Jay & Noelle - WRITINGS TIPS

HEY GUYS!!!

It’s Noelle and Jay, working on a post together!  (Gods help us)

I’M HERE TOO, DUDES!! >:D

Any who, we're doing a nice little writing tips post

...Like I said.  This is just a crazy post where two writers (also, character killers :D) will talk about writing and how to beat writer's block and...stuff like that.  Wow, I’m so articulate today.

Very. But yeah, we’ll talk about the boring stuff. Then get to the cool stuff…..LIKE HOW TO KILL OF A CHARACTER AND MAKE IT COOL!

(that’s her way of saying she likes killing characters)  Alright, I’m going to act like a lame talk show host and say, Jay, how do you beat writer's block?

I mostly just do other writing styles for a bit, maybe work with other characters and such. Looking at comics, listening to music and drawing is also really helpful! (But sweet food is my real motivation, guys.)

It’s about the same for me.  I’ve got a power playlist that I turn waaaay too high up and then just try and write.  If that fails, well...*shrug*.  Maybe I’ll switch projects or something like that.

MUSIC, GUYS! BEST WRITING STIMULATOR!

For me, I mostly listen to Green Day, Fall Out Boy, Panic! At The Disco and the like. What about you, Noelle?

....please don’t ask about my music tastes.  Okay whatever, mostly Disney.  But occasionally Fall Out Boy and Starset.

My music is violent and scary...with the occasional sweet love song…...DON’T JUDGE ME!

Anywho, I think we’ve done enough with music. Next question! How do you write an angsty scene, Noelle?

Well, I usually plan ahead, making sure that I don’t write when I’m stressed or angry (because my writing affects me a lot, I have screamed at my dad because I was writing an intense argument.  Not fun, guys)  But beyond that, I dunno.  It depends on the kind of angst we’re talking about.  What about you?  *pokes Jay with a stick*

*Fluffs up like a cat* I mostly just do it whenever I’m sad or depressed or whatever you wanna call it. My emotions heavily influence my writing, so I can never write angst when I’m in a good mood. And sometimes angst actually makes me feel better :). (BTW I’m talking about serious angst, not low-key angst)

.....the fact that there’s different shades of angst.  Like....wow.  We need a life.

Who needs a life when you have food and sarcasm at home?

Anyway, moving on now.  Let’s talk about something that Jay is just dying to chat about: CHARACTER DEATHS!  How to kill off a character in a non lame way, first question goes to Jay:

CLICHE IS BAD! VERY, VERY BAD! MAKE YOUR DEATHNESS UNIQUE!!

Right, like stabbing Squishy (one of her characters) with six spikes is NOT cliché.  Also, sacrifice for the main character.  Also, the evil villain dies at his own hand.  Not cliché at all.

:D Anywho, my best way to write character deaths is first to figure out how they are going to die. Then, imagine their reaction. Finally imagine their companions reaction (if they have any).

Just adding onto what Jay said, also try to think about WHY they are dying.  Because if you just want to shock your readers, it’s a no-no.  However, they could be dying to save someone they love, or I dunno.  And when in doubt...make a hero save a villain.

Squishy is a good example! He died quickly and violently, appearing seemingly out of thin air. But, if you wanna pull a stunt like that, you're gonna have to explain it all, so why bother?

Agh there are so many character deaths I could use as an example (RMS fans come running out of nowhere to hear who they might be) sorry guys, not happening.  Let’s see...make it vague, especially if you want to really hook your readers.  Make them come back with bated breath, hoping that one character MIGHT return.  Or, make your main character not be present when it happens.  This saves you the trouble of reading it and can really change the mood of your story.  Remember in Mulan when they went straight from singing ‘A Girl Worth Fighting For’ to the whole army’s death and it was just the most crashing sudden transition ever?  It’ll feel like that.  And it’ll be so eeeeevil.

Yup! Like my character Mark, who ends up getting brutally- *bleeps out rest cus YOU SHOULD NOT KNOW THIS*

...um, anyway....

Another good tip for writing a death scene is know how long you want it to be.  A chapter?  Has the whole book/story built up to this moment?  Or do you want it to be short and shocking, just like that?

Dear gods, this is important. All my deaths weren’t planned, they just happened. And they never turned out very well. SO PLAN YOUR DEATHS SO THEY DON’T END UP BADLY.

Um, yeah.  What she said.  For an example (SPOILERS FOR BOOK TWO OF RMS), in Mozart’s death scene, I spent much more time building up to it and writing Jess’s reaction then actually brutally describing Mozart (looking at you, Jay).  I kept it plain, simple, and choppy, just saying ‘Mozart was dead’ (and of course, when addressing a now dead character, put them in the past tense.  It’ll rip people’s hearts out)

Good note. I don’t do that often. Mostly I describe in great lengths the wounds given and yada yada yada boring writing crap. NOW THEN! NEW QUESTION! NOELLE! HOW DO YOU DO CHARACTER INTRODUCTIONS?????

Alllllllrighty.  *cracks knuckles*  I’m going to say something right now.  Unless this character is unusual (say, green haired with eyes that have lightning bolts for tears), don’t bother with eye color, and maybe not even hair color.  Let me tell you, nobody cares to what degree his green eyes look like emeralds.  Really.  This is not an unfinished three chapter fan fiction.  I WANT TO KNOW THE IMPORTANT THINGS.  How are they holding themselves - do they slump their shoulders or have their hands shoved in their pockets?  What are their features like - do they have a pointed nose or hair that clearly hasn’t been washed in a month?  If the character that you’re describing is close enough, what do they smell like (please don’t let it be Axe bodyspray).

Sooooo, um, I kinda agree. I mostly do in depth descriptions but eh. Mostly my characters are either cinnamon rolls or total sarcastic dorks. With the occasionally actually cool person…..that is not often. But I would want to know specifics, especially about their PERSONALITY. Don't go and call a character ‘nice. Call them ‘extravagant’, ‘flirtatious’, ‘careless’, and the like. Not ‘nice’ or ‘happy’.

Just...avoid the word nice.  And okay.  Don’t use that one either.  Alright, that’s everything we’ve got time to do, but comment below!  What other authors should we do a double post with and what other writing questions do you have?  Have a great day (now go rip your readers’ hearts to shreds)

BYE GUYS! HAVE FUN MURDERING CHARACTERS!!!! :D