How do you do it? I mean, how do you write a story? I have the Scott Foresman handbook, would that help me? How do you organize your thoughts into a story? What level of creativity do you use? How can you come up with a comical or dramatic tale? Do you use life experiences or current news as influences? Do you copy other's work or build your own interpretation of it(like many movies do)? How long does it take usually to write a small story that's at least 20 pages or so? Like an essay, or not? How are the words or vocabulary you use incorporated with the story, or do you mold the vocabulary used with the story? What are the most important parts to emphasis on? Such as, main characters, environment and plot? Are the least noticed environments just as important? How do you emerge a reader or player into a world larger then it is using these systems? How detailed can you get with out taking a person away from the topic? What are the keys to suspense and action? What type of these genres would work best together? In any given situation, please give examples.

1. You read everything you can get your hands on.
2. You write all the time. In order to write, you have to write a lot (even if its bad a lot of the time). Writing is an acquired skill honed by years and years of practice.

You can't read how-to books on writing. You have to pick it up by osmosis and lots and lots of work.

Would it be so bad if you trashed something you wrote because you didn't like the outcome of it? Just as long as you keep trying, right? Say like, I have a little story I try to make up and I didn't like what I came up with. So I trash it, and then start over. Maybe adding a few details or what ever. But that's not so bad is it? Must you keep all you ramblings lying around, even if you don't use them?

I need to learn how to write so I can write a good design for something. I figured out that I'm a pretty decent programmer. I ask a lot of questions that I could have answered my self. My big problem is that I never have a design. Having a design is something that's just as important as the software wrote for the game.

It's just not the design though, I also need a good story and I find my self lacking lots of writing skills. I wonder how I got past english 101? I passed with a C+ though.

I want to create these little games. I don't want to write clones because that's just now fun. I want to make my own stories for a games that people can at least get into a little bit. So I need to learn how to write a good story line.

I also need to learn how to write a good design. So that means story line, concept are, dialogs all that stuff.

[edit] Word formmating thumbs down! Oh well, I think it's readable, if not let me know and I can reformat this.

Willing to take advice from a programmer [wink] I don't do writing professionally, but it is something
that I do enjoy and have picked up a lot of stuff from all those wonderful classes the Great State of
Texas™ requires me to take for my education.

Quote: I have the Scott Foresman handbook, would that help me?

Those books for writers are a tool. I'll compare it to programming, there are lots of books on the
subject that basically teach you the basics of it all, but you are the one that must take those and
apply it to a larger picture. Most of those books serve as an excellent reference for when you get
stuck. They will not however, teach you how to write, since each person's writing style is unique (for
the most part)

Quote: How do you do it? I mean, how do you write a story? How do you organize your thoughts into a
story?

Motivation and attitude are key. If you want to write, you have to be willing to write, you have to enjoy it
and be willing to spend your time doing something most regarded as being very boring by most people.
That and it helps that if you are doing writing as a hobby and not a job when you start out -
otherwise the stresses of having to get something done might have negative impact on you. Now as for
how to do it, I just go with the flow, no planning, just start writing. Just write out all your ideas,
and as you write, more ideas will come to make changes or add more. I am more of the don't organize
thoughts right away, just get out everything you have, then start looking at the big picture - what do
you want to do.

Once you know what you want to do, you start looking at what you have, then you can start tying it
together. For example, if you wrote out that you wanted lots of guns, urban close quarters fighting,
and a team of heroes, then a few things should pop up. 1, why guns? Well of course to kill the enemies;
but why lots of guns? Lots of enemies - so already I would be thinking about something like zombies or
aliens, you know the like. Down the line, I know I don't want to use the same cliché of good guys
blowing away the evil aliens, so make a note that when you write down that the aliens are the enemies,
that's just a place holder - you will go back and make changes to how all of that will go.

It's stuff like that, which will then make you look at more things that you have written down. I just
addressed guns, and now let's say a team. With a team, what can you add for a good story? Well how
about throw in a few females and have a little love triangle going on. Throw in some jealousy, add in
some betrayal, then there's another thing to have in your story. But of course, you want something
unique to add, which is something you will have to think about. Add in twists! Those will make
or break your story! There is nothing better than having the reading think one thing, then bam, around
the next corner everything they've though is wrong!

