Story writing and posting

From ADISC Answers Wiki

Guide to Punctuation

This guide was written to help those who like to write stories, but are not sure how to use certain punctuation marks. It is separated into sections. Anytime a new section starts, it will be indicated by italics. Bolded phrases and words, are examples for what I am talking about. Nearly everything has an example, so it should be easy enough to understand. Please note that this is not a full guide; it only covers the punctuation that people struggle with the most.

Commas

Use a comma at the following:

1. Between a list of three or more words.
   Up, down, left and right.
   
   
2. Before a conjunction.
   1. When "but" or "for" are used.
      I wanted to kayak, but the river was too rough.
   2. When "and" or "or" are used, the comma is optional.
      • The flag is red, white, and blue.
      • The sizes are small, medium or large.
        
        Both are correct.
3. To give additional information.
   1. To indicate contrast.
      The ball was blue, not red, and fairly small.
4. Where the phrase could be in parenthesis.
   The recipe, which we haven't tried before, is very easy to follow.
5. Where the phrase adds relevant information.
   Mr Johnson, 54, went fly fishing for the first time three years ago.
6. Where the addition is not necessary to the meaning of the sentence.
   Mr Johnson, who enjoys fly fishing, ran his first marathon five years ago.
7. Introductory or opening phrases.
   • In general, sixty-eight is quite old to run a marathon.
   • On the whole, bears only attack when riled up.
8. Following "for example", "that is", etc.
   • You should use commas, for example, around 'for example'.
     There are some exceptions: namely, when using abbreviations.
9. Where a pause is required, to make the reading more natural.
   • This pause is normal, don't panic.
10. To avoid confusion.
    To Jeff, Jack left his stamp collection.
11. In address or quotation.
    1. When addressing someone by name.
       So, Mr. Murray, I'm sending you to Mongolia.
    2. When quoting direct speech.
       And then the boss said, "I'm sending you to Mongolia."

Colon/semi colon

Use a colon:

1. Before a list, summary or quote
   1. Before a list:
      • I could only find three of the ingredients: sugar, flour and coconut.
   2. Before a summary:
      • To summarize: we found the camp, set up our tent and then the bears attacked!
   3. Before a quote.
      • As Jane Austen wrote: "it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."
2. To complete a statement of fact.
   1. Where the colon is used in place of "the following" or "thus."
      • There are only three kinds of people: the good, the bad and the ugly.

Use a semi-colon:

1. To link two separate sentences that are closely related.
   • My parents came home today; they had been away for a week.
2. In a list that already contains commas.
   • Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry; Babylon 5, by JMS; Buffy, by Joss Whedon; and Farscape, from the Henson Company.

Quotation marks

Use quotation marks:

1. For direct speech.
   • Janet asked, "Why can't we go today?"
2. For quotes inside quotes, use single quotation marks.
   • Tom said, "So then Jack told her 'I don't want to play with you' and Janet cried."
3. For words that are defined, that follow certain phrases or that have special meaning.
   1. Stating a definition.
      • 'Buch' is German for book.
   2. Following phrases such as entitled, marked and the term.
      • The book was signed 'Stephen King'.
   3. Special meanings, noting inaccuracies or misnomers, etc.
      • The 'free gift' actually cost me forty dollars!

Apostrophe

Use an apostrophe:

1. With nouns (plural and singular) not ending in an s add 's.
   • The children's books, the people's parliament, a Mother's pride.
2. With plural nouns ending in an s, add only the apostrophe.
   • The guards' duties, the Nuns' habits, the Joneses' house.
3. With singular nouns ending in an s, you can add either 's or an apostrophe alone.
   • The witness's lie or the witness' lie. (be consistent)
   • Exception: ancient or religious names.
     • Jesus' strength, Achilles' heel.
   1. For common possession, only add 's to the last name.
      • Janet and John's house
   2. Where possession is not common, add to each.
      • Janet's and John's homes
4. Pronouns. With the exception of "one's", pronouns, (its, his, hers) do not require an apostrophe.
5. To indicate contractions.
   1. Where letters or numbers have been omitted:
      • The summer of '69, the house wasn't at its best, that isn't the right way, it's not bad.

