Q I want to write an OC, but I don't want her to be a Mary Sue. Any tips? A The definition of a Mary Sue varies from one person to another. You can do everything right by most people’s standards, but there will always be someone for whom any OC is a self-insert Mary… Continue reading How to Create an OC

Q How would you structure a sentence that ends with or has speech in the middle of it? A Voices shouted, “Stop!” but he kept running. She said, “Good morning,” and then sat down. If the quote is embedded in the middle of a sentence, place a comma between the dialogue tag and the opening… Continue reading How to Write Embedded Quotes

Q Could you possibly give a brief rundown of the differences between suspense, drama and angst? They seem to run rather parallel to each other. A Suspense = 😨Drama = 😯Angst = 😭 The goal with suspense is to have readers on the edge of their seat, worrying about what will happen next. An example… Continue reading Suspense, Drama, and Angst, What’s the Difference?

Q How to show not tell? I keep getting told this, but I don’t know how to use it in my writing. A Telling is what you do when you inform your friends of something that happened to you (I went here and did that. Then something happened, and I felt a certain way about… Continue reading Show, don’t tell

Q Is there a preference for speech/quotation marks when used inside another speech? For example, “Hermione said, and I quote, ‘do your homework.’” Or would it be the other way around, ‘Hermione said, and I quote, “do your homework.”’? A Here’s the rule: whichever quotation mark you use for dialogue, use the opposite one for… Continue reading Quotes within dialogue

Q FFNet does not always create a friendly reading atmosphere for italics or bold text.  When transitioning to a different perspective or a flashback, what are some alternatives, and what are some tips you can give for using them effectively?  A It isn’t just on fanfiction.net that you want to avoid writing whole paragraphs in… Continue reading Flashbacks, alternate POV, and italics

Q How do you become better at SPaG, especially if you’ve been out of formal English/grammar classes for years? A I never paid attention in English class, so my SPaG is almost entirely self-taught. Fortunately, you don’t need to buy a book or take classes; all you need is an internet connection. I used Grammarly for grammar, GrammarBook for… Continue reading How to improve your SPaG

Q How can I write better descriptions? A Too little description will prevent readers from immersing in your story and leave them confused as to how a scene plays out. Too much description will bury readers in needless information and drown the story’s plot. Both issues are likely to make people close your story and… Continue reading How can you write better descriptions?

Q Does altering a person’s background mean that their characteristics must change or can a separate reason be used for making them like they are originally written? A The short answer is that, yes, altering a character’s background will change their characterisation in big or small ways depending on the alterations. Psychology states that everything… Continue reading How to deal with characterisation in an AU?