Finally there is the urban close city warfare. So anyone for a post-acopolyptic world? What about
something futuristic? There is a lot of things you can do there that can add a lot to your story. The
important thing is try to be unique - ie don't use machines have taken over the world, or nukes were
launced all across and now the world is in ruins - try to think of something semi-new, or rarely used!
Not an easy task, but it can be done.

Quote: What level of creativity do you use? How can you come up with a comical or dramatic tale? Do
you use life experiences or current news as influences? Do you copy other's work or build your own
interpretation of it(like many movies do)?

Creativity is all based and will be reflective on your human character. If you have a good sense of
humor, more than likely you will be able to write something comical. If you understand drama, then you
can write a dramatic tale. If you understand neither, start watching some more movies and see why
certain things are funny and why others are 'tragic'. Use everything and anything for influences.
Better yet, mix match it all, just put it in a blender and hit puree! See what you can get to come
out. Depending on what you want to achieve will determine what actions you want to take. I mean if you
want to make your own story of Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet, then you might want to use a combination of
elements from all the different versions you have read, then add you own stuff.

Quote: How long does it take usually to write a small story that's at least 20 pages or so? Like an
essay, or not?

Depends on the person as well as the reason for doing it. I say this because from experience, if you
have to get something done, then more than likely, you do not have the luxury of taking your sweet time
and making things work out exactly as desired. Heck a week before finals, I had to write a 7-10 page
story for a Humanities class. I did a 8 page story in about 10 hours (before it was due [lol]) so for
me it was more or less, finish or fail (not really, but you get the idea). If you want a 20 page story
(typed double space 1in margins, 12 point font) expect at least a few days at minimum.

It all really depends on how much brainstorming you have done. If you have lots to say and tie
together, the better off you will be. If you have a little, 20 pages is an eternity to stretch out a
little bit of info. It can be done, but it will not be fun nor give you want you really want. It is by
no means an essay, I mean it's your story! The beautiful thing about writing is that you are never
wrong. I mean you can jump in the middle of the story, then back track, then end up where you started
and move on to the end (Swordfish, Bandits) Or you can start at the end and work your way all the way
to the beginning (Memento), or you can just do front to back.

Quote: How are the words or vocabulary you use incorporated with the story, or do you mold the
vocabulary used with the story?

Keep in mind that you want people to red you book [wink]. I saw use a few good words here and there.
The people that get them will smile at how they know their vocabulary, the people that are clueless will
gloss over them and the people that are curious will look them up. It's more of a judgment thing. I
mean you don't want to sound boring and dull and use the same word over and over, but then again, you
don't want to sound so sophisticated that no one knows what the heck you are saying. Consult a few books
to see what they have to say in terms of good word usage as well.

Quote: What are the most important parts to emphasis on? Such as, main characters, environment and
plot? Are the least noticed environments just as important?

It all depends on you. Really, what is your book about? Are you portraying any themes, do you have any
messages? For example, if you focus on characters a lot, then more than likely you are going to show fatal character
flaws, or good character traits that allow people to succeed. If you focus on the environment of people
as a whole, then you are dealing with society as a whole. If you focus on plot, then you are looking at
actions - cause and effect. You have to decide what you want to do and place the most emphasis on. This is
where you really mess with the reader. You can place emphasis on key things to make them think one way,
then go around and blow them away with something else later. It’s all about strategy.

Quote: How do you emerge a reader or player into a world larger then it is using these systems? How
detailed can you get with out taking a person away from the topic? What are the keys to suspense and
action? What type of these genres would work best together?

It all depends on you once again. It depends on how you can portray this and that and present details
in a manner that is interesting and makes the reader want to read on more. However, this is something that
is not as easy as it sounds. People study writing their entire lives in order for this answer. You can get as
detailed as you want without getting away from the topic, just try and not to list it all out in a manner of two
pages straight. Break it up some, you have a lot of pages to fill, so use them. There is no need to tell every
detail right away at the start – actually that is probably not a good thing to do.

