Hi.

Panda wrote:

[snip] If you're serious about being a
better writer then I would like to help since I remember when I first started
writing how difficult it was to get constructive advice.

Me too! ^_^

[snip] We talked last night
about how to make your characters come alive; read these two short chapters
straight through, and then analyze and pick them apart, looking for the
elements that make the characters "come alive". [snip]

Since characterization seems to be one of my strengths, maybe I can help 
out here also.

First off, for beginning writers, I suggest a character sketch. Write 
down the whole history of the characters you are going to use. Be as 
detailed as possible. This should give you a 'handle' on how they will 
react, think, talk, ect...

Don't rely on just physical descriptions. You can describe a character 
in detail and still have it be flat.
Nervous ticks or habits are wonderful. Does the character run it's 
fingers through its hair when anxious. Drum it's fingers on a surface, 
chew it's nails, play with it's hair, twiddle pencils, ect...
Describe body language in detail, these are clues we use in real life.

Describe a characters voice, use it. Is it sweet, tenor, a rumble, cold 
and clipped? If there is an accent, use it but make sure you can pull it 
off in the dialouge. (This is a hell of a lot harder than it seems.)
Is there a pet phrase?

Don't be afraid to go inside the characters thoughts. Use them as you 
would dialouge.

Make sure to give your characters flaws. Perfect people are boring.
General rule of thumb: The more powerful the character is, the more 
flawed it should be. (regular people with little problems are not going 
to be the 'movers' and 'shakers')

Heros and Villans: Whole huge can of worms. I don't really 'like' 
anti-heros, but keep the character traits of that 'type' in mind to keep 
your heros from going flat.
Villans: don't make 'em so evil that the reader can't find a spot of 
sympathy for them. After all, 'good' is defined by what side of the line 
you are standing on. A hero to the villan IS the villan and evil by 
thier definition.

You should be able to create a three dimensional, living, breathing 
character with out describing it's physical appearance at all. Give this 
exercise a try. ^_^
 
[snip]
 

Punctuation: Watch where you put commas and apostrophes. Commas often
go before the words 'and' and 'but' to clarify two different parts of a
sentence. Also note EXACTLY where commas are placed in dialogues.
Apostrophes can be a bitch. Compound words like "weren't", "we're" and "its"
and "it's" can
cause confusion if you forget or misplace the apostrophe. Readers ALWAYS
seem to pick up on those easily. Once you get those down it becomes
second-nature to write them correctly.

Yeah. What he said.
[NOT!]
(I personally use the hit and miss system of the great demon Apsotrophy. 
Sorry. It's not second nature to me, but it is getting better.)
Best advise I ever got on commas was 'put one where you would naturally 
take a breath.' *shrug*
 

Dialogue: Ever wondered how to write proper dialogues? Simple. Look in any
of your favourite novels (or fanfics<g>) and go through the dialogues
looking at the way they appear, who speaks when, how and when the
quotation marks appear and how dialogue fits inside a paragraph. That's how
I figured it out :)

Dialouge is one of the hardest things to carry off and have it sound 
natural.
The punctuation of it depends on how the quoted phrase and discriptions 
are structured.

Lets see if I can come up with an example:

He said, "No."

"No." It was a statement full of total belief.

Biggest thing to avoid in dialouge is the 'he/she said' syndrome. It's 
tempting, expecially when the dialouge is flying fast and furious, but 
avoid it at all costs.
Not every piece of dialouge needs to be 'marked' as to who (whom?) it's 
coming from. Also keep in mind that the dialouge and descriptions that 
accompany it are great places to develop/show characterizations.

Structure: Think about the way the story is "structured", in other words, how
the story unfolds. Don't be afraid to move parts around once you've written
them. It may not be for everybody, but I suggest you try creating an outline
for your story if it's going to be complex. Creating one doesn't mean there
isn't any room for spontaneity. [snip]

Excellent advice! I do a fast outline and keep it at the bottom of my 
story and add to it as I go. It really will help you keep track of where 
you are and where you are going. Now wether it ends up in the place you 
origionally intended is another matter. ^_^

[snip]

laying down a foundation for
your story is crucial for readers to understand where and who the main
settings and characters are. Things like setting description, weather, time of
day and character descriptions are things that some fanfic authors leave out,

[snip]

Huum...maybe think about what you're writing as painting a picture. Need 
all the background stuff to emphasize the main object of the image.
 

Discipline: Organization. Research. Proper punctuation, spelling and
grammar. Dialogue structure. Story structure. Story direction. Character
motives. Character personalities. Setting and character appearance.
Continuity. Logistics and plausibility. All of these things and more are
important to a good story.

All of these things ARE what MAKE a good story. You leave them out, you 
get a so-so story. ^_^

[snip]

It takes a long time and a shift in approach to become a
disciplined writer, but the improvement in the quality of your work and the
positive
comments are well worth the extra effort :)

Excellent advice, Panda-bear!
Glad you made the mistake in posting it to the list. ^_^
Well, there's my two cents. Use it or trash it as you choose.

(By the by...um...does anyone know the time difference between EST ((or 
is it AST?)) spit! Between Maine and Tokyo?)

Shannon
(who doesn't own an atlas...)
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(This space occupied by Samuri Surgeons and Choo-choo Sushi)