Writing Tips by the Velvet

Just writing tips for writers or beginners. I've gathered these from my two years of writing, and hopefully they will help others.

1. Breaks
The times I use breaks is when the scene changes or a new character starts talking. You do not want large blocks of text. They make it difficult for the reader to read.

Examples:

Scene change-

Dan stared at Jordan before walking away.
-BREAK-
Jordan was left alone in his room, letting his eyes wander until something new happened.

Dialogue-

"Is that so?" Herobrine questioned.
-BREAK-
"Yes," the zombie pigman guard replied.

2. Variety
He said, she said, they replied, etc, etc. It all gets a boring for the reader. Repetition is never a good aspect in writing. If you have a character who has a title or a different name they go by, use that instead of repeating their name over and over again. The same goes for actions. Nodding and saying something sounds bland. Add adjectives and adverbs, and maybe change the verb.

Examples:

Name Variety-

Herobrine (Original name)
God of the Dead
Nether King

Speech Variety-

<s>Said</s>
Chimed
Whispered
Uttered
Questioned
Yelled

3. Interchange
In a book, it is not a long rant of talk nor a long chain of action. You have to switch between topics. Dialogue, action, and character thoughts are all important to a good story. You don't want to exhaust or bore your reader with no changes in a story. 

4. Expression, Description
Never exaggerate the scenery nor don't give the reader a bland look of scenery. Give the reader major aspects of an appearance of a character or a scene. Don't be afraid to use adjectives or to get graphic. The reader needs to visualize what you are writing. If a scene or position changes on a character, say it. Do not confuse the reader. It becomes hard for them to read.

5. Punctuation, Grammar
Self explanatory, but if a character is yelling something, you do not put a period. They are yelling!!! Just be sure not to use too many "!" or "?." Same goes for periods. And ellipses is the "..." Try to keep it at three or four, if you just use two it will seem like you added an extra period at the end of a sentence or failed to finish the ellipses.

Grammar is another story. Make sure you know what your writing means. You don't want to use too big of vocabulary unless you want to be confusing. Or if you have a character with large, high-class dialogue or a very fancy scenery. 

6. Characters and Personality
Common mistakes in writing. Writing an OC as an OOC (out of character). Fanfiction writers, make sure you know how this character acts and how they behave. 

For example, Dan is not snuggly and does not look to people with puppy eyes. He is the Serpent King that tortured Jordan to insanity.

If you have trouble sticking to an OC, put them in a situation and write how they would react and what they would do. This helps you stay in character.

7. Very, Just
Don't use them to describe anything unless they're in dialogue. If you have trouble, replace each "very" and "just" with "damn." They'll become apparent.

8. Writers Block
There's inspiration all around. If you're stuck in a story and have no idea what to do next, make something happen. Add a character, kill one or separate one, change the scene, add a romance, add action, etc. See what happens. You might like it, or you might get another idea.

If you have absolutely nothing to write and you don't want to write what you need to write, stop procrastinating. You have fans waiting. 

9. Drafts
First drafts are not always perfect. You may need to revise it and fix it, but just know that you'll come with a breakthrough soon.

You may even need to delete the entire thing and come up with a different plan, and that's okay. As long as you like it, it's perfect.

Final drafts are different. Make sure you have everything correct, no punctuation or grammar errors. 

10. The Story
It's yours. If you like it, it's perfect.

Just make sure you're proud.