Suspense and action, the best thing I can say is watch movies. Really, movies are the basics for a lot of what I envision,
simply because you can see it. Study movies and start getting ideas. Movies have the advantage over books in the fact that people
can see everything, so a lot of little things do not have to be spelled out – it’s apparent when a girl likes a guy or vice versa, or someone
has a bad habit. As a writer it is your goal to figure out how to do these things in your book! Genres that work best together
is your personal preference. I mean movie wise, movies that have a love element really do make things more interesting and
can give for a lot of room for comical mishaps because it can introduce a lot of situations that a story with a non-love element
just can’t have. You know what I mean, guys always trying to be heroes to impress the ladies [smile] Stuff like that really. I mean
I’d say you want something a bit well balanced, all of anything is not good! You really do need to have some variety in it.

Ok that’s a lot longer than I expected I to be [lol]. I could probably rant on for a lot longer, but I don’t want to bore you. Departing
advice is to watch the movies! I cannot stress this enough. Once you get that analytical eye, you will start to see a lot of things in movies
that you did not see before. Pay attention to how characters are portrayed and what they do on screen. Other than that, I think that’s it
for now, good luck!

This is how I do it. . .

I take some time to build a shrine to Typelope, my patron goddess of high-fantasy/sci-fi literature. The bigger the shrine, the more attention I get from her. The more virgins I sacrifice at it, the more appreciation I get from her. The more time I spend praying, fasting, and torturing myself at this shrine, the more stuff she gives me.

I usually spend about three weeks in the ritual of contemplating the nature of what I want to write. I look at all the stupid things on the planet and pray: "Oh, great goddess of literature! Bestow upon me the talent necessary to tell the human race that such-and-such an aspect of their society is stupid!" If she's in a good mood, she usually comes down to visit me, gives me a bottle of barbeque sauce, and talks about things that have absolutely nothing to do with the topic upon-which I desire to write. But at least I feel better about myself.

Eventually, Typelope gets irritated with my constantly harassing her and she writes a first draft for me and gives me the transcript in exchange for my not bothering her on the matter ever again.

Now, which of the literary diety you worship is a matter of personal taste. I would advise you stay away from Grimforkle, the god of post-modernistic Jane Austin idolizers, though. His stuff is usually quite dry and devoid of any meaningful content. Try to find one with a good sense for prose -- one who likes to play with the words a lot.

Hope this helps.

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Writing a story is not the same as writing a game design. I'm currently writing a novel, an RPG script, and the RPG's design doc. They are all quite different and require different writing skills. Personally I would advise you that if you got a C+ in a regular English class (or less than 700 on the english portion of the SATs) you probably do not have the foundational skills to be able to write aprofessional-quality story, and if you haven't learned them by the time you are in college you are unlikely to be able to learn them. Instead, why not find a writer to team up with? Division of labor is the reason the human race is living in skyscrapers rather than caves, you know. ;)

But, if you really want to spend 5+ years learning how to write professional-quality fiction (I've been studying the field for 11 years now myself), don't let me discourage you. To answer a few of your questions: creating a story takes all levels of creativity at different points in the process, you use everything as inspiration, you both copy others' work and build your own interpretation. On a good day I can write about 3,000 words, which is equivalent to about 12 paperback book pages, but prewriting like character design, worldbuilding, and research take additional time; so does postwriting (editing). You can look at my developer journal (view my profile, click the link to my journal, start with the entry 'plex levels' near the bottom). In various entries I talk about what a story is and how to start designing an RPG and writing the story for it.

