Aspiring to be a Writer

[Mimrose]

Hi everyone

I love playing VN otome games, but unfortunately I am terrible at drawing and I do not know how to code. I do enjoy writing however, and so I'd like to train myself to become a writer for a team or project.

I've never really tried before, though. So, if anyone could give me some tips or some ideas for writing exercises I could do, or even request a scene for me to write and then critique me on it, I'd really appreciate it

Also, this is my very first post on the forums so if I placed this in the wrong forum, please feel free to let me know!

Thank you for your time~
Mim

[MudkipTheDestroyer]

Glad to hear you want to help out making visual novels~!

I think a good place to start is to figure out what kind of writing you want to specialize in. You mentioned that you like otome games, so I would suggest writing an example romance scene. However, the topic of "otome" is really broad. Do you like writing fantasy, mystery, sci-fi, horror, slice of life, or so forth?

I'm totally open to critiquing and giving feedback on your scenes if you want to practice writing some.^^

[xavimat]

Welcome to the writers community!
Writing is a challenging and demanding activity. I suggest you a daily exercise: http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... 47&t=19656

[Mithfalath]

Welcome!

You might want to try this one too! If you have a blog or some sort of social networking outlet, you can easily link this site to your pages. The prompts are user uploaded though, so it may not be your cup of tea - but it's a great way to just write away if you feel the need to.

[Mimrose]

Thank you all for your replies and suggestions \o/

@MudkipTheDestroyer: I completely forgot to talk about what I normally write about, silly me! I usually am the best at romance/slice of life/fantasy, mainly anything with romance xD I'm thinking that I'll create a script for a visual novel, or a dialogue script to show off my talents. I'm nervous to get started though, since I'm not quite sure what kinds of things people normally look for. I'm a total newbie still~ Thank you very much for your suggestions and ideas If I do write a demo, I will be sure to ask for your guidance and critique ~

@xavimat: I've actually heard of that before I think! I try to write daily but sometimes it's tough with schooling and everything, so thank goodness summer is finally here! Thank you for your reply

@Mithfalath: That's a really good idea! Usually I write little drabbles when I have the time, so I guess organizing them into a blog or some sort of site would be a good idea!

I really appreciate all the input and the time you took to make your posts Hopefully I will have something amazing to share sometime soon in the future~

[MudkipTheDestroyer]

Thank you all for your replies and suggestions \o/

@MudkipTheDestroyer: I completely forgot to talk about what I normally write about, silly me! I usually am the best at romance/slice of life/fantasy, mainly anything with romance xD I'm thinking that I'll create a script for a visual novel, or a dialogue script to show off my talents. I'm nervous to get started though, since I'm not quite sure what kinds of things people normally look for. I'm a total newbie still~ Thank you very much for your suggestions and ideas If I do write a demo, I will be sure to ask for your guidance and critique ~

@xavimat: I've actually heard of that before I think! I try to write daily but sometimes it's tough with schooling and everything, so thank goodness summer is finally here! Thank you for your reply

@Mithfalath: That's a really good idea! Usually I write little drabbles when I have the time, so I guess organizing them into a blog or some sort of site would be a good idea!

I really appreciate all the input and the time you took to make your posts Hopefully I will have something amazing to share sometime soon in the future~

Sounds awesome! And don't be nervous, there are a lot of people on the forums who are friendly and willing to help^^ I look forward to seeing what you end up creating~! If you need any coding suggestions or debugging for the script, let me know, as well :p

Also, I really love Mithfalath's idea of putting your writing onto a website, I think it would be pretty beneficial

[Obscura]

I've never really tried before, though. So, if anyone could give me some tips or some ideas for writing exercises I could do, or even request a scene for me to write and then critique me on it, I'd really appreciate it

1) Just another tip, in case you're not doing this already: read A LOT! And try to make the majority of what you read something other than VNs. VNs are fine to play, but they often don't make the best "training" material because a lot of them have been translated and some of the translations are a bit shaky. And game writing in general isn't known for having quality writing.

