Writing Tips/Inspiration

What do I usually write about? When I was young, I enjoyed writing friendship stories---there are many possible plots you can write about that. First plot, an unpopular classmate is a loner, a popular girl joined in the new school. That new girl took the initiative and stood up for the unpopular girl whenever bullies tell her she is dumb, loner or nerdy. Second plot, both friends are popular and have powers. And then there comes the enemy who is proud and always try to go against them. Using their powers, they overpowered the enemy. Okay, but let’s not write Plot 2---looking back at my stories I wrote, I must admit they are kind of childish and boring. It is always the main characters who are flawless and the enemy who totally does not have any good points. So, if you want to write friendship stories, let me give you a tip---all the characters in the story should have pros and cons. Never be bias to your main characters even if it is you. Next up, if you are writing a plot where the popular friend reaches out to the unpopular nerd, you must make what the popular kid say moving. The speech the popular kid say must make the readers feel that she really wants to befriend with the nerd. As I grew up, I began to add romance into the books. And as you can see---most books I am writing now include romance. I feel that romance is very useful in stories. It is something like a topping to a cake to make it look nicer. Of course I do write books which is fully about romance which can make some people cringe so I suggest you do not make it too mushy. What are some tips about writing romance novels? First up, when the two partners get closer to each other, try to make each of them give nicknames to each other. For example, in The Revolution, Odette called Darren her ‘stud muffin’ which gives the readers an image that Darren is hot and muscular. It will also make the relationship feel sweeter. Do also include some humour in the romance. There are many plots for romance too. The first plot is love at first sight. It is actually the easiest to write. All you need to describe is how beautiful and charming each partner looked and also the thoughts of each partner. And then add in scenes which show how the relationship got stronger. To make it more exciting, you may want to add a third party inside the story to make her the villain. But remember---the villain also needs to have good points! You can say she or he is beautiful too. The second plot. An unexpected relationship. The third plot. He loves her and she loves him but parents disapprove them of being together just like Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare. Fourth plot, both were enemies but fell head over heels somehow. In romance books, there are many types. There is Historical, fantasy, or just purely romance.

Now, you must be wondering where I got ideas and inspirations from. One, images. Images are very useful for inspiration. It forms the picture in your head and you can write it out. For example, in Love Machine, I saw a beautiful picture of a cave with a pond in there, thus, I decided to write that Darren wanted Aurelia to live there. Well, now I suggest you go and download Pinterest and just create an account and see the pictures. Two, movies and films. For example, Romeo and Juliet. I got my inspiration from the film, thus calling each other Romeo and Juliet in The Revolution came into my mind. The film---Our Times also inspired me to write Hot Ice. Three, songs. The song by Taylor swift---Love Story also inspired me to write The Revolution. Four, books. Books give you ideas and inspiration. I was inspired to write The Generation Trilogy by this novel written by Barbara Taylor Bradford called The Cavendon Luck. Five, what you see in real life. Very surprising. If you open your eyes and observe what is happening around you, you will surely get lots of ideas and inspirations by the end of the day; like what embarrassing moments others experienced, what you experienced and conversations happening between others. Well, not asking you to eavesdrop, but if you happen to hear a conversation, lucky for you, an inspiration will automatically appear in your brain. Next, tips… First, make sure your title of your story is something unique. Secondly, do not spill out the whole story if you are writing a prologue. Thirdly, try to dramatize actions. If you are writing romance books, I suggest you go and watch Korean dramas to help you dramatize what you write. Fourth, when something big happens in the story, try to use short sentences. For example; ‘Silence.’, ‘Awkward silence.’, ‘It was inevitable.”, ‘inevitable it may be.’, ‘inevitable.’ Fifth, if you are writing romance, decide what type of guy he is and give him a personality. Think of it as building your dream boyfriend but do remember to add in his flaws. Sixth, correct grammar as soon as you spot it. Seventh, do not ever make the whole story a dream as it may disappoint the readers. Personally, I would feel it was lame. Seventh, try to make a series. Of course, there are pros of making a separate book, but making a series would help the readers look forward to what’s happening next.

Let’s move on...we have covered on romance and friendships. Now, it is time for horror. Well, personally, never in my life have I ever watched any horror movies. If you are too scared like me, I suggest you read horror books as it is less scary. Sure, goosebumps may appear but it would be worth it. The ideas will build in your brain and it can form a good horror plot. Before you write the plots, you must think of what most human beings are scared of---darkness, snakes and more. Think about yourself, what are you scared of? What are you paranoid about? And once you get the answers, make a mind note to include those horror in the novel. Your aim as an author who is writing a horror story is to make your readers feel scared and make goosebumps appear on your skin and the others’.

Next up, we have the classic novels. Personally, I ain’t a fan of classic and I do not have the flair for writing classic novels. But I can give you some tips again. Firstly, you have to do some research about the play. Understand the time period. In the novel, bring in something new or try to twist the story.

Next, we have those fiction novels. Like the one I am writing right now. So, what you need to do to make it good and interesting is to add in your thoughts and not just the facts. Add in examples and use connectors to make the sentences flow like a chiffon dress.

Now that we are done, let’s share with you why and how we started realizing the beauty in writing. For me, I started writing when I was five years old. I wrote short stories which just filled up one side of an A4 paper. And of course, the grammar was all very bad. But I was not discouraged anyway. In Primary three, I started writing my first novel called Roller Coaster. The standard was better but I did not think it could be published because it was just 10-pages long. In primary four, the school subscribed to a newsletter called What’s Up which further inspired me to write. I could write essays and articles to them and I even won prizes from them. That was when I realized that I love writing. Thus, I decided to write more novels of my own. In primary five, the standard improved a little. And now in primary six, I realized my confidence in writing grew a lot. I also made up my own publishing house, it is called NeveahNonsensical Publishing House where all my friends who likes to write like me join and write stories. All thanks to my writing buddy too. She is called Ester and she is my companion for writing as she has a flair for drawing. At first, she was my illustrator but then it turned out that she and I loved writing stories together. So, we wrote and wrote and wrote like the papers were free. Thus, I recently decided to ask her why and how she started liking to write. And this was her response.

Well, hi guys. I’m Ester as Neveah has already mentioned. When I was young, my imagination has always been too much. I think about a lot of things. Then, in primary one, I met a great friend of mine. We created this silly little game where we used pens or our stationery to act out a story. In Primary three or four, I attended this creative writing class and I realized my potential when it came to coming up with a story-line just with a single picture. However my stories had a lot of action and some gruesome parts. So for my PSLE, my mum made me watch thai advertisements as they are usually very touching and all. I then improvised during my PSLE exam. Now, how I met Neveah and started to write with her was when I sat outside the staff room doing my work and she was sitting opposite me. I knew she was the daughter of my aunt’s friend. I decided to try and talk to her and just nice, she was writing one of her books. After we started to talk, she started showing me her books and well, I offered to draw for her. As I read through the story I would help edit and ideas would start to flood in. I told her my ideas and she would mix it in with hers. Well, that was how it started…

I hope you readers have found an inspiration by now. I hope that you feel that this book was useful, what are you waiting for now? Start on your new book now!