Hyphen

Use a hyphen:

1. To avoid using multiple letters in succession.
   • re-evaluate [reevaluate]
2. If the root word is capitalized.
   • pre-Christmas, anti-European
3. With specific prefixes and suffixes.
   • self-sacrificing, all-seeing, ex-wife, vice-chairman, president-elect
4. To avoid awkward pronunciation.
   • un-ionised [unionised], re-read
5. Where a list of words each have the same prefix or suffix.
   • pre- and post-recession, over- and under-weight
6. To form compound words.
   1. For clarity.
      • sit-in, stand-out, Mother-In-Law
7. In compound adjectives that modify what they precede.
   • blue-chip company, devil-may-care attitude, up-to-the-minute news
8. With fractions, numbers and initial letters.
   1. With fractions and numbers between 21 and 99.
      • one-half, sixty-four, twenty-eight and three-quarters
9. Words that start with a capital letter
   • X-ray, T-shirt, U-Turn
   • Brackets/Parenthesis

Parenthesis

Use a Parenthesis

1. To clarify or to inform.
   • Jamie's bike was red (bright red) with a black stripe.
2. For asides and comments.
   • That bear was blue(I kid you not)!

Use square brackets:

1. For editorial information, etc.
   1. To amend or supplement the given details.
      • His first book [The Color Of Magic] was written in 1989.
   2. To replace phrases for clarity or brevity.
      • [The motion] stated that all Manbearpigs must be destroyed.

Other marks

Use a dash:

1. For emphasis.
   • The book was great- a really good read!
2. For explanation or addition.
   1. In place of brackets or commas.
      • The Lost City of Faar- the second book of the series- was released in 2003.

Use an ellipsis:

1. To indicate missing words in a quotation.
   • "The sight was awesome... truly amazing!"
2. To help indicate stress or fear.
   • I couldn't see anything around me... everything was pitch black.

Blarg's guide

This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling. You can assist by editing it now. A how-to guide is available on Wikipedia.

Characters

Drizzt Do’Urden is a Drow Elf Ranger Artemis Entreri is a Human Assasin Twinkle & Icing are Drizzt’s two Scimitars. Charon’s Claw & a Jeweled Dagger are Artemis’s weapons.

Now I’ll give you two types of scenes.

Normal Scene (Nothing out of ordinary going on)

Drizzt watched Cattibrie and her Husband to be- Wulfgar walk off into the distance holding each other in their arms. Wishing for things that should not be said Drizzt turned around and began to walk in the opposite direction of the pair. The grand halls of Mithril Hall which Bruenor had claimed as his rightful kingdom were massive and made the drow feel insignificant. Though he was on friendly grounds the elf simply didn’t feel right walking in the open so he took to the shadows and walking down those grand halls as silent as death itself. Not too far behind the coal skinned elf an unacknowledged human, Artemis Entreri began his equally silent pursuit of the drow ranger.

In this passage a seemingly insignificant one with the exception of the mention of Artemis. And the scene was not an introductory one so immense details were not necessary- if one would be reading the book this was out of they’d know how things looked like for a scene took place prior to the parting of ways and pursuit. I used a bit of details to describe things that had been already described to simply continue the image of grandeur of the hall and the image of the drow being black skinned. It is also very important to be able to use similes and metaphors- I only used a simile because I found it necessary at that one point, “… took to the shadows and walking down those grand halls as silent as death itself.” I underlined the simile and the part that initiates the simile is in bold as well. For those who do not know what a simile is here are the definitions:

Simile

When you say "the rugby ball was like a giant egg, which he held carefully while he ran" or "the cat leapt onto my shoulder and her claws, like thistle spines, pricked my skin painfully", you are using simile. 'Simile' literally means 'like' or 'the same as'.