2) The other thing I'd recommend is to try making a VN, or VN script, with a single goal: be UNQUITTABLE. By that, I mean, grab your audience's attention and make it so interesting they can't stop reading. If you're writing romance, you're going to want to write characters the audience desperately wants to see together, but just can't because of all the evil things you keep doing, as a storyteller, to keep them apart.

Of course, making a VN unquittable is a very abstract recommendation that is difficult to execute. Which is why you must be persistent, and why you must practice. I think it helps, however, to keep that goal constantly in mind.

3) The third thing I'd recommend is actually completing something. This forum is littered with the shells of many an unfinished work. As are many writing forums. Finish it. If it's crap, you can learn from it. Even crap is more valuable in practical terms, than a perfect half-finished VN that never sees the light of day.

[Mimrose]

I've never really tried before, though. So, if anyone could give me some tips or some ideas for writing exercises I could do, or even request a scene for me to write and then critique me on it, I'd really appreciate it

1) Just another tip, in case you're not doing this already: read A LOT! And try to make the majority of what you read something other than VNs. VNs are fine to play, but they often don't make the best "training" material because a lot of them have been translated and some of the translations are a bit shaky. And game writing in general isn't known for having quality writing.

2) The other thing I'd recommend is to try making a VN, or VN script, with a single goal: be UNQUITTABLE. By that, I mean, grab your audience's attention and make it so interesting they can't stop reading. If you're writing romance, you're going to want to write characters the audience desperately wants to see together, but just can't because of all the evil things you keep doing, as a storyteller, to keep them apart.

Of course, making a VN unquittable is a very abstract recommendation that is difficult to execute. Which is why you must be persistent, and why you must practice. I think it helps, however, to keep that goal constantly in mind.

3) The third thing I'd recommend is actually completing something. This forum is littered with the shells of many an unfinished work. As are many writing forums. Finish it. If it's crap, you can learn from it. Even crap is more valuable in practical terms, than a perfect half-finished VN that never sees the light of day.

Thank you for the advice! I'm working on a summary of a VN I'd like to see created, so hopefully I can have it up soon for everyone to see and critique. I just tend to be a perfectionist, so I will start writing something, but if I get stuck, I'll take a few days off until I have inspiration again and then continue working on it. Sometimes it'll take me only a few hours to finish, while I've had others take me over a week to finally be satisfied with.

Also, this is a more general question-if I were to post a sample for someone to critique, is it more customary to attach a file to the post or just copy and paste it into the post? Either way is fine for me, but I'd like to do whichever way is easier for everyone.

Thanks for taking time to give me advice, I really appreciate it~

[merdeamour]

I've never really tried before, though. So, if anyone could give me some tips or some ideas for writing exercises I could do, or even request a scene for me to write and then critique me on it, I'd really appreciate it

Hey! In my opinion, a good KN involves good narration, and an otome (or games of similar genres), since it involves interaction with other characters, must have great dialogue. If you'd like me to critique a work of yours, I would (: Not that I'm an expert or anything--I'm just a really picky reader and writer.

So... how about writing a scene where it's mostly dialogue (having little narration)? The situation is this: the girl caught the guy cheating on her. (Something like a screenplay, maybe?) You could PM it to me, and I could give you my two cents on it.

[Everning]

@Mimrose ! We are the same! High-five.

I am ok at drawing especially traditional art and has zero experience for coding but I have lots of experience in writing. Have been writing for quite a while. Hm.. advice on writing.

Well, you need to keep practicing and your writing will evolve as you go. Read your favorite novels and pick up the way they paragraph and write their dialogues. I like to separate my dialogue from my paragraph so it looks neater. Then, you need to pick a Pov and experiment other forms of Pov till you find the one you like.

