Hi, everyone!
I'm an amature writer...actually, I don't know if I could even call myself that. I've been making up stories ever since I was eleven, but I never got around to writing them. When I had successfully come up with 12 different stories, I started to forget them, so I decided it was time to write. It took me one-and-a-half years to complete my first short story. (I just finished it recently). During the course of my writing, I've come up with a few problems, and I would like to ask some experienced writers for help. I'll be very thankful for any advice.
My main difficulty in writing is description. Since I don't imagine my stories as words (so-and-so went here and did this, etc.), but I actually see it all happening in my mind, like a movie, I get stuck as to how much (or how little) describing is needed. Sometimes I get so carried away in my writing, I go on and on describing the same thing.
Another thing I'm stuck on is how to describe characters. I started just by describing their hair and eye color, but as I progressed in my story, I realized I needed more than just that. I've been studying various classics and the way different classic authors introduce their characters, and it has helped, but I felt advice from different authors who are writing now or have written in the past could also be beneficial.
As I mentioned before, any advice you can give will be greatly appreciated. A huge thank-you in advance to anyone who answers this post!

Hey, Narnian_Archer! It's great to see you around.

Hmm...description...It's not my strong point-- I'm better with dialogue. But I'll give you a few suggestions.

First, think about what you would like to know about the characters as a reader. Think about what you need to know as well. Supposing that how tall your character is comes into play in the story later on! It's helpful to have already described that near the beginning of the story rather than inserting it just when you need it.

Also for character description: While physical description is important, I believe that it is more important to outline their character traits. To have a strong character, that character needs to have a personality, and a good way to let you know of some of the solid traits is to outline that personality by how you write and by description.

Second, I spoke about reading your story as a reader would read it. Do that! Make notes of the things that seem dead in your plot, and note where detail should be added. Also make notes of where extra description just seems to drag down the story. No matter how pretty your description of the beautiful valley is, if it doesn't add to the plot, or more importantly, if it takes away from the plot, it shouldn't be there-- or it should at least be smaller.

I hope that those ideas help some!

A good tip with characters, to broaden their description and their personality, is to write out profiles. Then your mental image of the character is written out in all its fullness, and you can refer back to it, and add things.

Mind you, I'm not too good at doing that myself.

sweeet, those are great points! Write as a reader and read as a writer. And, Narnian_Archer, it sounds like you're doing that already. Studying the classics? Excellent! I think I've definitely learnt most about writing from 1) writing (obviously!) and 2) reading.

There are also ways to decribe characters that reveal personalities. For example, if you have a character that loves the outdoors or is outside and active, using a phrase like 'sun-bleached hair' reveals not just a physical description but also a personality characteristic. Someone with a definate tan also shows this. In some cases, a tatoo will show where someone has been in thier past. Someone with thick, solid thighs is very active as is either a runner or an athlete.

In terms of setting, describe what is needed depending on the importance of the place in the story of the character of the observer. For example, a valley with trees and a river can be a simple as you need for some situations. But if you have a character that loves nature, point that out, not with tell us that he/she loves it, but by have that character look into the details of a tree or bush or flower. For buildings, architecture describes the culture. Tapestries in chapels or castles reveal history. In a castle setting, presense of sentries or guards can describe whether they are on regular patrol or on a heighten watch. Are the guards taking thier duty seriously? Are they lounging around? That says a lot more about the mindset of the king or lord then just the guards.

Think about these kinds of things. The big thing that writers tell other writers is to show not tell. Describe things through actions, through dialogue, and even through setting. Of course, not everything needs to be laid out in a Tolkien-esque manner. Sometimes all you need is a simple wintery forest. I'd say more but I have to go to class.

Wow, it's been a while since I've been on this thread. Then again, I haven't been doing as much writing as I should be, either.

Narnian_Archer, I too echo everyone else's advice. I used to have the same problem of describing way too much. One thing I've learned is that it's important to have a balance between description and action. Do you have any fellow writers in your neighborhood? If you do, I suggest starting a Writer's Workshop. The one I go to has two rules: 1) you are not allowed to read your own story and 2) you cannot defend yourself. This gives you a chance to hear someone else read your work and detach you from your story. Many writers, when presented with constructive criticism, have a tendency to want to explain their writing. The thing is, you're not going to be around to explain everything to your reader. This is where good judgement about details comes in. You want to give details and descriptions that give your readers clues. When describing characters, give the reader something like what they are wearing at the time to hint as to their social status. Only give details that reveal important information. For example, describing a character that has a piercing of some sort gives the reader a sense of what kind of person they are. Also, if you find yourself describing something way too much, cut out the "fluff" details. You want to give your reader just enough info that they "create" the scene in their mind. You don't need to paint the whole picture for them. If you give them just enough detail, their imagination will take care of the rest.