Metaphor

On the other hand, if you say "the rugby player cradled the giant egg ball" or "thistle spines pierced my skin when the cat leapt up", you are using metaphor. You are describing something as though it is actually something else. In one of my poems I call a dark cloud "a raven's wing". That's metaphor. I don't say the cloud is like a raven's wing. I wrote a poem called Silken Things which is full of metaphor because the things are none of them actually made of silk

You also want to keep describing things as they exit the scene even though you have no further use of them such as the part where I describe the couple leaving. Though they play no part in the coming action- at least in no immediate way I describe their exit either way to add some kind of realism for in real life people don’t simply meld away. You also want to give insight to opinions/beliefs and thoughts of your character such as when I said what he was thinking but not directly for this is a common passage and thus things should not be repeated for nothing new is being introduced and it is written with the assumption that you know of Drizzt’s feelings for Cattibrie even though she’s to be married. I did not add dialect in that paragraph but it is recommended that you have conversation partake regardless of the

Special Scene (Battle for this one):

“So we meet again, Artemis” Said Drizzt almost spitting out the man’s name. All the human did to regard the insult was smile for the exchanging of words had never been his strong point nor something he liked to partake in. He exaggerated his movements to his weapons as he kept his eyes locked with the passionate elf. “This is where you come to an end assassin.” With that word used as cue the two launched their bodies at one another initiating a flurry of blades. The first to strike was Drizzt leading with his right scimitar- Twinkle he left a trail of light emanated from the scimitar as it swooped in to Artemis’s unprotected legs. The blade didn’t get anywhere close to the man, the strike had simply been one of initiation. Drizzt’s lavender eyes shone in determination and was met by the assassin’s cold gaze with lack of any passion. Artemis had jumped slide in the opposite direction of the previous strike and was already using that momentum to his advantage by launching himself into a spin of blades as the drow pressed on with strikes growing more precise… and deadly than previous.

Special Scene (Intimate)

Drizzt stared into the fiery woman’s eyes his eyes holding her gaze and both refused to look away despite for the biting wind rolling across the tundra. Both of them knew now, no matter how much both tried to deny it that they were in love- forbidden love. Cattibrie was a woman who was a bride-in-waiting after all and yet she was falling for an elf many years older than herself and that elf was a drow to top it all off. But nothing mattered for when she looked into Drizzt’s eyes she saw passion, fiery passion so much like her own for he had a cause in this life. His slender yet strong limbs had always strove for the elimination of evil. His ebon skinned hand had never struck those who did not require striking. He was the personification of justice despite for his skin color which she had so long ago looked past. A stronger then normal gust wound itself through the tundra giving her the slight nudge forward and into the drow who welcomed her into his now awaiting grasp. Her lips touched on the soft lips of the elf and she and him became one despite their surroundings for now she new all those strange feelings that she had so forcefully denied herself to were in fact those that she wanted, not just wanted- but needed to complete herself.

Notice how I describe the scenes slowly- I do not go through them too fast with a bit of an exception with the battle due to my lack of space but I tried. Always try to use metaphors/similes as I stated earlier, whenever you transfer make sure you make it obvious by stating the characters title/name that the view point is being transferred to. Whenever you’re saying things make sure that you do not repeat the same thing over such as using “Drizzt” over and over becomes rather boring, so to switch it up you can make him, “Drizzt, elf, ranger, drow, man, etc.” Personify your characters through human thoughts and actions, make them shy if need be, make them unsure of certain things.

So while you’re writing make sure you’re constantly thinking about details for those are THE most important things about scenes for without them a scene is nothing more than a statement of fact without the use of imagery which ruins the entire purpose of reading a book. Metaphors, Similes, Personification are all forms of details other than the obvious detailing of a scene.

Before I wrap it up I’d like to thank R.A. Salvatore for his great series in the Forgotten realms depicting the stories of several different drow. I highly recommend his books to any of you looking for something to read.

Mandi's Guide: How to Write a Real Life Story

Stories generally follow a plot structure:

• Introduction
• Rising Action
• Climax
• Falling Action
• Conclusion

In a story you should also have basic things, things that every story needs, such as:

• Character Description
• An actual plot
• Explanation of events, or a background of -why- these things are happening.

In a couple of the real life stories that I've read here, they fail to follow story structure. Those couple are better served as a post, rather than a story.

For example, you are writing, keep in mind when things happen to you, then you have a better sense of what is going on. Other readers don't have that. You know that it was a rainy day, and that's why you fell off your bike, and as insignificant as it may seem to you, it may be essential for your readers to know to understand what is going on, I've been guilty of this myself.

