Author has written 15 stories for Teen Titans, Avatar: Last Airbender, and Avengers. We'll be back to Fanfiction in a few moments, but first, a few words to live by... The 19 Rules for good Riting: Each pronoun agrees with their antecedent. Just between you and I, case is important. Verbs has to agree with their subject. Watch out for irregular verbs which has cropped up into our language. Don't use no double negatives. A writer mustn't shift your point of view. When dangling, don't use participles. Join clauses good like a conjunction should. And don't use conjunctions to start sentences. Don't use a run-on sentence you got to punctuate it. About sentence fragments. In letters themes reports articles and stuff like that we use commas to keep strings apart. Don't use commas, which aren't necessary. Its important to use apostrophe's right. Don't abbrev. Check to see if you any words out. In my opinion I think that the author when he is writing should not get into the habit of making use of too many unnecessary words which he does not really need. Then, of course, there's that old one: Never use a preposition to end a sentence with. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague. 8 Words You Should Avoid When Writing
1. “Suddenly” “Sudden” means quickly and without warning, but using the word “suddenly” both slows down the action and warns your reader. Do you know what’s more effective for creating the sense of the sudden? Just saying what happens.
When using “suddenly,” you communicate through the narrator that the action seemed sudden. By jumping directly into the action, you allow the reader to experience that suddenness first hand. “Suddenly” also suffers from being nondescript, failing to communicate the nature of the action itself; providing no sensory experience or concrete fact to hold on to. Just … suddenly. Feel free to employ “suddenly” in situations where the suddenness is not apparent in the action itself. For example, in “Suddenly, I don’t hate you anymore,” the “suddenly” substantially changes the way we think about the shift in emotional calibration. 2. “Then” “Then” points vaguely to the existing timeline and says, “It was after that last thing I talked about.” But the new action taking place in a subsequent sentence or sentence part implies that much already. You can almost always eliminate your thens without disrupting meaning or flow.
“Then” should be used as a clarifying agent, to communicate that two seemingly concurrent actions are happening in sequence. For example, “I drove to the supermarket. Then I realized I didn’t need to buy anything.” Without the “then,” it would be easy to mistake this as pre-existing knowledge or as a realization that happened during the drive itself. “Then” can occasionally be useful for sentence flow, but keep the use of the word to a minimum. 3. “In order to” You almost never need the phrase “in order to” to express a point. The only situation where it’s appropriate to use this phrase is when using “to” alone would create ambiguity or confusion.
And after ten minutes of brainstorming for an example of a proper time to use “in order to,” I haven’t been able to come up with anything. Legitimate uses of “in order to” are just that few and far between. 4. “Very” and “Really” Words are self-contained descriptors, and saying, “Think of tasty. Now think of more tasty” doesn’t help readers develop a better sense of the meal or person you’re describing.
Mark Twain suggested that writers could “substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very’; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” Another strategy is to find a more powerful version of the same idea or give concrete details. To say “It was very/really/damn hot” does little, but saying “It was scorching” helps. Even better?: “The air rippled like desert sky as my body crisped into a reddened, dried-out husk.” 5. “Is” Is, am, are, was, or were—whatever form your “is” takes, it’s likely useless. When’s the last time you and your friends just “was’d” for a while? Have you ever said, “Hey, guys, I can’t—I’m busy am-ing”? The “is” verbs are connecting terms that stand between your readers and the actual description. This is especially true when it comes to the “is” “ing” verb pair. Any time you use “is,” you’re telling the reader that the subject is in a state of being. Using an “ing” verb tells the audience the verb is in process. By using “is verbing,” you’re telling your audience that the subject is in the state of being of being in the process of doing something. Take this example:
If the description is actually about a state of being—”they are angry,” “are evil,” or “are dead”—then is it up. But don’t gunk up your verbs with unnecessary is, am, or was-ing. 6. “Started” Any action a person takes is started, continued, and finished. All three of these can be expressed by the root form of the verb. For example, “I jumped.” The reader who stops in frustration, saying, “But when did the jump start? When did it finish?” has problems well beyond the scope of the content they’re reading. If you’ve been doing yoga for six years, you could reasonably say, “I started doing yoga six years ago.” For you, yoga is an ongoing action with a concrete starting point. But when describing action in a story, there are few circumstances where “start” is effective. Let’s take this case and look at the potential fixes:
Is it a single scream? Use “He screamed.” Are you telling us his screams will be background noise for a while? Rather than clueing us in unnecessarily, show us the series of screams first-hand. Do you want to introduce a changed state, such as escalating from loud speaking into screaming? Show us the decibels, the gruffness of voice, the way the air feels to the person he’s screaming at, and the hot dryness in the screamer’s throat as his volume crescendos. 7. “That” “That” is a useful word for adding clarity, but like Bibles on the bedstands of seedy motel rooms, the word’s presence is often out of place. When “that” is employed to add a description, you can almost always move the description to before the term and make a more powerful image.