Wow! Thanks for all your advice, sweeetlilgurlie, AJAiken, FencerforJesus, and Fire Fairy It's a great help!
Fire Fairy wrote

Do you have any fellow writers in your neighborhood? If you do, I suggest starting a Writer's Workshop.

Well, no, I don't, but both my sisters and I write, so maybe we could start a small workshop with just the three of us, according to the same rules as the one you attend. Thanks for the suggestion!

I like being able to read out my own work, because I think it's a good way of becoming more confident about what I've written. However, I really like the "no defending" rule. I should suggest these at my Writer's Society! (I go to one at my university.)

Hi, everyone!
Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, I was away from home for a few days.
I have a question that I'd like to ask the writers on this topic: How do you usually begin your stories? Do you like to start immediately with some kind of action, and then backtrack a bit to explain the history of what's going on, or do you prefer to start with a description and move on to the action? And do you usually have a prologue to your story, or do you sort of explain the history of the story (if one is needed) during the course of the story? I'm just starting a story which has quite a history to it, but I'm a little stuck as to how to explain this history to the reader.
The story goes that once upon a time there was a king, and he was happily married and had a son, but then one of his knights betrayed him, so he was banished along with his baby daughter. The actual story takes place 20 years later with the Prince and the daughter of the bad guy, but this history is very imortant, as the king and the bad guy also get into the story. At first I thought I could just write it all in a prologue, but this gives away too much of the plot in the begining...but I'm having a bit of trouble distributing this piece of history throughout the story. I thought if I could see how other people started their stories, it would help me with mine.
Thanks so much for answering all my questions, everyone! I'm sooooooooooo grateful!

Well, I started one of my stories in present-day and the entire rest of the story was told in flash-back. Though technically it wasn't flash-back because I didn't flash forward until the very end.

However, I don't think that helps with your problem. There are many story devices that you could use to solve it, though. I'm generally not an advocate of frequent flashing-back, as it disrupts the flow of the story and often confuses characters in the reader's mind, and though it can be done well it is very difficult.

Then and again, if the Prince and the Daughter of the bad guy are the main characters, it's not a good idea to have several major characters in the prologue and then suddenly switch to new major characters.

What I suggest is to either have a very abbreviated prologue with a minimal amount of information, or to have the Prince/Daughter of the bad guy recall what happened, or else to have them discover what happened by means of an old journal or old worker--something like that.

It really does depend on what you want to do with your story. If you're not sure, just start writing and see if the storyline seems relatively smooth. You've just got to dive in sometimes.

Interesting question, and welcome to the forum and the Writers' thread! I think sweeetlilgurlie has offered some good advice.

I've used a variety of methods: a short prologue (like a written equivalent of the background presented in the screen-scrolling at the beginning of the original Star Wars movie, for example), a flashback, or a journal (or diary) found.

Other prospects might include a dream sequence, if that would work (though this might have the same limitations as a flashback), or perhaps a main character is a storyteller or wandering bard of sorts, and he could tell the background story to entertain children or a larger, mixed audience. (One of my characters - Erik, for our Ditto Story readers - has filled this role previously for me).

(My writings recently have been continuing adventures in the same universe, allowing me to jump right into things with only a short preamble connecting it to the previous tale, unless something more robust is called for).

I usually begin my stories in some sort of action. I've found that that is the best way to hook readers that normally have a shorter attention span. My brother is a good judge of this. He'll usually only continue reading something if the first paragraph draws him in, so I usually ask him to read my stuff and tell me whether he'd read the rest.

Also, by action, I don't exactly mean a fight scene of some sort. What I mean is having characters doing or saying something that relates to the story. And when it comes to exposition (meaning revealing background info, etc), I've found that the best way to do it is subtly, bit by bit. But then again, that's just my personal opinion.

When it comes to prologues, I've always preferred to do something that is short and engaging but that doesn't reveal too much. A good prologue leaves your reader asking questions. If you write a prologue that doesn't leave the reader asking questions, then you've included way too much info and should probably spread it out throughout the actual story. Also, if the prologue ends up having its own plot that can stand alone, it should probably be cut down and/or cut out.

What kind of introduction you have can also depend on the type of story you are trying to tell. Is your story action based? Romance based (between the Prince and the daughter)? The important thing to know is that when you are writing a story, the opening page needs to tell everything about the general story line, the type of story the reader is going to encounter, and the like. Obviously there are exceptions to every case, but this is a good guideline.

