Hello to my Fury-ous Soldiers and fellow Block Party peeps!

C'est moi, Fury Evans.

I am a seventeen-year-old Muslim boy from Malaysia who enjoys turning covfefe into books. I am also the author of three #1 short stories: Hate Line, Cinderelliot, and Miss Delivery Girl. Although, my rant book Confessions from an Asian Boy has made rounds among Wattpeeps recently.

Of course, we're not here to read about an Asian boy bragging how guys like him actually exist on Wattpad or pull off another Kim-esque banter on his first world problems. He's here to share 7 tips on how to write better.

First of all, I would like to thank Kelly for featuring me — I feel like a golden trashcan right now *squeals* — in this summer's Block Party. And yes, I am the least qualified person in the world to provide writing tips.

But everybody loves a little tea-spilling now and then, don't they?

Alright, let's get down to business.

▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

7 TIPS ON HOW TO WRITE BETTER

BY FURY EVANS

▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄

1. WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW.

(Totally didn't copy that from Google.)

No, this isn't some John Green philosophical metaphor.

I like to write about topics that I'm passionate about, although there's nothing wrong with venturing beyond your limits at times. But if you're a beginner, try writing about something you consider personal. It might be body-shaming, bullying, or the death of a family member.

Now, think about HOW you can explore it deeply (no kinky thoughts, please). How can you pour your feelings on a certain topic into words? How can you make your views genuine and don't come off as pretentious?

Cancer stories like The Fault In Our Stars are a great read, but they've been done to death honestly. Although, people always love new authors who twist the tradition into something different than the usual o-Romeo-wherefore-art-thou-Romeo cancertastic plot lines.

(I'm sorry if that was offensive, my words mostly possess no insurance.)

But how can you write what you know about what you don't know?

2. RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH!

Seriously, a lot of Wattpad authors (including me) are too lazy to do their research. In the end, their stories are infested with factual errors and stereotypical characters. I'm sure you've come across at least one story where descriptions of the culture and characters are inaccurate according to their settings.

Stereotypical characters is my biggest pet peeve when it comes to this. No, Asia does not only consist of Japan, Korea, and China. And one more thing: NOT ALL BOYS ARE DOWNRIGHT JERKS. Please do not generalize teenage boys like me as sexually-depraved monsters who will pursue random girls' virginity all the time.

No, I'm still here on Wattpad, clean from ephemeral one-night stands and I'm-in-love-with-the-CoCo late night parties.

If you think you've done enough research, then you haven't. Keep doing it. Research will help you a lot in your writing. You can use the facts to come up with associated plot line and also less factual errors!

When writing about mental disorders especially, research is the most crucial thing. For example, not all depressed teens are Tumblr trash, goth-fashioned emos, and antisocial serpents as portrayed by many depression-centered Wattpad stories I've come across. In fact, some people who are depressed in real life are noticeably outgoing, friendly, and well-dressed. But inside, it's an entirely different story.

Whatever you're writing about, whatever genre it's in (even YA teen fics), research is important.

3. SHOW, DON'T TELL.

If you Google "Novelwriting Tips", this is one of the most frequent ones to show up. This has been explained by another writer in the previous Block Party, but to refresh your writing gears, what exactly do they mean when they say "show, don't tell"?

Well, let's say you're describing a new character, you will probably do this:

He has light brown skin, and pretty hazel eyes. His curly brown hair is dyed with tinges of violet, I'm not sure if those colors match. He's also 6 feet tall, I assume.

(Disclaimer: I don't know anything about hairstyling. I also learn British English at school but I've gotten so accustomed with using American English in my stories, the Us in words such as colour have faded from my writing.)

That's TELLING. You are directly telling readers his facial features and height.

While telling is often used as a quick way to describe facial features, perhaps you can SHOW how their height, for example, affects their daily routine. Example:

The skies paint a perfect picture in his eyes. They train on me, and I'm pretty sure his focus has skidded off because, as he enters the room, his head hits the doorway.

Okay, I suck at showing but this way, readers know that his eyes resemble the blue skies and he's taller than the door itself. Showing often displays an author's grandeur writing and how they describe things. Fantasy and sci-fi use a lot of showing to bring their stories, settings, and characters to life. And poetry basically shows how the world works in carefully-sewn metaphors.

Here's an excerpt from my story Cinderelliot which I believe is showing in action:

His eyes reflected a plethora of endearment that reached into the deepest core of my heart. His fingers decoded the quirks behind the scenes of my quietude. Like a sailor with no course, we let the flow drive us naturally as we glided across the floor.

You don't need to show all the time though. In fast-paced fight scenes, you usually alter between show and tell, mostly the latter. Seriously, do you even have time to notice how your enemy's veins pulse with merciless cruelty and how his lips glisten with luscious colors WHILE you're fist-fighting???

4. USE PROPER GRAMMAR AND DIALOGUE TAGS, PLEASE.

All stories here have grammar mistakes, or at least subtle ones that usually don't affect the reading experience. But I get thrown off when I read a story that is poorly-written in terms of grammar and dialogue tags. And I can't believe I'm about to give a lesson on dialogue tags but:

i. "I love you." I said. ( ✖ )

"I love you," I said. (✔)

You're saying that you love them so

you have to use comma.

