Redneck Gaijin wrote:

Well, while I'm at it, I may as well ask you all for a favor. One of the
reasons why I am not such a great writer is partially because I never
really have been taught HOW to write. I know that many of you believe
that one can not be taught how to write, and I agree in a sense. For
some, writing comes naturally. But for others, such as myself, the
ability to write never comes on its own, and must be hunted like a wild
animal.

Writing does -not- come naturally. It's usually a painful process of
creation, rehash, edit, proofread, review, reedit, reproofread...

	and practice, practice, practice...
 

What I don't know how to
write is a good story.

STEPS TO WRITING A GOOD STORY

<snip very useful list that has been added to my files, even though it
was all lessons, I had been taught a long time ago. Mayhaps, I'll listen
this time, ne?>

	Some addendums, more designed for the newbei's on the list...

Write, man, WRITE!

	In my opinion, the single most evil and unbreakable bad writing habit
is that of not writing at all. Writing without fatigue, writing as soon
as the idea hits, writing a story, completeing a story, and starting on
another. This all takes practice. Writing needs to be something you do
without thinking, the ACT of writing should come without thinking, at
any rate. If evertime you sit infront of your keyboard, you spend the
entire time, thinking about something else, listening to the CD,
half-watching an Anime, and above all, avoiding the actual process of
typing down your thoughts on paper, you'll find you'll never write
anything. 

	Practice, everday, on hour long stories, on brainstorming, on that epic
novel you know will never get done, just write. Write something inane if
you must. Break out a few ideas and do story sketches (I'll explain
later). The more you write, the easier it is to actually get out all
those wonderful ideas on paper. When I first started on the list, my
writing was insaitable, I wrote EVERYTHING, fics flowing like a
waterfall CREATED to beat the heck out of Salmon. Then, I took a three
month leave of absence, during whitch, I wrote nothing. When I
returned...  well, it's been a CONSTANT fight to regain my devotion. I'm
easily distracted, don't follow through with concepts and dissappear
from posting for days. I'm getting better (especially with my finger
almost healed) but it's a hard battle Ranma wouldn't want to face.

Get a Proofreader...

	Sigh, in the golden days, I had a proofreading contingent, twenty three
strong. Only about eight people reported in reguraly, but those eight
helped my writing skills TREMEDNOUSLY. Proofreaders spot things you
miss, those little errors and plot mishaps that whiz by you when you
check over your own story. Afterall, you KNOW what you meant to say,
you'll be surprised how often a writer's mind adds words and corrects
spelling mentally, leaving a seemingly perfect work... that has NOT been
perfected. Proofreaders see what you didn't, they also don't see what
you thought everyone could. They'll point out where it all went awry,
and gradually, you'll learn to catch it yourself. You can get a feeling
for what others want in a story (writing totally for oneself is all well
and good, but your audience is a bit... limited) 

	Oh, and get at least two, a second opinion can help immensly when you
dissagree with what a proofreader is telling you. I remember the
intresting disccusion Peggy, Ben & I (I think, guys , I can't find your
E-mail addresses, PLEASE get back to me) had over the seppuku scene in
Uses of the Knife. Lots of fun and VERY informative.

Prepare to suck!

	You'll leave plot points hanging, elipse far too many times, passive
sentance will flow like water and characters will OOC, IC like yo-yo's.
Read the remarks, weather the flames and keep going. Maybe your first
story WILL do well, maybe it won't, above all, get used to having no one
like it. It takes artilarry units up to five shots to properly guage and
aim a shot, writing takes even more... most of the time, you'll end up
firing blanks.

	Be prepared for rough comments, and learn from them. Does the poster
have a legitimate gripe? Or did your prose actually hit a nerve
(possibly a Good Thing tm) Either way, take nothing for granted and
never delete critisms out of hand. EVERY comment you recieve basically
says the same thing, write and improve your craft. Some will even tell
you how. As I've said before, a flame is MUCH better then no comments at
all, believe me, I know. 

