I need your tips!

Watch out for dense "Wall of Text" paragraphs. Instead, try to vary your sentences, long and short for easier reading. Remember, getting your reader to plow through thousands of words should be as painless as possible.

Patrick M.,
Oregon

I have a few, whether or not you agree with them is another story.

1) Try writing something that will appeal to all readers, even if you like romance, try and throw a little action or mystery into your stories so that the readers that don't like romance will still enjoy your stories. Or vise versa.
2) Be descriptive. Don't make the reader try and figure out what something looks, sounds, smells, or tastes like. Make the reader actually get a picture in their heads of the characters, scenery, and actions.
3) Make the reader feel like their actually a part of the story, I strongly recommend first person and if possible, present tense. If they feel like they are a part of what is going on, rather than just being told, they will be more interested and keep reading.
4) There should be messages and lessons that will make the reader a better person or bring them to realization of something serious. If there isn't a strong message, they'll come out of the story knowing as much as they did before, and what good is that?
5) Talk in many tones. Don't have the same tone of voice the entire story, like monotone, the reader will get bored and either shut what they're reading out, or just stop reading all together.
6) BE ORIGINAL!!! I can't express this enough! If you have the same story book happy ending or the classic movie ending than readers will stop reading and no one will think of you as intelligent or talented, and will think you threw the story together in a matter of a few hours. If you make your story interesting ten it will catch on, be different, and it could be an inspiration to young writers everywhere.

USE INSPIRATION: I know that The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins were all inspiring to me because the events and story were all completely different than anything I've ever heard. The writing style is unique and different, it actually made me feel like I was the main character, Katniss, while I was reading and everything was so descriptive to where I could picture ever little thing but it wasn't like it spent two chapters describing everything in one lengthy, boring section of the story. The novels were FILLED from beginning to end with many morals and lessons while filling the reader with imaginative thoughts of the future and got the brain flowing. It makes readers, not just me, think over and over again what they would do in that situation, and this situation, and how they would feel, and if they would do this or that. A BOOK THAT INSPIRES YOU IS A BOOK THAT STICKS WITH YOU! WRITERS DO NOT CREATE MONEY SUCKING BOOKS FILLED WITH LETTERS. WRITERS MAKE EMOTIONS HAPPEN! We writers... we talented writers, those of us with passion, know how to utilize words that are alone useless and meaningless to make the most horrifying, creepy, dark, damp, frightening tones and feelings in a person without the slightest trace of glee, happiness, or smiles or they can create the brightest, happiest, bubbly feelings inside of a reader that eliminates the final shreds of depressing fear, anger, and rancor. WE ARE NOT JUST PEOPLE WHO WRITE STORIES, WE MAKE THE READER LOOK INSIDE THEIR SELVES AND FIND THE EMOTIONS OTHERWISE GONE UNNOTICED. To be a writer, you must know emotions and know how to create them or you will not succeed. If you can not create emotions in others that they them selves don't quite understand, than you can't writer successfully, and to be a writer, a good writer, you must succeed at creating emotions.
~Kristina M. (Age 15) Michigan, United States of America
[email me at oopajane@gmail.com]!!!

When nothing works, write absurd.
Write about cookies eating chewing gum or ice creams eating bananas.

Use adjectives, lots of adjectives. It makes the story become more alive. But be careful not to spend all your time describing things that has no relevance to the story, then, what could be amazing, just get's kind of dull.

Also, as many others has al ready mentioned... READ, it increases your vocabulary, knowledge and it also let you explore all different kinds of way of writing.

Also, never forget;

Have fun, don't write if you don't feel like writing, don't ever feel forced to finish what you started and when you get stuck, don't panic. Sometimes you just have to take your time off things, maybe stop writing entirely for a while, when the time is ready to keep going you'll know. Your head is full of imagination, you just have to let it come out.
A good way of letting your imagination flow is just to pick up a pen and write. Don't think, just write, write about anything, in any way you like. Whatever crosses you mind - Write it down.
Often when writing, it is improtant to know where you are headed with it, to know what your writing shall contain, where it should begin and end. But sometimes it is good to do just the opposite. Don't think, don't know, just write and see where it takes you.