Here are two examples, the first one would be writing an experience from my memory.

I went to check the mail, but my friend was with me! So I couldn't just bring them into the house like nothing happened, so we ended up putting them on and running up and down the street, I have to admit it was fun, and even though it was over my bathing suit I still got a rush. I couldn't pee in it which made me kinda sad because they were a waste, but whatever, I shared something with my friend when she didn't even know it, I was living out one of my deepest darkest secrets, and she had no clue!

Now that's pretty hard to understand, a vague description isn't it? Let me put that into story form.

It was summer, so the weather was pretty nice. We were swimming and tanning all day, which wasn't too good for my skin, my beet red shoulders were already starting to sting even though I was still in my bathing suit.

Mom sent me to go check the mail, and since our mailbox is all the way down the street my best friend decided to come with me. Tammy is 2 years my senior, but we get along very well, I think it may have to do with the fact that we've known each other since I was 4, and she was 6. I opened the mailbox and my diapers were there! It was a free-sample I ordered from Tena, so I didn't think they would come this quickly, it's only been 4 days!

"What are those?" Tammy asked me with curiosity dancing in her eyes.

"I dunno, let's open it!" I said to her, knowing full well what they were. Tena was stamped right on the package, but I was smart enough to not use my name, so she wouldn't know they were for me.

We opened the package and there were my 2 pull-up samples in there.

"Oh my lordie!" Tammy managed to say through her hysterical laughter. "Dude! Lets put them on!"

"Yeah, that would be hilarious!" I said, trying to go along with it, I didn't want to seem too eager, but at the same time I didn't want to shoot down the idea right away, because she would suspect something.

We both grabbed one and slid it up our legs. We looked really funny, in adult pull-ups over our bathing suits! With our new found energy, I shut the mailbox and we ran back to my house, throwing the mail and keys on the porch. We danced on the grass, and spun each other around, the wind whipping through our hair.

It was awkward, I have to admit. Here I am, living out one of my deepest, darkest secrets, and she doesn't have a clue. I wanted to let go, and soak the pull-up so bad, but that would look terrible. It's one thing to wear it, but to use it would be a whole different thing, and I didn't want to raise suspicion.

Okay guys, even if you didn't bother to read through the whole second part, you can still see that the second one is a much better read than the first, even though when I myself read both of them, I still have the same image in my head, because it was ME that it happened to. Also, which one looks more intelligent? I actually put some thought and time into writing the second part, but not so much in the first.

All in all, if you are going to post a story about something that happened to you, put it in story format, so everyone can fully understand, while enjoying a good read!

Fullmetal's guide

Well, first you need to want to write! Listen...if your just writing to pass time and you don't even like your writing, chances are, your reader wont either. So first off ask yourself do I really want to waste my time writing crap? Now that you have that out of the way, you need an idea. this is pretty key, so just bear with me do not copy someone else's idea! it gets so repetitive when the same story is written with different names. You can get ideas from anywhere really, they usually spring up on you when you least expect it. You can also read some of the other stories that we have on here and see if they inspire you to think up something good.

Well, that wasn't so hard, was it? But now that you have an idea, what do you do?

You are going to need a couple of things. Stories usually fall apart somewhere in the middle because the writer tends to not think things through, so what you need to do is get a pen and paper and jot down some general things.

First your going to need a character- well, your main character. Think of how he plays out in your writing and how you can mold him into what you want out of him. Try figuring out a main goal for him to try and accomplish and how other characters play into his success or defeat. Think of the best and easiest way to get your point across and pick a point of view.

There is Third Person Point of View

Quote: Third person limited became the most popular narrative perspective during the twentieth century. Third person limited is sometimes called the "over the shoulder" perspective; it shows the story as though the narrator could only describe events that could be perceived by a viewpoint character. It can be used very objectively, showing what is actually happening without the filter of the protagonist's personality, thus allowing the author to reveal information that the protagonist doesn't know or realize. Like when you have that voice in a movie that goes "In a time long long ago, lived a man, and this man bla bla bla bla" And pretty much that voice tells the story from all prospectives that are relevant.

