Tips of the Trade

Just like it says, hopefully it can help people improve their stories. You might have seen some of these 'tips' in other threads before, this is a compellation of them.

#1
Always write your stories in a word processor program, or at least copy and paste it into one when you are done so it can run a quick spell check for you.

#2
Include proper punctuation, grammar, etc. You can catch most of these problems by using a grammar check.

Note: My spelling and grammar is pretty bad, I use spell check for most of my posts and all my stories.

#3
While writing comedy make sure to leave downtime between jokes for the people to stop laughing. If you tell lots of jokes in a short period of time people will start to wonder why they are laughing. The Three Stooges is a very good example of this space between jokes.

#4
Don't write just for the sake of writing, a few good stories are a lot better than a lot of bad ones. If you want to write something but don't have a good idea then don't write, wait until you get a good idea.

#5
When writing an ongoing story don't ask people for ideas, wait until you can think of your own. Once you start asking for other people's ideas it really isn't your story any more. I'm not really sure how to explain this =/

#6
Don't ask for feedback, if your story is good or bad people will eventually flock to your story. This goes the same for reputation but that doesn't seem to be a problem here....yet.

Feel free to post your own tips of the trade.

#7
"Another story about Warcraft" is damn boring, try to give your stories originality. Original stories about Warcraft are good, just look at Ghoul's Diary, but things such as "The path of the assassin" are damn boring...

#8
Why give up when you think about poetry? It is as hard as a normal text and often gets higher rating for the effort.

#9
Want to make a plain comic story where you give up things like scripting and descriptions? Expect to be trashed... unless you are really funny

#10
Don't forget what you are doing. If you have been writing the same story for a while and just got out of ideas, but are still willing to continue, keep something like a pen and a paper with you wherever you go. "You get the ideas on the weirdest of places" - SS

#11
"Don't be clever. Be professional. Like veterans of the subway-front beggar's gauntlet, agents have seen just about every trick that you can think up to get their attention, and they already know better than to take pity on you or be frightened of you - because there's hundreds more just like you with their hands out, wanting a free ride. Be a beggar, and you will be ignored." - Kafeete

#12
Try to have something inspire you when you write the story you are writing. Perhaps basing it off a situation you dealed with recently, or perhaps a certain person that keeps pushing you to finish it. If you don't have any motivation to write a story, it happens more often that no emotions will be placed in the story, and will automaticly become... lesser than those, which has.

Uh... yeah.

#13
Spend an hour developing a story, spend ten minutes writing it.

#14
Keep a backup of your story on your computer just in case.

#15
Have fun while writing the story :) If you aren't having fun doing it, don't do it. Noone is forcing you to write.

#16
Expect and accept constructive critism. If you don't want critism, don't post your story. The regulars here aren't trying to flame you, just simply help your writing.

#16
Writing is more of a way to express something, not the way its presented. Style is learned along the way, but ideas are now.

#17
Learn to gather up your ideas. Don't go crazy with new ideas and ruin the flow of the present story.

#18
Not all stories are the same. Don't fall into the idea that your story has to look or feel like something you see. Writing is an art.