Using my novel, Battle Cry, for example. I start out with a dark, suspenseful, action scene right in the middle of the action. After the fight scene ends, then I begin to explore the setting, the characters, and set up the plot line. The reason I did this is the get my readers hooked into the story immediately. This set up also tells my readers that the novel is going to be action oriented and once the setting, characters, and plot line is set into motion, that it will be action the rest of the way.

So for your case, you can decide how you want to start by what type of story you want to give. If you want an action theme, start with a battle scene that depicts the King and the Knight and thier character. If you want a romantic theme, open up with the King, the Queen and/or the baby Prince. Play with the theme of the story and that should help you decide your approach to the opening scene.

Now do you do a prologue or as stargazed suggested (like a Star Wars opening scroll), or do you just start with an opening scene, or do you do the background via flashback? You have a lot of flexibility in this regard. Star Wars needed something like its scroll to set the scene. It could have gone without, but it would have taken longer to set it up. The issue is the difference between showing and telling. If you are going to do an introduction prologue (like Star Wars), that is going to be telling. If you go that way, you want to say as little as possible to set the scene. If you just start the story in a similar fasion to what I described in the two paragraphs above, you need to show the setting and the set up. It's your call, but hopefully that will give you something to think about.

I can't wait for Thursday. That's when I leave for my American Christian Writer's Conference. I'm very excited about this and I'm making my final preparations on my novel so I can speak to editors/writers about it as well as see what God has for me there. It's so close.

While a story doesn't need to start with actual action, my opinion is that it is a good idea to start with something foreboding to draw in the reader. When I was young I would start my stories with "It was a nice sunny day at the city of __" for lack of better. While this MIGHT be a good idea to use in some cases, I don't recommend it.

But I also don't recommend using for the first sentence, for example, "The two armies charged at each other." I have read books that have no time for character development, instead just starting with a battle scene or something of the like, and I really don't like those. But that is my preference.

In the prologue for my story, I have a 1-page letter which draws in the readers' attention but shouldn't reveal too much. For example, the letter is addressed "To my royal sister" and states no names. It describes the events as having already happened which really don't happen until starting about Chapter 3. It describes the crime but doesn't say who. It stresses the need for secrecy on the part of the person who receives the letter. Thus, it draws in the readers' attention, but when Chapter 1 starts, it talks about something entirely different...or so it seems! I love being tricksy. Chapter 1 doesn't start with actual action, but it starts out with an argument between two characters that sets up the action.

The Lord of the Rings starts with a birthday party. Not too interesting upon first thought, but then something interesting happens! LOTR has tons of history in which it uses the characters' discussions to bring out. This depends on the age of your reader you're targeting, however, because not all types want to read lots of discussion.

I hope this helped at least to give some insight, Narnian_Archer. Everyone here has tons of good advice, especially in the area of how to do prologues!

There is a right way to start in the middle of an action scene and many wrong ways. One thing I have done in my novel is to use action to reveal character. Being a fencer, I know the mindset of going into a battle, so I know how to describe fighting styles, weapons, and such in a way to reveal characteristics about characters. I don't tell you that one character is timid in battle or absolutely fearless. I show it. The timid character tries to avoid the conflict and fight as little as possible, while the fearless one goes into the fray against the fiercest of foes without a second thought about consequences. And then there are the confident traits, arrogant traits, lazy traits, etc, all of which I know how to depict in battle. But when your theme is spiritual warfare, combat does play a large role.

But that being said, I am not too keen on movies that are pure action with no plot or character development. For me a lot of Jackie Chan/Jet Li films are good only for the action. But if I see a plot line or use of the action to drive plot points (I thought the interactions between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow in GI Joe was a good example of this), then I like the movie better. Same thing with writing. I love doing good actions scenes, but I have had to learn how to do them properly. An action scene that is only there to be there and does little to advance the plot or reveal character is dead weight. Movie examples. Good: Terminator 2, Moped/bike/truck chase scene with John, Arnold, and the bad guy at the beginning of the movie. It reveals who the bad guy is, the length Arnold goes to protect John and to bring those two together. Bad: Pirates 2, Cannibal Island Scene. It joins Will up with Jack but spends 30 minutes doing nothing but that. It was a waste of time that did little to reveal anything about characters or advance the plot. Actions scenes in novels should be similar, there to advance the plot and/or perform character development.

So starting with an action scene is something that can work, but if not done right for the given story, it can go ill quickly. Based on the feedback I have gotten, it works for mine. But it does not work for everything. Personally, I think it should only be used for action-heavy stories but it still must be balanced properly with character development, plot advancement, and descriptions.

I agree! Thanks for expanding on that.