Writing and You: The Beginninngs of a Healthy Relationship

[shinderhizzle84]

Greetings. My name is Shinderhizzle84. I am 18 and will be attending NYU for dramatic writing in the fall.

With Madden out and NHL 10 soon to be released, I am expecting at least a tiny influx of OS dynasty hq frequenters. Whether it be older, more mature adults, or younger kids, there are tons of people who seem eager to start a BAP, RTTS, RTG, or SS mode, but are too afraid their writing skills won't be suffice. Furthermore, some HAVE started their chosen story, and could probably use a little bit of help with their writing.

I'm no expert on writing. I'm not an award winning author, or a pulitzer-prize winning journalist. I'm not famous, and I'm not very good looking. I like red peppers better than the green ones. Hell, I've really only had 1 well-established story on these boards, and it seemed kind of stale to me quite a lot.

If you're older, you probably don't need my help. If you're a good writer, you probably won't need my help, or even want it. In fact, you may disagree with me on a lot of various things presented in this guide. However, I'm hoping that the majority of you who read this will find at least a few things that they can use, and for the newer faces here at OS, who are eager to start their player's story, this will help you have a stronger foundation for both your player's story, and your namesake here at OS.

Anyways, Without further ado, I present to: Shinderhizzle84's Guide to Writing sports-related stories here at OS:

[shinderhizzle84]

Re: Writing and You: The Beginninngs of a Healthy Relationship

Table of Contents:

Chapter I: Hello!
Chapter II: Basic Tips
Chapter III: I'm downright horrible at chapter names (STORYTELLING)
Chapter IV: Creationism at it's finest
Chapter V: Delivery & Story Development
Chapter VI: Writer's Block, and how to deal with it.
Chapter VII: Goodbye, my friends!!

[shinderhizzle84]

Re: Writing and You: The Beginninngs of a Healthy Relationship

Dear readers:


For about a year, now, some of you have hailed me as the "BAP King". I've written this guide in dedication to you, my avid readers, for giving me the necessary support to write a full-fledged BAP story, and begin a second one. You give me the inspiration to be perfect, and to make sure I never release a BAP update that I think isn't 110% of my effort. You guys rock, end of discussion.


Anyways, let's get this guide rolling. I don't know what my workload in my first year as an NYU-student will be like, but I'm assuming it will be large, at least to begin with, so I'm not sure how frequently I'll be on OS anymore. Because of this, I'm leaving you all a "parting gift", so to speak; this guide. With NHL 10 just around the corner, I'm sure there will be tons of new, bright smiling members who are eager to share their adventures in the wonderful world of professional ice hockey. Please bear in mind that if you're reading this, and are not an owner of a hockey game, but would still like to improve your writing skills for your Dallas Mavericks franchise, or your Madden Superstar novel, you are more than welcome to apply the tips and tidbits of advice scattered throughout this guide. The only thing I love to see at OS more than I love to see dynasties and stories of sports characters is well-written dynasties and stories of sports characters.


Many of us have struggled with it for years. Some have been blessed and never have had to struggle with it, although they are few and slim in numbers. Many of us still struggle with it, and find it's frustrations almost too much to handle.


Writing doesn't come easily to us all. It varies from person to person, depending on nothing more than experience and creativity. What's the difference between a younger writer who has only briefly tasted the juicy double bacon cheeseburger that is writing, and the older, more mature and experienced novelist who has basked in the bubbling, greasy heat that the juicy double bacon cheeseburger emanates as it sits alone, on a white plate with golden stripes, with a small serving of fresh-cut, golden, crispy fries by it's side.


Delicious? Tempting? Yes, unless you're a vegetarian.


The treasures that writing can give us won't seem obvious at first. But they're there, nevertheless. An A+ on your report card. The ability to impress your boss, or your girlfriend, depending on your life motives, with your uncanny knack at writing poetry. Or, for some of you, like myself, the possibility of using the tool that is writing as a career path. A novelist, a screenwriter, a playwright as fine and honed as William Shakespeare. Well, maybe not THAT good.

[NYwRiter94]

Re: Writing and You: The Beginninngs of a Healthy Relationship

I too like red peppers better than the green ones.

I also am glad to see you finally got around to doing this. Can't wait to hear your advice.

[Franke12]

Re: Writing and You: The Beginninngs of a Healthy Relationship

Cant wait

[kzoz21]

Re: Writing and You: The Beginninngs of a Healthy Relationship

misspelled shakespeare. that's two errors bro. that's awful. i hate you

[cubsfan203]

Re: Writing and You: The Beginninngs of a Healthy Relationship

I find it ironic that there is a typo in the title.

Good stuff though, I'm sure this will help some people out.

[shinderhizzle84]

Re: Writing and You: The Beginninngs of a Healthy Relationship

misspelled shakespeare. that's two errors bro. that's awful. i hate you

thanks, bro

It was 1:30 AM when I wrote it all, though, so please bare with me, haha.

[shinderhizzle84]

Re: Writing and You: The Beginninngs of a Healthy Relationship

Chapter 2 -- Basic Tips:

Right. Now that we're finally done with the introduction, I'll try and start you off with some basic tips that you should use in all of your written updates, whether they're from dynasties to character-stories, such as RTTS's, BAP's, RTG's, or SS's.