AND THERE MUST BE A

PUNCTUATION BEFORE THE

END OF EACH DIALOGUE TAG!

ii. "I don't know," I scratched my

head. ( ✖ )

"I don't know." I scratched my

head. (✔)

No, you can't just scratch OUT that

sentence from your scalp so you

have to use period. They are

separate; the former is a verbal

sentence, the other one is a

physical action. You use period

before the end of the dialogue tag

to separate them.

iii. "I did not have any romantic

relations with that woman!" He

said, raising his voice. (✖)

"I did not have any romantic

relations with that woman!" he

said, raising his voice. (✔)

It works the same with comma

and question mark. Seriously,

please Google the proper

dialogue tags if you're unsure

with them.

5. CAN WE PLEASE DESCRIBE THE SETTINGS NOW?

After plot and characters, setting comes third in the most important aspects of a story. If you never describe where or when the story took place, it's like your characters are acting in a romantic play that has no background at all. Just a blank screen.

Or should I say . . . blank space? (Ba dum tss.)

Settings and world-building are very important in fantasy and sci-fi stories. The entire Harry Potter series could have taken place in some random basement or even Tolkien's Middle-earth if J.K. Rowling didn't exactly describe where the stories took place.

SHOWING plays a very important role in describing settings. You don't want to tell how the weather is calm and the flowers look fresh today. SHOW IT! Describe how the skies radiate with serenity today unlike the usual scorching heat this summer has promised and how the petals dance in the breeze. Maybe use telling once in awhile to vary your writing style, but show more.

Even in teen fic stories, yes. You have to at least describe the house where the MC goes to party. I've read many books where the MC is just like:

Hey, let's walk into this random house which I'm very lazy to describe because hot tamales and dud(e)s are in da club yaww obviously future baby-making sessions and the reincarnation of Greek gods are more worthy to describe!!!!

6. TWIST THE TRADITION, FAME IS NOT THE SOLE PURPOSE OF WATTPAD.

Are you sick of the same repetitive plot lines and clichés in Wattpad books? Well then, come up with an original concept that can trample the perception that writing clichés is how you get popular on Wattpad. Or better yet, twist the traditions.

How about feminine bad boys? Or maybe a story from the perspective of an extra character instead of the main character? Or a straight body-built football — soccer in U.S. — player who is actually into fashion-designing and makeups for some reason?

Bad boys are the most overused cliché in Wattpad history, yes I agree. But my team and I at @ProjectBadBoys are always open for bad boy stories that twist the stereotypical bad boy tradition! If you're a bad boy lover, please do follow our campaign and show your support for our dudes ❤

Some people write clichés because they are the "it" thing. Clichés often give writers guaranteed popularity since so many users love reading those books. And I'm not just talking about bad boys, but other ones too like dialogue stories, good-girls-gone-bad, and others.

I'm not saying they are bad, but please don't write them if you only expect popularity as the outcome. While attaining those numbers are a goal as a Wattpad writer, fame is not the sole purpose of Wattpad. At the end of the day, authors write because they want to express their creativity and emotions through literature.

Always remember that.

7. READ, READ, READ! WRITE, WRITE, WRITE!

If you don't read, you will never know how to write. I suggest reading physical novels (classics, bestselling contemporaries), Wattpad novels in the Featured Lists, and poetry. Honestly, poetry has abundances of metaphors — not Katherines — and grandeur vocabulary that can really help you in writing not just novels, but school essays too.

While reading, don't just focus on the story. Observe as well how the author describes the settings and characters, do they use a lot of showing or telling? Are their characters realistic? Look at the dialogue tags and grammar. This is a part of the process in becoming what we are and/or will be — writers.

Write what you want to read. I prefer reading stories with tragic endings and dark themes, so those are exactly what I've been writing for over two years now.

Find your own voice. I've gotten very comfortable with including the word Uranus, popular culture references, and ill-timed jokes in my stories.

Do not get discouraged by the fear of failure. Screw that voice that keeps telling you to ditch your story ideas. Cliché? Everybody loves a nice cliché story tinged with originality. Bland? Not until you write the whole story. Research, outline, and write it. Sacrifice your time and energy for your future masterpiece because, trust me, someday it'd all be worth it.

JUST WRITE IT!

We have reached the end my Summer 2017 Block Party post. I hope I didn't offend any of you. I'm really sorry if I did, wasn't my intention to. If you have any concerns or questions regarding this chapter, please don't hesitate to comment or PM me!

Before I sign off, do check out my #1 short story CINDERELLIOT which is an LGBT+ twist on the Cinderella fairytale and based on true events. Released on 13th September 2016, this story has reached 2 million reads in only 11 months — which I still have no idea how — and is going to have its full version published on Tapas in January 2018 under the title Prince In Distress.

You can check out its trailer in the media section at the start of the chapter!

To celebrate my very first Block Party post, I'm giving away a follow and a book review for three lucky winners! This giveaway is open internationally. Click the link at the bottom of this post to enter.

*cue dramatic, villain-y music*

You haven't seen the last of me, folks. I'll be back.

With intense moaning,

Fury Evans

***********

Enter the #WattpadBlockParty Giveaways for Your Chance to Win Amazon Gift Cards, Signed Paperbacks, E-Books, Shoutouts from Your Favorite Wattpad Authors, and Much More!

Link: https://goo.gl/2x2anC