Posted by Terris 14 years ago Report

These are all solid tips.

Posted by Throat_Wolf 14 years ago Report

Here's a couple:

First, my general pet peeve:

Teach yourself proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling if you don't know it. There's nothing more frustrating for me than reading a story that's good in most respects but has punctuation applied with a shotgun.

Nobody's expected to be perfect their first time out, but you can teach yourself not to make the same mistakes if you make the effort.

Don't be afraid to go back and rip things out by the roots. I've got a couple of stories I've been working on that just weren't working, and when I stepped back and took a look, I understood why—but I'm going to end up ripping about half of the bits out of the stories because they just weren't working. (I should have realized it and saved myself some trouble before I got that far, but sometimes you need a little distance to see these things.)

You may want to save anything you rip out just in case it might work better in some other story down the road.

And a bit of specific advice for vore: vary your point of view from story to story. Tell some stories from the point of view of the predator eating the prey, feeling him/her struggle in his/her throat—and some from the point of view of the prey, feeling the predator's throat squeezing him/her on the way down. (Of course, if you're doing multiple viewpoints in the same story you can do both.)

Posted by Imrhys 14 years ago Report

Thank you and right from the mouth of experience too. ^_^

Posted by plantdigger 14 years ago Report

"When you finish a draft, let it set a few days. I am always surprised what I see after this, even if it is the hardest thing for me to do because of my impatience. "

Glad you said that! That was one of the hardest things I had to learn as well. But It was also one of the most rewarding. I know there are people who can crap out a paper with zero spelling, gammer and punctuation errors but for the rest of us mortals, this is up there with remembering to wear sunscreen to the beach.

"Open a story with one descriptive detail (a color, a sound, a smell) and build from there is the easiest way to open any story. And makes getting started a lot easier."

This is also helpfull. I never realy thought about that untill now but your absolutly right. When ever I get stuck on how to start the first sentance, Ill think of this list of yours. Thanks!

Posted by Imrhys 14 years ago Report

Steven King said the first one, and 4ofSwords from around these parts told me the later advice after my first submission to the writing group, EPWG, over in "work to be shared".

You are most welcome.

Posted by The Swarm 14 years ago Report

"has punctuation applied with a shotgun."

Thats me unfortunatly.

Try to discribe events in a way the reader can understand and sympasise with, it doesn't have to be mundane but events readers can relate to realy help with imersion.

Posted by deletedaccount505 14 years ago Report

Ugh! Comma splices are more worst nemesis.