Quote: Original post by sunandshadow
Writing a story is not the same as writing a game design. I'm currently writing a novel, an RPG script, and the RPG's design doc. They are all quite different and require different writing skills. Personally I would advise you that if you got a C+ in a regular English class (or less than 700 on the english portion of the SATs) you probably do not have the foundational skills to be able to write aprofessional-quality story, and if you haven't learned them by the time you are in college you are unlikely to be able to learn them. Instead, why not find a writer to team up with? Division of labor is the reason the human race is living in skyscrapers rather than caves, you know. ;)

You make it sound like I'll never be good at writing... I don't think that's true. I believe if I have the will to learn then I will succeed. I may not be the best at writing. I also may not give it that much effort either (like so in English). That teacher told me personally that she knew that I could write a lot better if I put some time and effort into it. She seen that because when I talked to her about various topics I was pretty descriptive among other things.

It's the organizing of thoughts into topics that get me. I've did a good job on most of my essays and got like As, Bs and Cs. It's more the final that did it to me. I just sort of screwed it up because I wanted to get out of that class because of things that were going on. Also, I had a lot of stress that kept taking my mind off focus.

I'm pretty creative it's just I get these blocks and get stuck. Also, I don't organize my thoughts good enough on PnP. So that's why I probably lack a few skills or it looks like it does.

That, and if I had a few good references that talk about the basics or format that a design should go by, then I could do a little better. It's sort of hard for me to just through all these ideas and things inside my head into a really good design or story line.

One thing for sure though, I never really got into writing until now.

Quote: Original post by sakky

Quote: Original post by sunandshadow
Writing a story is not the same as writing a game design. I'm currently writing a novel, an RPG script, and the RPG's design doc. They are all quite different and require different writing skills. Personally I would advise you that if you got a C+ in a regular English class (or less than 700 on the english portion of the SATs) you probably do not have the foundational skills to be able to write aprofessional-quality story, and if you haven't learned them by the time you are in college you are unlikely to be able to learn them. Instead, why not find a writer to team up with? Division of labor is the reason the human race is living in skyscrapers rather than caves, you know. ;)

You make it sound like I'll never be good at writing... I don't think that's true. I believe if I have the will to learn then I will succeed. I may not be the best at writing. I also may not give it that much effort either (like so in English). That teacher told me personally that she knew that I could write a lot better if I put some time and effort into it. She seen that because when I talked to her about various topics I was pretty descriptive among other things.

It's the organizing of thoughts into topics that get me. I've did a good job on most of my essays and got like As, Bs and Cs. It's more the final that did it to me. I just sort of screwed it up because I wanted to get out of that class because of things that were going on. Also, I had a lot of stress that kept taking my mind off focus.

I'm pretty creative it's just I get these blocks and get stuck. Also, I don't organize my thoughts good enough on PnP. So that's why I probably lack a few skills or it looks like it does.

That, and if I had a few good references that talk about the basics or format that a design should go by, then I could do a little better. It's sort of hard for me to just through all these ideas and things inside my head into a really good design or story line.

One thing for sure though, I never really got into writing until now.

I agree with sakky. Although a high verbal SAT score might give you more of a "head-start" in terms of being a successful writer, I don't think it's mandatory. [wink] I never really had much of an interest in writing either (I'm an engineer after all). But one day last June I was so bored that I just thought I'd write a short story for the heck of it. I shared it with some people online, and to my utter surprise I got a lot of postive feedback about it. I was flabbergasted. Needless to say it was clear from the writing style that I was an amatuer (I described distances and heights in terms of meters, lol), but what I did discover was that I had a great imagination and story-telling ability, just not writing ability.

That story has since been re-written by a member of my staff with more writing skill than myself, and you can read it here if you're interested. I might have the original version laying around somewhere too.....



Anyway, I agree with others who said the only way to learn writing is to write. Just like reading a programming book won't make you a good programmer, you have to actually practice a skill before you can become competent at it. You sound motivated so keep it up, and good luck! [smile]

I wanted to write more comedy then anything. But I wanted to add a little action and suspense with it too. So you're like laughing while you're freaking out. LOL... Could you imagine people laughing with a scared or worried face? The look would be priceless.

So any ways, the type of storied I'm interested in are like Sci-Fi technology stories and D&D type stories. I can think up lots of cool stuff, but it's hard to get it into a story.

I think it's because the thoughts were not intended for a story and just some day dreaming or a little bit of imagination inspired from things I see.