When I look at novels and visual novels, I would always look at the characters and their traits that set them apart. Don't be afraid to make them act a little outrageous but don't forget to flesh out their past and motives and so on so they look believable. The main ingredient in any story is the theme and the characters. Putting a few traits for the readers to adore is a plus *winks*

As you write, you can try to feel your character and portray them with emotion. Explain their situation to the readers in interesting ways (an event, dialogue, accident and etc) Visualize is also another tool you can use.

Good luck! I am sure you can do it

[ZeroExistence009]

Well, I'm an aspiring writer too, but I'm not good in English so I'm trying to be a native language writer.

I think reading a lot of literary works is the first step to be a writer. Read different genres so you can gather ideas and compile them to be a awesome story.

And here is some tips for aspiring writers. If you have a great ideas that just popped out of your mind, write it REALLY QUICK! I tend to forget the great ideas that I just think, so in order to preserve that ideas, I write it, so I can work with that idea later.

And if you are planning to make a VN or KN, I advice you to do this kind of writing.

MC - Main Character
HER - Heroine
SC - Scene

SC classroom
MC "Are you an earthquake?"
HER "Why?"
MC "Because you rock my world."

Pardon that dialog LOL that is just a fad here in my country.

If you write your work in that way, it's much easier to transfer it to a VN since you just need the arts and the codes to make it. And it's easier to know what resources you may need in making that VN since it is already included in your script.

I tried making a VN once and I have a hard time transferring my story to a VN since it's only dialogs.

Well, these are just my ideas so I hope these help you or whatsoever LOL

[Taleweaver]

Okay, I now offically cannot just lurk this thread any longer.

You wanna be a writer? Then
WRITE!
Stop asking for advice. Stop looking around for how-tos. Stop surfing the web for more information right now, sit down and start writing. (Don't stop reading, though. Reading is essential.)

Practice makes perfect. That's just as true for writing as it is for everything else. The beauty about writing is, you can't cause serious damage by doing it wrong, such as when you're learning how to drive a car. You probably won't hurt yourself or anybody else, at least not physically, by writing, so there's really no reason why you shouldn't just do it as often and as intensely as you can.

It's also not important what you're writing, as long as it's fiction. Really, pick anything, any idea, start expanding on it and see where it leads you. No need to think too much over your first serious story, go with the flow. If you're the type to spontaneously have ideas, get a notebook and carry it with you at all time (I use a Moleskine notebook, but that's personal preference). But really, don't plan too much out as long as you're still practicing. Planning takes away time in which you could be writing instead. And it's not useful as you might think - the best-planned story can still be a total train wreck if badly executed, and you won't get the execution right unless you practice, practice, practice.

If you're feeling brave, publish all you write. Make a blog, a "My road to writer" blog, and put all you write on that blog for public dissection. Don't worry about bad feedback; chances are you won't be getting ANY feedback whatsoever, and you'll actually start looking forward to bad critiques. But it will help you understand what people like and dislike about your writing, and where your strengths and weaknesses are, and how you can build upon your strengths and work on your weaknesses.

Most of all: Write. Start today. And don't let yourself get distracted by people trying to give you advice.

[emocookie41]

What I found to be helpful for me when writing for a visual novel was to learn some basic code (very basic). It helps to show how a story for this type of game should be plotted out and you should be able to learn how to make your script easy for the programmers to use.

[Armee]

I have to agree with Taleweaver here. You should just start writing simply in normal way and once you found out what you specialize and what you feel comfortable writing or which genres you're good at, you can starting to join the VN world to make one of your own. You don't need to know code or art, as long as you have a story that people feel enjoyable when they read, you're good enough. Other than that, you can ask for people help to make on. So pick up your pen and a stack of paper and start writing!

[KaenSe4]

Sometimes when I write, I feel like I'm just recording what's happening instead of creating an entirely new story. It's a weird feeling when you create characters and they just start to interact with each other. So yeah, just repeating the words of Taleweaver and Armee. The hardest thing is not to come up with something to write about; it's to write regularly without getting distracted or feeling bored. You need to make writing a passion, and enjoy reading over and editing what you write. If the author himself can get enraptured in his own writing, chance are readers will feel the same.