Up Close and Personal with yaoiChibi

Writing Tips

This time, I have nothing to rant about.

Instead, I had a very interesting question raised by one of you guys. It made me think of how many of you guys out there want to ask the same question but don't know how to raise the issue.

Like I've said on my too-many-to-count A/N's, I am not a writer at heart.

I'm a reader.

I prefer being the reader but because my head is still filled with stupid ideas that won't go away, I ended up writing them out into the stories you all love and hate. Because, let's be real, not all of you enjoy my writing and not all of you think I'm the perfect writer.

Now, how did I transition from a picky reader to a relatively well-known author on Wattpad?

Simple. I get better with experience. If any of you noticed, my first babies were "How I Fell In Love" and "30 Reasons Why I Love You". And the one thing they had in common, aside from the characters, is the fact that they both sucked balls.

You guys don't need to sugarcoat it. We all know they sucked but they were the reason I moved forward with my writing. Then, the LAL series came followed by the IMTW series. The way my writing evolved is pretty interesting and that's why some of you want to know how the hell that happened.

So, here goes my five tips to writing stories.

1) Never start consecutive paragraphs with "I"

I saw the way his eyes melted with mine. It was like the world consisted of just the two of us and life could never be any better. He looked at me and I knew he thought the same thing, how we were so perfect for each other.

I fell in love just like that. In that same trap, in that same mistake. I knew it was game over for me.

I knew I should have never trusted my heart.

The above is just a random example at the top of my head. It's dramatic, it's romantic, and it's one of my greatest pet peeves.

Always using I to start off all your paragraphs makes the story too unimpressive. There are other ways to express the MC's thoughts and they don't always have to start in a monotonous way. It's like a person talking about "me, me, me" and frankly, I could use less interaction with such people right now.

There are exceptions. But, unless necessary, don't do it. Spice things up by commenting on the surroundings or the people the MC interacts with. Maybe insert a random thought about how delicious the food they were eating. Anything at all that is relevant and doesn't start the same way the last paragraph started.

I know the first tip I gave sounds stupid but if you see my stories, I try to follow this rule to a T so it gives me more space to try and think of a better way to describe what's happening in the story. The story becomes more vocal in its own little way. It's not a sure-win tip, I know, but it doesn't hurt to lessen the use of I in your stories.

2) Commas are bae

I'm not sure if I used the word bae correctly since I suck with pop lingo but anyway, you guys should worship them.

Help a thief!

Help, a thief!

See the difference? Most people think when they start out writing for the first time that punctuation marks don't affect the story as a whole, most specially commas.