Eirwen M.N

- Avoid cliches at all cost. Why? Because we all know that Mary-Sue is a half vampire and that the boy who moved close to Mary-Sue has a terrible secret. Oh yeah, and anybody who has blond hair is stupid and anybody who has red hair is feisty. Big whoop-whoop.

- Another thing that really makes me fume: boring protagonists. The protagonist is just like you, except maybe even better: a teenager who is worried about her weight, has awesome friends, troubles with her parents, scared about midterms, and a half-fairy who has to fight for the future of mankind. Yes, she has wolverines who try to kill her each night, and she's still afraid of midterms.
Personally, I believe that the boring protagonists come from the authors who want their main character to be able to connect to the readers. And this has failed. Miserably. Has there been a boring protagonist I have ever liked? No. Has there been a boring protagonist I have even felt neutrally about? No. Personally, I would like to kill all of those stupid main characters by paper cuts.

- Another thing that relates to the boring protagonist: the main characters can't do ANYTHING cool. After they fall down a flight of stairs they all say "ouch" or "I will avenge you" or "Why don't you do that again and see my awesome might?" or something like that. None of them ever have the ability to say "Damn it!" or "F*** you!" because the author wants their main character to be good and pure and innocent and all of that elephant c***.

- Another one: the antagonist who only exists to reign over the world until they get killed by the protagonist. Why are the villains evil? Because they blow stuff up? Why are they blowing stuff up? Umm... because they're evil.

- Why do all anti-heroes have to be tragically misunderstood?

Hello! My tips in writing stories were few and simple (I think) These were not just my tips about writing but also about being a writer. It's just my ow opinion anyway. :0

-Write in one tense. If you used past tense, write the whole story in past tense.
-Even a great writer needs help, so ask if you are uncertain of what you're writing or if you're unsure about your grammar. Books or reference are available and some online writers can give you help.
-Respect copyrights. Whatever you do, do not intend to steal someone's work and claim them as you own.
-If you need an editor, so be it.
-There's no requirement about what genre you should write. Don't mind if this book genre is in demand or not. Write the genre you think you're good at writing or either where you're comfortable at.
- WRITE FROM YOUR HEART! Simple rule to motivate you in writing the best novel ever!
-Attach yourself to what you are writing. If you feel related to your lead character, it makes it easier for you to write (I think)
-A writer is not successful without his readers and fans and constructive critiques as well, so thank them!
-An idea comes from somewhere. You can never really tell when a good idea for a story will come to your head, so once that idea hits you, take down notes, start typing, do it even if it's already around midnight or else, you'll be sorry when you suddenly forgot it on the next day.
-Research. Sometimes we write about fantasy but we have to include some real things or real infos so that a fantasy story could be more convincing.

That's the tips I could tell. Sorry if I cannot provide a help or tips with grammar. I'm not really a grammar Nazi, haha :]

love,
California Summer

- Remember all your senses when showing a scene. Don't neglect smell- it's one of the first things you will notice when you enter an area.

Chey, New Zealand.

If you're reading over some work you've just finished, and it's sounding dull, and you've been through it and added some fancy words and put in some more action and wrote about the senses and feelings and character's thoughts and it just doesn't want to be exciting- it's at this point where I highly recommend you scrap everything and start afresh another time. As writers, we sometimes go through periods where we feel frustrated because we don't believe our work is engaging enough. It helps having a clean slate and beginning again, learning from your previous mistakes.

-Maddy R, from the bottom of Australia.

Thanks everyone for your tips, I'm now in the process of putting the book together!

Thanks everyone for all your contributions! The book has now been published and can be downloaded for free or purchased here: http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/b ... k/15147355 Let me know what you think!