Keep it Interesting

Hey guys! Some of you might know me from IF and a few other sites. For those of you who don't--hello, I'm Ben, also known as Spinner. I hail from Vermont, where I attend college for Professional Writing. Aside from novice blogging, I'm also training myself to write novels professionally. But like most of y'all, I also do a lot of writing for fun--segueing into the point of this post.

Online writing's a slowly growing and potentially thriving world. Many of you aiming to be published will probably post work on forums like Be Creative to test yourself against an audience and improve your prose and storytelling. Forums are a great means for that, and you're going to find there's a wealth of them in every genre imaginable. There really is nothing like slaving over a piece of writing for hours, only to post it, sign off and get comments in the morning. For something that can be as arduous as writing, its a heavenly feeling.

Every writer strives toward writing something interesting--both enough for themselves and their readers. In online writing, this can be a tricky balance. You know your plot--or rather, you should to some degree--and sometimes there are going to be things you need so things can make sense. Many times, I've committed the crime of writing 20 pages of world building only to have people be all *...yawn*. Not a fun feeling. This is supposed to be interesting!

When building your online stories, you need to be mindful of a few vital facts: firstly, that reading on a computer screen is hard. Your updates should be short and to the point. This will become very helpful when you start writing longer pieces for publication (it teaches you pacing). Secondly, info dumps are even more wearing. Try to find a creative means of building your world. This can be done through overheard conversations, conversations characters take part in, or things on bulletins, computer screens, what have you. Information is all around you--it doesn't always have to be spoken. This can also be an imaginative vehicle for subplots.

Keeping your posts short and the content in abundance will keep readers flocking to your story. But just because its quick doesn't mean you need to spend any less time on it. In fact, you can use the extra time to add more content, giving the world a vitality. This was how Charles Dickens used to write, and while he was paid by the word-count, his stuff is extremely vibrant. Read Tale of Two Cities if you don't believe me!

What you should remember above all, is that writing is supposed to be fun. A lot of people post things about what you should or shouldn't do online. This isn't a formulaic process. Its easier to identify unoriginality and derivation than you think. In fact, if you find yourself thinking, "I wonder if people will notice if I borrowed from this," the answer is probably that someone will.

Good luck with your stuff. See you on the forums!
Ben