Tip #1: Always, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use proper spelling, and grammar (which was something I failed to do in the 1st post).
It isn't easy, especially when you're younger, and haven't really learned all of the basic rules of grammar. Spelling is more easily solved, by copying and pasting your written updates to http://www.spellchecker.net .

Which witch is which?: I know, I know. You've heard this thousands of times, ever since the 3rd grade. But you'd be surprised to see the amount of newer writers who struggle with this basic property.

WITCH: An evil character, usually depicted as green, with a crooked nose, and a sidekick that is an all-black cat. Or, my mother....

WHICH: A word that can help give sentences continuity.
For example: "I came upon a tree that was growing beer bottles, which gave off a savory taste of hops, lime, and the the sense that somebody may have urinated in the bottles before putting the cap on."

There, their, and they're.

"Hey, you there! Stop taking their muffins! They're extra fresh, and filled with blueberries!"

Confused? Perplexed? Want to strangle the living daylights out of me? I don't blame you. But here: before you kill me, why not allow me to help you?

THERE: This word is generally used in reference to a location.
For example: "Hey you, over there! Stop with that TV!"

THEIR: This word is commonly used to explain that a certain object, trait, or something else, belongs to a group of 2 or more people.
For example: "The Johnsons looked incredibly upset in Church last Sunday. Rumor had it their TV wasn't working."

THEY'RE: You might have noticed that this word has an apostrophe ( ' ). This generally means that this word is really two words linked into one.

THEY + ARE = THEY'RE.

Now that I've explained this, I hope you'll understand with clarity that this means THEY'RE means THEY ARE, and not THERE or THEIR.
For example: "Watch out for those twin females -- they're known to problems that might transfer to your body if you're not careful with them."

Now, we've got two very important word twists out of the way. See? Wasn't that fun, kiddies?

Next up is another important tip:

DON'T USE CHAT LANGUAGE IN WRITTEN UPDATES.

It's ok when you're not making a written update. But nobody wants to see something along the lines of:

"Hey, did you hear that joke about the peanut and the tarantula?"
"LOL," I said to the stranger. "Yeah, I did!"

Instead, you can say,

"Hey, did you hear that joke about the peanut and the tarantula?"
"Yes," I said to the stranger, laughing. "I did."

See how much better that looks? For starters, it makes you seem much more mature than you may actually be, and using chat language in written updates only makes people think you're less mature than you may really be. Which one would you rather be? Do I even need to ask?

One of the most important things, in my opinion, to making your story look prim and proper, is the way you structure your work.

Every paragraph, at least when posted on the internet, should have at least one good space between each other.

Also, when posting quotations, it is important to know that each new set of quotation marks (“”=1 set) must come on an entirely new line. This way, it is easier for the reader to tell who is speaking, and when. Like so:

Matilda entered the dark tavern and slowly made her way over to the bar, until she was just inches from the poor tavernmaster's pitiful face.

“Get me a drink,” She breathed.

“W-would you like it brewed?” The bartender stammered.

“Yes. And make it steamy...”

Sorry. I don't know what came over me. I should know better than to release “Steamy” female characters to a group of 13-65 year old male interwebz nerds.

Either way, I'm hoping you weren't too distracted to notice the spaces between each line.

Also, notice how I never said the word “said” once. This doesn't mean you should never say it. In fact, far from it. However, it is important that you do not use it every single time you try to make the reader aware that someone spoke.

Notice the difference between these two conversations:

“Get me a drink,” she said.

“W-would you like it brewed?” The bartender said.

“Yes. And make it steamy,” she said.

No life, right? No energy, no lustiness. With the way I wrote it before, at least I would hope you could immediately imagine the raw sensualism that Matilda brought with her as she slowly strolled down to the bar, and moved her face inches within the older unsuspecting bartender. You could feel the sweat dripping down his bald head all the way to his neck with the “stammered” part, and you could almost see Tera Patrick when she said “Make it steamy.” Did I say Tera Patrick? Er, I meant Matilda. Sorry parents, but I'm 18.

[NYwRiter94]

Re: Writing and You: The Beginninngs of a Healthy Relationship

thanks, bro

It was 1:30 AM when I wrote it all, though, so please bare with me, haha.

It's bear...

Hopefully you don't have a section on spelling.

[GoldenJet]

Re: Writing and You: The Beginninngs of a Healthy Relationship

Is it bear, I always thought it was bare. Well I don't need to spell the cuddly beast a lot where I'm from.

Yup, it's all about the moose, geese and the government here in Canada.

[shinderhizzle84]

Re: Writing and You: The Beginninngs of a Healthy Relationship

It's bear...

Hopefully you don't have a section on spelling.

no...it's bare. Bear is

[cubsfan203]

Re: Writing and You: The Beginninngs of a Healthy Relationship

no...it's bare. Bear is

Hate to say it, but he is right, it's bear with me.

[Bolts_26]

Re: Writing and You: The Beginninngs of a Healthy Relationship

Hate to say it, but he is right, it's bear with me.

It's bear...

Hopefully you don't have a section on spelling.

PWNT!

[NYwRiter94]

Re: Writing and You: The Beginninngs of a Healthy Relationship

Bear: Big fuzzy animal

Bare: To expose something or something that is exposed(bare feet, bare your teeth)

Bear: To endure something (bear with me)