fan) and difficult (for the die-hards). The casual fan wants to stay with what’s in the movie, and on the DVD case. The die-hard wants to be asked about the history of the film and its production, and probably has all the dialogs memorized. Be clear which type of fan you want answering a specific question correctly and get it out there. The fact that some people find the questions too easy does not mean others do not enjoy them.

9. Make each question stand on its own

Make it easy for someone to read your question and get everything they need to answer the question. It’s frustrating to have to browse up, down and around to get the context of an incomplete question. Don’t just ask the question: “Who punches first, the chicken or Peter?”. Someone playing will go, “Who’s punching chickens? What movie was THIS in?” You’ll probably get better reception if you ask: “On Family Guy, who punches first, the chicken or Peter?”.

8. Make every word count

How long do you scan the subject line of an email in your inbox before you decide to open it or trash it? 5 seconds tops? Same goes for a trivia question. Ask yourself if a user can scan your question in 5 seconds and get what it’s about. Make the question crisp, to the point. Pick a writing style. Be consistent with your choice of words so the user knows what you’re getting at easily.

7. Double-check your facts

Your mind can play tricks on you. You might remember something that didn’t actually happen. Try internet resources like Wikipedia and IMDB where you can read what others have said about a movie. Have you assumed something that isn’t there (or confused one character with another)? Checking facts is harder for newer movies, but definitely worth the effort. Remember, people really want that perfect score, and you don’t want a true trivia buff get upset at you for saying their correct answer was wrong.

6. Know your audience

Who is your question directed to? The horror movie buff? Or the Frat Pack fan? A 15 year old casual film goer? Or a 35 year old die-hard movie buff who’s watched every movie by a cult director in the theaters or on DVD the moment it comes out? As you think of your trivia questions, be clear on who you want answering your question correctly. That way, you can be sure that it challenges some who play, and educates others as well. It helps if you throw in a fun factoid about your correct answer, that pops up after someone has answered your question.

5. Mix it up so it never gets predictable

Here we are talking of the structure and grammar of your question. Let’s say you love the video game “Gears of War”. What if a string of 20 questions came at you, and every one of them started with: “In Gears of War, what…”. Wouldn’t that get boring? On the other hand, you will probably enjoy answering the same 20 questions, if each one was phrased a bit differently. Move the game title around in the questions to different spots. You will have more fun reading and playing, right?

4. Stay away from obscure numbers and fringe facts

People play trivia for fun, not to be quizzed on what they barely saw in a movie or game. So no trivia on that phone number that flashed in the middle of a thriller movie. Or the room number where the evil guy stayed in a horror film. A good way to not be obscure is to write trivia after seeing the film, than during the film. The film will confirm details, but don’t study every frame to dredge up facts nobody remembers. If you can’t explain why it’s important to the movie, then you probably shouldn’t do trivia on it.

3. A photo or image can be more than eye candy

There’s many a great trivia question hiding behind a photo that relates to the movie, or TV show or video game that you want to write about. If you do have a photo you could use, try crafting a question around the photo (instead of throwing in the photo later into the mix as an after thought).

2. Know how you want to be known

Do you want to be known as the ultimate expert on a specific movie, TV show, video game, actor or celebrity? Or are you a lover of a whole movie genre or pop culture area? If it’s the latter, then show your range with the depth and variety of questions that you submit. Remember, with every question you submit, you are developing your reputation within a community of fellow trivia and entertainment fans.

1. Don’t write when you don’t feel like it

The best trivia questions take life when your brain cells are popping with creative ideas. It’s no different than being in the mood for any form of creative writing, be it a short story, a blog post, a novella. Anything good that’s worth sharing with others just cannot be rushed. If it isn’t working for you, take a break, go for a walk. Then get back to it a bit later.

Finally, you’ve read all this, but still don’t feel like writing trivia questions? Then just don’t. You can always just play trivia games instead.


- Liz Nast

r who can turn out stories or articles that make people laugh, or even simply bring a smile to the reader, are more in demand today than at any other time. If you are fortunate enough to have a natural ability to make people laugh, then put it to good use.

For the writer who feels he or she can contribute to the sum of human happiness, here are a few pointers on how to make a success of it.

1. The first thing to remember is that humour is subjective. What is funny to one person may easily leave another cold. This depends on both style and subject matter. There are two approaches you can take here. (A) Write in your own style in the way that pleases you, because if it makes you laugh then there will be a whole audience out there with the same sense of humour as you who will plug right in to what you’re offering. Alternately (B) write humour that will appeal to a wide range of readers by choosing subjects that have universal appeal. For instance think of the trials of life: growing up; the childhood and teenage years with their growing pains and foolishness; married life; growing old. All have a wide appeal.

2. Humour is grounded, believe it or not, in the serious things of life and in those universal truths of life. Take, for instance, sit-coms like ‘My Family’, ‘The Royale Family’, ‘Frasier’. They all deal with real, if exaggerated, life experiences. Bill Bryson has made a name for himself by writing humourously about his travels in both the US and England. He has taken his real life experiences and brought out the funny side.

3. When writing short stories or novels it is important to remember that your reader must laugh WITH your characters and not at them. Taking your characters though embarrassing, unfortunate, even dangerous episodes requires that the reader feels sympathetic towards the character whilst at the same time laughing at the situation they are in.

4. When writing a story make sure you vary the plot by bringing in scenes of tenderness, pathos and seriousness every now and then. This will add a dynamism which takes the reader from the heights of hilarity (we hope) to the more down-to-earth and thoughtful scenes. This way the pathos will emphasise the humour and vice versa. A story that goes from gag to gag from start to finish will lack the highs and lows that any story needs.

5. What makes people laugh the most? Someone slipping on a banana skin is practically top of the list. Or someone sitting on a deck chair which collapses. In such cases the observer, or reader, is, or should be, laughing at the situation but not at the unfortunate person. Your humour needs to reach that spot in the heart and mind of the reader that makes them say ‘That could have been me’. As well as making the reader laugh try to bring out the sympathy and compassion in them as well.

Whatever style of humour you have, there is an audience out there waiting for you, so go for it. Just watch where you’re walking!


- Mervyn Love

I am interested in finding a Literary Agent for a Biblical Fiction book that I am writing. Can anyone give me any pointers for finding one?
Biblical Fiction is different than Christian Fiction–my story is from the Old Testament, and is NOT evangelical. It has no Christian message, is merely the re-telling of a fairly unknown Biblical Story.
- GLSigma3

I have a great idea for a novel, but i have no clue on how to start writing it!
I have tried plotting, but i always get carried away with it, and never start actually writing.
I was wondering if any of you out there could give me some pointers on how to start writing.
I was also thinking of maybe steering this idea towards a graphic novel area.
Any pointers?
- dboll719

I am going to start writing short stories to my school paper and I need tips.
- Eonlord