	Heh, come to think of it, Redneck gave me the worst comments I've ever
gotten, I still look at them every now and then, just to boost my
resolve.

	Oh, and if you ARE being ignored, chances are that means your not being
understood. Clean it up, ask around to see if anyone has seen it (nows a
GREAT time for proofreaders) and repost. Or find something new to write,
when your done learning from the second project, you can apply that
knowledge to the first, making it accessible to the readers.

Finish What You Start...

	Heh, I'm going to leave that one hanging. Needless to say, this will
ruin your reputation faster then all the Cologne/Happosai lemons you can
come up with. People enjoy being teased and tempted, but if there's
nothing there when they have their appities at their wettest, they'll
eat you instead. 

	<Keener clears his throat, and smiles meakly, a horde of unfinished
fics and unexplored ideas lining the wall behind him>

Story Sketches...

	These are things not everyone uses, just as not every artist sketches
thumbnails before settling into a piece of work. I find, though, that
they help immeansly in keeping the plot straight and making sure your
not leaving any possible scenes unexplored. If you DO decide to use
them, it's also up to you to decide just how far you'll go with them.

Brainstorming phase- Where an artist would let his mind wander as he
sketches characters and mecha. This is where an author can take his idea
and see what other idea's the first one generates

Example: Suicide Blast 2, Ranma tries desperatly to train for his
upcoming fight with Ryouga, possibly their LAST fight ever.

Ranma needs to see Ryouga's technique
Akane meets Ryouga and is terrified by his eyes
Ukyo and Ryouga disscuss things
Cologne knows all about Jiatsu Bakuha and fears for Son-In-Law
Ranma will NOT give up on Ryouga
Ryouga vaporize something to show off 
The Dragon Ascension will NOT work on Ryouga
Ryouga has become a dead man
Ranma needs to transcend himself just as Ryouga has done
Akane is the key
A kiss that glows

Plot Outline Phase- Where an artist would draw REAL simple scenes to get
them in some sort of sequencial order in his mind, where an author snags
the scenes he likes from his brainstorming and puts them together jigsaw
style.

Example: Sucide Blast 2

Beginning Hook- Ranma stands, weary and battered but unbeaten before
Cologne, he WILL not give up!

Scene 1- Cologne accepts the training request, impresssed by Ranma's
spirit and asks to be shown what he plans to do

	<scence change>

Scene 2- Akane is cooking <shudder> as she refuses to have Ranma
considered the Mother by their future children. Then she remembers the
encounter with Ryouga

	<flashback>

Scene 3- Ryouga shows Ranma his new technique and gives him two weeks to
train. Akane tries to help Ryouga as the use of the technique seems to
cause him LOTS of pain, but he tearfully pushes her away and
dissappears.

Etc... (c'mon guys, you KNEW I wasn't going to give away the WHOLE plot
^_- I still have a few readers you know.>

Detail Phase- Where some artists go so far as to draw all the little
geographic shapes and mesures out all the lines of perspective, were
some authors detail more and more into the actual plot points. This bit
is the last bit and can be done as many times as you wish.

Example: Suicide Blast 2, begining hook and first scene

Ranma battered and in pain, tells cologne he won't give up
Cologne sits down and reasseses the boy, mystified at how many times she
does this, always finding something new.
Cologne realizes she can't stop the boy, he'll do this with or without
her help. 
Cologne tells Ranma just how dangerous his current path is.
Cologne accepts Ranma's request, though she fears for Son N' Law, this
is the only way she can help him.
	<Scene change>

	Ummmmm, that's all I can think of for now, most of it's just common
sense or completely optional. As long as you don't give up, you'll find
what works best for you. 

(Opinions are like Dimensional Mallets, everybodies got one, they're)
(just rarely lethal until someone gets Glomped!!!)  
      /  
 Oo
(~, )
 V