Good Writing in my experience:clannadman wrote:What do you consider to be good writing? What is good literature and what isn't?
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Makes it easy for the reader Identify with the main character.
Human Characteristics and Flaws are what makes a character Realistic, no matter how fantasy-based that character is: shyness, jealousy, anger, facing overwhelming odds, stubbornness, self-consciousness... Everyone deals with these feelings. Characters should too.
Illustrates and Solves common human Issues.
Everybody has personal issues. A Good story offers a SOLUTION to at least one of them. It doesn't have to be a Right answer. A Wrong answer can be just as valuable -- if not more so.
“How do I get the handsome guy I just met?”
"How do I deal with a sucky job, and a boss I seriously loathe?"
“How do I get my family to like my new lover?”
"How do I deal with a family I can't stand to live with?"
"How do I know that my new friends are actually Trustworthy?"
“How do I deal with a monster in my closet?” (VERY popular among Young Adults.)
Ever hear the phrase: “People are People”? No matter who they are, or where they live, human issues Never change. Sure, you could be writing a Horror or a Fantasy, but the people in your horror or fantasy should STILL be dealing with the same issues everybody else deals with:
From: Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
-- Sucky bosses - How do you think Saruman really felt about working for Sauron?
-- Love interests - Arwen Evenstar's Dad, the king of the elves, did not approve of her dating that scruffy human.
-- Family issues - Eowen of Rohan had to deal with a senile dad PLUS several bossy older brothers.
-- Friend Issues - How do you think Frodo felt when he discovered that Boromir was only being nice to him because he wanted to take the Ring?
-- Monsters under the bed - Wringwraths & Orcs. Need I say more?
Doesn't make the reader cringe from poor Spelling, Grammar or Sentence Structure.
Before you code your game, FIRST write your scripts in Word or Open Office, or hell, Google Docs and use your SPELL CHECK. No, it's not perfect, but it gets the basic job done.
As for Sentence Structure, write each line Chronologically, in the actual order it happened: Action THEN Reaction. The #1 most common mistake in fiction is when the writer does it backwards, usually (but not always) marked by the word "as".
Example:
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The vampire drank his fill as he crouched over his victim.
Think: Which actions actually happened first?
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1. The vampire crouched over his victim.
2. He drank his fill.
The chronological way to write this would be:
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The vampire crouched over his victim AND drank his fill.
Illustrates damned good RESEARCH.
Want to get hate-mail fast? Write about something you don’t know a gosh-darned thing about. Whether you are writing a Vampire story, a Historical, a Fantasy, or a Sci-Fi, be aware that your reading audience has very likely read every single book on that subject they could get their grubby mitts on -- for YEARS. You can guarantee that those readers will know if you don’t know diddly-squat about your subject.
Google.com is your friend. Use it.
My two cents worth...