9 October 2012
First off, it's about YOU. No one else. Second, there are many types, stories and poems are the most common so explore others.
Stories. Make them how you want. Don't care about what people say but write what you want to say. That's most important. A good beginning is important, to attract interest, and a good middle keeps the reader reading. The end is also important as it needs to be the conclusion if your story. Anyone can write a good beginning and middle but the end is difficult. Don't worry if you can't write endings, my endings are terrible too! In year 9, I wrote a story based on a poem for a controlled assessment. My ending was so bad that it list me 20% of my marks, while the other bits lost me 10%. It shows endings are an art; don't expect to be amazing first time, practise, practise and practise again. Then the story will be great.
Poems They should express your mind, not your actions, eg if you wanted to write a poem on racism, then write one about racism rather than you neighbours racist actions. Also, poems don't have to rhyme. I've heard too many rhymes in my time to care too much for them, but when I hear a great non-rhyming poem, that's when I applaud most. They are actually really hard to write, good non-rhyming poems poems. Don't worry if you can't, there are other styles to try, eg sonnets, limericks, etc.
Quotes Famous expressions that help you through life or make you think. They are literally a copy/paste job.
Riddles My favourite. They make you think and allow you subconscious imagination to kick in to solve problems more practically than with calculators or paper and ink. They are great.
Songs Before you say they are poems; they are NOT. They are completely different as you still express yourself but you also express others and different things. They are difficult to write as you might have a tune in your head but someone else reading it might have another tune. This can make it difficult to put down for people to read without the correct tune.
Recipes Instructions in a simple form. When writing these, try the thing first as then write the recipe. Be inventive but use the imperative (commands).
Descriptions These are just short pieces on something but you give a full, in depth description of the thing and most of its features. They don't have to be very long but they (rather obviously) have to describe the thing. Describe it with complex language. Number one hat about this is the reuse of language, eg the neck was long, the tail was long, the arms were long. It just gets monotonous and boring.
Plays Like stories but they are in real-time. This means they need actions and need to get the audience to understand the characters and they're backgrounds without revealing too much.
Joke They are really difficult to write without sounding like you got them from a Christmas cracker (they actually pay someone to write them!). The joke is easier to write short as there won't be much room for mistakes but if they are long, you need goo language to keep the reader interested.
Instructions Annoying as they are, they are a form of writing. They are commands that tell you what to do and how you should do it. They are fairly easy to write if you know what to do. Otherwise it'll be complete gibberish.
Non-Fictional Pieces/Factual These need a good amount of information, without any trace of fiction, unless you are referring to it, eg myths. They have to keep the reader interested somehow and contain a good source of information. That is essential.
I hope whoever reads this can understand why I wrote it and my thought behind it. Embrace other styles, try them out, and if they don't work, try others until you found one you're comfortable with.
This is my guide to writing.
Writing Guide • Opuss № I