In many other cases, “that” can simply be dropped or replaced with a more descriptive term.
Many other uses of “that,” such as “I wish I wasn't that ugly”, can be enhanced with more descriptive language. 8. “Like” I’m not just saying that, like, you shouldn't, like, talk like a valley girl (though that too). Here’s the problem: “Like” is used to show uncertainty. And you. Should. Not. Be. Uncertain. Be bold. When making a comparison, use force. Use metaphor over simile. Don’t let yourself cop out by coming up with a halfway description.
—-As always, these are GUIDELINES, not rules. GOOD FRIEND VS. BEST FRIEND A good friend will comfort you when he rejects you. A best friend will prank call him and whisper "you will die in seven days..." A good friend will help you up when you fall. A best friend will trip you again and/or sit on your back to keep you down. A friend will visit you in jail. A good friend will bail you out of jail. A best friend will be sitting next to you saying, "That was awesome! Let's do it again!" A friend will leave you if that's what the crowd is doing. A good friend will follow you. A best friend will kick the crowd's butt for leaving you. A good friend hides you from the cops. A best friend is probably the reason they're after you in the first place. Friends ask why you're crying. Best friends already have the shovel to bury the loser that made you cry. A good friend will go to a concert with you. A best friend will help you kidnap the band. A good friend will help you learn how to drive. A best friend will help you roll the car in the lake to collect insurance. A friend will never ask for anything to eat or drink. A best friend will help themselves and are the reason why you have no food. A friend will call your parents by Mr. and Mrs. and Grandpa, by Grandpa. A best friend will call your parents DAD and MOM and Grandpa, GRAMPS! A friend will ask you to write down your number. A best friend has you on speed dial. A good friend will borrow your stuff for a few days then gives it back. A best friend will lose your stuff, deny they ever took it, then surprise you with an even better replacement. A good friend only knows a few things about you. A best friend could write a very embarrassing biography on your life story... A good friend would knock on your front door. A best friend walks right in and say "I'M HOME." A good friend asks nicely for your stuff. A best friend shouts "GIMME!!" A good friend waits to call you until a reasonable hour. A best friend calls you at 2 in the freaking morning. A good friend has to be told not to tell anyone. A best friend already knows not to tell. Calling me STUPID won't make you SMART, Calling me WEAK won't make you STRONG, Calling me UGLY won't make you PRETTY, Calling me POOR won't make you RICH, Calling me FAT wont make you PERFECT, So why bother? FUNNY SIGNS: Billboard on the side of the road: Keep your eyes on the road and stop reading these signs In a hotel during a conference: For anyone who has children and doesn't know it, there is day care on the first floor. In a Laundromat: Automatic washing machines. Please remove all your clothes when the light goes out. In a non-smoking area: If we see smoke, we will assume you are on fire and take appropriate action. On a desk in a reception room: We shoot every 3rd salesman, and the 2nd one just left. On a fence: Salesmen welcome. Dog food is expensive. On a plumber's truck: We repair what your husband fixed. Hi, my job is to annoy you. It's you and me versus the world. We attack at dawn. Everybody is a little weird and life is a little weird and when people find someone who's weirdness is compatible with their own they couple together and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love. More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren't so busy denying them. If someone is chasing you while you are wearing high heels, as soon as you have a chance, break the heels off. Do not remove the shoes, because when you're running for your life, you don't know what kind of terrain it'll be on. I'm bored. Run for your sanity. Yes, I'm weird. No, I don't care. I've always wanted to drown my troubles, but I can't get my enemy to go swimming with me. I've never seen anyone so prone to life-threatening idiocy. I'm not accident prone, the world is attacking me! Everyone has skeletons in their closet, but mine are the only ones that found the boombox in there and started a rave. I had a friend once, but the rope broke and he got away. Never get into an argument with an idiot. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience. One day, we will look back on this, laugh nervously, and change the subject. Don’t piss me off. I'm running out of places to hide the bodies. Warning: Do NOT follow in my footsteps. I tend to walk into walls and off the occasional cliff. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine. Don't mess with me, I've got a stick. Aw, did my sarcasm hurt your feelings? Education is important; school, however, is another matter. People tell me I'm weird and I say "Haven't we already established that?" Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't. The lottery is a tax on people who are really bad at math. If you don't understand how someone could love their sibling and want to wring their necks at the same time... You were probably an only child. Muffins are just ugly cupcakes . . . but we love them anyway. A conclusion is when you got tired of thinking. At my lemonade stand, I used to give the first glass free and charge five dollars for the second glass. It contained the antidote. I'm not bossy, I just have better ideas. Threats are the last resort of a man with no vocabulary. Those who fail history class are doomed to repeat it. Heaven doesn't want me and Hell is afraid I'll take over. You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me! You're not yourself today. I noticed the improvement immediately. A bookstore is one of the few pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking. Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool. There are no stupid questions, just stupid people and their questions. The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90 percent probability you'll get it wrong. Early to rise, early to bed, makes a man healthy but socially dead. If you lined up all the cars in the world end to end, someone would be stupid enough to try to pass them, five or six at a time, on a hill, in the fog. People have the right to be stupid, but some abuse that privilege. If the shoe fits, get another one just like it. A celebrity is somebody who works all his life to be well-known, then wears dark sunglasses so as not to be recognized. The things that come to those who wait, will be the things left by those who got there first. It may be your sole purpose in life to serve as a warning for others. Isn't it funny how people who want quiet the most are the loudest telling others to shut up? The road to success is always under construction. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat drinking beer all day. If we don't take care of the customer, maybe they'll stop bugging us. A flashlight is a case for holding dead batteries. Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. When you go into court, you are putting yourself in the hands of 12 people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty. Stupidity killed the cat. Curiosity was framed. The number of people watching you is directly proportional to the stupidity of your actions. If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried. People fear the strange and unusual. I am strange and unusual. FEAR ME! Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils. The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources. A wise monkey never monkeys around with another monkey's monkey. How is it that all mad scientists seem to finish their experiments in the middle of a thunderstorm? I'm not smiling at you, I'm trying not to laugh! Anyone who isn't a fan of James Bond is just a communist! Seeing as how most of his enemies are. Who is this life person and where does he get all these lemons? If ya can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. If ya can’t join ‘em, bribe ‘em. If ya can’t bribe ‘em, blackmail ‘em. If ya can’t blackmail ‘em, kill ‘em. If ya can’t kill ‘em, yer screwed. I've stopped fighting my inner demons. We're on the same side now. He who laughs last thinks the slowest. Don't worry about people in your past, there's a reason they didn't make it into your future. First law of science: Don't spit into the wind. First law of nature: Don’t eat the yellow snow. I have ranted to an empty room, and then ended with a "Thanks for listening" because, if no one heard, then it's okay, but if someone did, then I have officially freaked out a secret corporation. My knight in shining armor turned out to be a loser in aluminum foil. One day your prince will come. Mine? Oh, he took a wrong turn, got lost, and is too stubborn to ask for directions. Don't worry about the end of the world coming today, it's already tomorrow in Australia. When life gives you lemons, squirt the juice in your enemies’ eyes! So many stupid people, so little duct tape. The shinbone is a device for finding furniture in a dark room. I don't understand white crayons. Why are they here? What do they want from us? "Knock knock." When I was your age, there were 151 Pokemon and Pluto was a planet. Now we fight like men! And ladies! And men who dress like ladies! Wait… If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer. I'm an English major; you do the math. A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well. People will believe anything if you whisper it. Flirt like a butterfly, sting like a genetically modified, half-shark killer DEATH BEE! You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted, and then used against you. The greener grass on the other side is probably just artificial turf. When I was kidnapped, my parents sprung into action. They rented out my room. Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. I realize that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure that you realize that what you heard was not what I meant. I used all my sick days so I called in dead. Life is one fool thing after another whereas love is two fool things after each other. Sometimes Courage is looking Fear straight in the eyes and saying, "Get the Hell out of my way, I've got things to do and nothing, and I MEAN NOTHING, is gonna stop me from doing it." You're about to be a strange smell in the attic. What do you do when a Twihard Belieber who's been shot is laid out in front of you? Stop laughing and reload. To be old and wise you must first have to be young and stupid. Whenever I see an old lady slip and fall on a wet sidewalk, my first instinct is to laugh. But then I think, what if I was an ant, and she fell on me. Then it wouldn't seem quite so funny. Always be yourself (unless you suck). Impossible sometimes just means you haven't tried hard enough. Those who criticize our generation forget who raised it. I think the absolute worst time to have a heart attack is during a game of Charades...or during a game of "Fake A Heart Attack". The world is full with crazy, ridiculous people. The only way to deal with it is to be even crazier and more ridiculous. Never go to a doctor who's office plants have died. The buddy system is essential: It gives the enemy someone else to shoot at. When a cat is dropped, it always lands on its feet; when toast is dropped, it always lands with the buttered side facing down. I propose to strap buttered toast to the back of a cat; the two will hover, spinning inches above the ground. With a giant buttered-cat-a-ray, we could power entire metropolitan area. You know that talking thing you're doing? Do the world a favor and cut it out. Life is like a pack of gum... I've yet to figure out why. Today is a perfect day to cause some mayhem. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but if the doctor is cute, screw the fruit! I will take this spork and I will END YOU! When someone annoys you it takes 42 muscles to frown about it, but it takes only 4 muscles to punch them. I've got trunk space and shovels. Being weird is like being normal, only better. It's not that chocolate is a substitute for love. Love is a substitute for chocolate. Chocolate is, let's face it, far more reliable than any man. Don't knock on Death's door. Ring the doorbell and run, he hates that. I always let my imagination run away from me! Then it comes back...with cake. Music is my drug. iTunes is my dealer. If I can't be a good example, I'll just have to be a horrible warning. Suicide is our way of saying to God, "You can't fire me! I quit!" I really don't know why I don't just set you on fire. I see no good reason to act my age. My friends are the kind that, if the house was burning down, would make s'mores and hit on the firemen. It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt. I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder. When you're right, no one remembers. When you're wrong, no one forgets. I'm not questioning your integrity. I'm pondering the logic of your existence. The loneliest people are the kindest. The saddest people smile brightest. The most damaged people are the wisest. All because they do not wish to see anyone else suffer the way they do. Caffeine helps you do stupid things faster. Girls want a lot of things from one guy, yet guys only want one thing from many girls. No wonder so many relationships go up in flames. How do I block you in real life? Most people are alive because it's illegal to shoot them. Well, according to Newton's second law, not only do I run into walls, the walls run into me. Women go into marriage expecting men to change and they don't. Men go into marriages expecting women to stay the same, but they don't. Boys are like trees - they take 50 years to grow up. I don't have anger management problems. I just prefer to solve my issues with violence. Don't let schooling interfere with your education. People like you are the reason there are middle fingers. You learn the importance of a truth by the effort made to hide it. Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once. A critic is a legless man who teaches running. I was gifted but the psychiatrist took away my super powers. The police never think it's as funny as you do. I’m not so good at advice. Can I interest you in a sarcastic comment? A wise man once said, "Ask a woman." You laugh now because you're older than me by mere months, but when you're 30 and I'm still 29, who will be laughing then? I was going to take over the world today, but I was distracted by something sparkly. If you can't convince them, confuse them. Your life is an occasion. Rise to it. You say I'm not cool. But cool is another word for cold. If I'm not cold, I'm hot. I know I'm hot. Thanks for embracing it. Boys are like slinkies, useless, but fun to watch fall down the stairs. I ran with scissors, and lived! Therapy is expensive. Popping bubble wrap is cheap. You decide. If it wasn't for law enforcement and physics I'd be unstoppable! I love having friends, they do so many things I can laugh at. You build worlds of sand and stone, I build worlds of words alone. Marriage is like a deck of cards. In the beginning all you need is two hearts and a diamond. By the end, you wish you had a club and a spade. In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is widely viewed as a bad idea. What makes the universe so hard to comprehend is that there's nothing to compare it with. Yes, I hit like a girl. You would too if you could hit a bit harder. They say "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." Well, I think the guns help. If you stood there and yelled BANG, I don't think you'd kill too many people. Why don't you ever see the headline, "Psychic Wins Lottery"? Why do we teach kids that violence is not the answer and then have them read about wars in school that solved America's problems? In a world of pollution, profanity, adolescence, zits, broccoli, racism, ozone depletion, sexism, stupid guys, and PMS, why do people still tell me to have a nice day? If scientists were ever going to figure out how to travel through time, wouldn't we now be seeing people from the future? Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavoring, while dishwashing liquid is made with real lemons? If our body temperature is normally 98.6 degrees, how come when it's 98 degrees outside, no one is comfortable? If you can't stand the heat, don't tickle the dragon. It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything. I did what they said and took the road less traveled... Now where am I? Come to The Dark Side. We have COOKIES! Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard - Be evil. Welcome to The Dark Side. Are you surprised that we lied about having cookies? Don't Promise when you're Happy. Don't Reply when you're Angry. Don't Decide when you're Sad. Today you are older than you have ever been, and younger than you will ever be again. A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell. ― C. S. Lewis If I tell you who I am, you may not like who I am, and that is all I have. ― John Powell Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That's why they call it the present. ― Master Oogway Two things in the world are indefinite, the universe and people's stupidity. And I'm not sure about the first. ― Albert Einstein Really, the fundamental, ultimate mystery--the only thing you need to know to understand the deepest metaphysical secrets--is this: that for every outside there is an inside and for every inside there is an outside, and although they are different, they go together. ― Alan Watts The universe is wider than our views of it. ― Henry David Thoreau The first duty of a revolutionist is to get away with it. The second duty is to eat breakfast. ― Abbie Hoffman Nothing in life is to be feared, only to be understood. ― Marie Curie Write kindness in marble and write injuries in the dust. ― Persian Proverb The story I am writing exists, written in absolutely perfect fashion, some place, in the air. All I must do is find it, and copy it. ― Jules Renard Sometimes we lay aside our own troubles when we wipe away another's tears. ― Seneca It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. ― Carl Sagan Comparison is the thief of joy. ― Theodore Roosevelt Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too. ― Voltaire When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. ― Marcus Aurelius Be who you are and say what you feel. Because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind. ― Dr. Seuss The aging process has you firmly in its grasp when you never get the urge to throw a snowball. ― Doug Larson You'd be the kind of Cinderella who made a dagger out of her glass slipper and took the pumpkin coach for a joy ride around the city. ― Kore Rising Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant filled with odd little waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don't always like. ― Lemony Snicket Everyday, the world turns over on someone who was just sitting on top of it. ― Prof. F. Dale Burner Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. ― Mark Twain In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on. ― Robert Frost Love is like pi―natural, irrational, and very important. ― Lisa Hoffman Love is like pie―sweet, fulfilling, and very unwise to turn into a contest. ― Skyler A Teloiv Now, back to your regularly scheduled reading. |
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