Then there is First Person

Quote: First person narration is used somewhat frequently. The first-person point of view sacrifices omniscience and omnipresence for a greater intimacy with one character. It allows the reader to see what the focus character is thinking This is told by a character, usually the main character, and it stems into something called stream of consciousness, where the reader gets to know what the character is thinking and feeling at all times. It makes it easier to describe feeling and emotion.

There is also Second Point of View

Quote: Second-person narration is a narrative technique in which the protagonist or another main character is referred to by employment of second-person personal pronouns and other kinds of addressing forms, for example the English second-person pronoun "you". Which, as a writer, I would never recommend. This is the kind of writing where the writer wants the reader to be proactive and feel like he is the center of the novel. It is extremely hard to manage at some points and for a beginning writer, and for all writers, I would just tell to stay clear of it.

Then there is always the Changing Point of View

In this type of writing, the writer usually would like to express different points of views from different characters to make you feel more involved and more in the know. It is generally used in complex forms of writing where secrets lie hidden within certain characters which are required to be revealed to unravel the plot. The writer usually changes the point of view between chapters, giving the reader a clear cut way of knowing who they are reading into. It is a very nice effect if it is used properly and managed well.

Now that you have a point of view, a plot and characters, you need to choose a tense. It is extremely irritable for a reader to move between two tenses constantly and can be very confusing at some points.

Quote: Grammatical tense is a temporal linguistic quality expressing the time at, during, or over which a state or action denoted by a verb occurs. If you want your story in present time, you need to use words like I go So it would be: “I go to the mall and find out that my money is still at home.” If you want your story to take place a while ago, or at an earlier date, you use words like I was going So it would be “While I was going to the mall, I realized my money was still at home.” There is also the future tense which uses words like I will go which is used when talking about something that you will do later on, or are planning on doing, it would be a little like this “I will go to the mall today in hope of finding some cool cloths.”

Though it may seem like it would be hard to confuse these, it is not, please, when reading over your story, choose a tense and stick with it, it makes it easier on the reader to tell what you are saying.

OK, that’s all done. Now your story is ready to take a test run. Start writing and see what you come up with. If you are in third person, determine your tone, it will become key. Tone is the writer’s attitude. A tone may be formal, informal, friendly, distant, ironic, and playful and many other tones that I just cant think of at the moment. Your tone will set the way your reader feels, try and keep a straight tone in third person. For first person, your tone changes with your characters emotional state.

Grammar and punctuation are not that important. Its the story itself that counts. Don't use big words to act like you know something, use words the reader will identify with and will know right away...I am not looking anything up in the dictionary!!! And I know, there are going to be many people on this site who will badger you about it, but I know many writers who have extremely bad grammar and are wrote some of my favorite books. Just be sure to use something like Microsoft Word to write and SAVE your story in, the program will take care of anything you mess up on. If you do not have Word, you can always download a spell checker off of the Internet; I know fire fox comes with one.

Also, do not rely on your spell checker for everything to and too are both word but they are far from the same word. Some key mess ups are:

There: Refers to a place in time, like “He is over there!”

Their: Refers to possession, as in “That cup is theirs”

Also this think --> ‘ means it is a compound word.

They’re: Really means they are, the a was replaced by the --> ‘

It’s: It is the ‘i’ was replaced by the apostrophe, see the pattern? So watch for those.

Another thing is: Do not assume your reader knows ANYTHING. Consider the reader to be...challenged when it comes to writing, spare no definition. Even if it is like "I am a DL" Think to yourself that the reader is like What in the hell is a D....L? is that was he said...I'm not sure, I am an idiot and know nothing And no, I am not being dramatic...think that way! Details can be limited but not explanation to what the hell you are talking about.

One last thing: writing is a passion, not a way to be cool. It is also not a fad. If you do not like to write…don’t, it’s very simple, but if you do, we will all take you seriously and all open our minds to your writing. I believe that everyone can write; that everyone can contribute something. Writing is an art, a way to express feeling, treat it that way. I am always open to helping anyone who is serious about writing and needs help with an idea, spell check, grammar check or just needs an opinion, as are many people on this site. I know I left a bunch out but you people can deal :P

So, if you want to write, go for it.