12-20-2003, 02:20 PM | #1 |
Elven Maiden
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 3,309
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how to make stories long
This is like Earniel's thread about keeping stories short. I have the oposite problem. I go to write a short story and it's like, 3 paragraphs. I should really do a bit more details and things rather than progressing the story so fast. Does anyone know any good ways to do this (without being boring of course)? Thank you
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12-20-2003, 02:43 PM | #2 |
The Infamous Tea Hobbit
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In the name of Eru, yes! I have that same problem! It's awful! I can get the story line, but as far as making a story that is real reading material, I am shot. I don't have any advice, mainly because I need some!
-Pip
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12-24-2003, 08:35 AM | #3 |
The Chocoholic Sea Elf Administrator
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As I said before, I have little problem with making stories long enough.
But IMO you can lenghten a story by adding more descriptions, and then I'm not talking about descriptions of pretty dresses but more descriptions of places and situations. Picture a scene from the story in your head and describe how it looks. The surroundings, the position of the characters involved and such. Add enough details so a reader can better picture the scene in his or her head. Of course, you shouldn't get overdescriptive since too many discriptions can clog up and immobilise a good story. Practise is a good thing to determine for yourself which amount of descriptions is apropriate. If you have your characters are making a trip or journey, let them take breaks to make a meal and such, let them have occasional discussions that are not inmediatly tied to the story line but that may give a better insight in their character. Don't focus on merely the topics tied to the plot. Anyway, these are a few things I would use to lenghten a story. I hope they're of some help.
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12-24-2003, 10:26 AM | #4 | |
Hobbit
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Quote:
when writing and you have a plot, setting is very important. like earnial said picture your scene and work from there. remember description doesnt have to be what you see, write about all your senses- sight, smell, sound and touch. even if you get carried away and write too much you can easily scale down your descriptive passages without affecting the plot of your story. always better to cut things out at the end. hope thats been helpfull
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12-24-2003, 10:44 AM | #5 |
Possessive Villain Fancier
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I agree with the advice already given most certainly, and would add this as a helper. Take your paragraph or sentence and then ask yourself questions about it. Ie. What more could you say? (and if you, Eärniel, have problems with length I suggest you don't think about this )
For example: In Shanghai the rooftops were perfect cover for the girl. She jumped carefully from one to the next, ducking behind chimneys and avoiding the glare of the moonlight until she reached the roof of the dock. Once there she opened up the metal grate and slid down onto the crates within. A perfectly okay paragraph. But what more could you say? Why were they perfect cover? Because they were very close together and sloped in the right directions for her to walk on. Why was she hiding? Because the people in the street below were searching for her? Would she really just open the grate? No, she'd probably observe the scene first. It's then possible to go onto the crates being wooden, thus their texture on her bare feet, and what they contain and such. I believe it's simply a case of being able to ask the right questions, because none of those give superfluous information like that the girl is 14 with black hair and grey eyes. Hope that's helpful.
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12-24-2003, 01:16 PM | #6 | ||
Cardboard Harp of Gondor Join Date: Sep 2001
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Okay, take a look at this:
Quote:
We went through a plot line (of sorts) and ended with them going to lunch. But was that fulfilling? No! It leaves the reader starving for more information! Or at the very least something that wasn't written by a third grader (). How could it be longer though? Well for one thing, "There was a guy named Steve". Okay, that's nice. Who is Steve? What does he look like? "He stepped outside and saw his neighbor." Okay, that's nice too, but again no detail. I could put in something about the state of his lawn, the paint starting to peel a little on his house, what his neighbor was doing, how well he knows his neighbor... It goes on and on. Well I won't keep ripping the thing apart, but I'll just give a little example of how I could have made it longer. Quote:
Steve is a joker with red hair and blue eyes, who has a thing for Firebirds. Melinda is a precise woman with black hair who is friendly, seems to know Steve, HATES weeds, and has a strangely white smile. So anyways, hopefully that will be helpful. I totally agree with what EX and Erin said. |
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12-29-2003, 08:04 PM | #7 |
Elven Maiden
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 3,309
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Two paragraphs into seven or eight? More like two sentences inot seven or eight paragraphs. Thanks for the advice everyone! Maybe I'll go write a story now. (wait a second, I have no idea for a story. I'll think of one, don't worry)
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01-23-2004, 11:57 PM | #8 | ||
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I really enjoyed your example Tessar, ever feel like posting the complete story for us?
The only piece of advice I could possibly add is to practice writing. Your skills at description, knowing what to write, etc. will improve the more stories you write. Don't worry about the length - sometimes a short story is interesting and fullfilling as it is.
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01-24-2004, 06:27 PM | #9 | |
Cardboard Harp of Gondor Join Date: Sep 2001
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Ahhhh well, we'll see . |
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01-25-2004, 01:06 AM | #10 | |
Elf Lord
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I might add that reading also is a significant aid. Reading and practice writing are two key things for helping improve skill. Length can often come naturally, with that improvement. |
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02-05-2004, 04:30 PM | #11 |
The Lovely Hobbit-Lass
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Oh, yeah, post the rest of it. It was just getting interesting. Really good example, btw. I suffer from the too-short-and-terribly-dull syndrome a LOT. This helps. Cool.
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02-21-2004, 12:08 AM | #12 |
Sapling
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Ooh! This is great! I always have stories that are too short. *sigh* These are great tips. Thanks for dicussing it in a place I could find it.
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02-21-2004, 08:15 PM | #13 |
Thief Queen of Entmoot
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those are all good tips! my problem though, is that when i try conversations that don't directly partain to the story, they always end up being inane ramblings. so, as another tip, if you try that, be careful about what your characters are saying.
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02-22-2004, 12:40 AM | #14 | ||
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I also have trouble having my conversations some how relevant to the plot. I'm not too worried about fleshing out my story though, it will come with time as I get more and more ideas.
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"I can add some more, if you'd like it. Calling your Chief Names, Wishing to Punch his Pimply Face, and Thinking you Shirriffs look a lot of Tom-fools." - Sam Gamgee, p. 340, Return of the King Quote:
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02-22-2004, 01:06 AM | #15 |
Elven Maiden
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 3,309
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Hey, these tips are working. My story is going to be really long, I think. It's just that I keep writing on and on about silly things. My character goes clothes shopping and is there for a quarter of the story so far. It's hardly relevant to the plot. Oh well! It's working. So thanks a lot, everyone! Tessar, I had a dream that I was in a bookstore and found a book you wrote. It was funyn because for author it just said "Tessar". It was good though.
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