Ron wrote:Guys, as your PC, I can only do so much of the creative work around here.  You guys have to take the initiative, think outside of the box, and come up with your own motivations for writing in this story.  Here's some suggestions and questions to ask yourself in order to get you in the mood for writing:

1) Does my character care about his/her mission?  Why?  If yes, what about the mission does he/she care about? If no, what does my character care about, and how can I integrate that into the story?

2) Is my character a violent or peaceful character?  If violent, how can I vary the ways in which he/she is violent, rather than always having he/she kill someone?  If peaceful, think about the situations that pushes him/her to become more violent.

3) Does my character agree with all the policies of the Vast Empire?  If yes, think about things that might change your characters mind, and reveal to him/her that the VE is not as good as it seems.  If no, think about ways to make your character discover the good things about the VE, and how that changes how he/her thinks and acts in the story.

4) Is my character passionate? (not necessarily romantic)  If yes, try to come up with different passions rather than just romance.  Have them addicted to smoking (like Ron), or have them always talk about how great their homeplanet is, or have them always reading a podracing magazine.  If no, ask yourself why your character is not passionate and try to come with things that may make him/her more or less passionate.

5) Does my character change throughout the stories that I write about him/her?  If yes, how does he/she change, and how can incorporate that into this story?  If no, consider things that could happen to your character that could make him/her change.

6) Is my character a leader or follower?  If a leader, take fifteen minutes and sketch out a simple NPC who looks up to him, or make a rival leader who is always fighting with your character.  If no, look for a fellow trooper or make an NPC whom your character looks up to.  Or you could consider ways to make your character more of a leader than a follower. 

The key to making a good character is to write how he or she changes throughout their life.  No one is always the same from birth to death, there are things that effect us all which make us different one day than the next.  Consider these things and try to come up with the ways in which your character is influenced like this.

Remember, the key to writing good squad stories is to try to write 90% character development and 10% plot development.  Your characters themselves should move the plot, and not you simply saying "then stuff blew up and shit hit the floor".  Treat your characters like real people, and you will not have any trouble coming up with things to write about.

Now let's see some posts.

Jaenna wrote:Writer's Block is a bitch. We all get it, and we all hate it. Sometimes it's not wanting to finish a post, sometimes it's not knowing what to write, sometimes it's the frustration you feel when you look back at your post and feel like it just isn't long enough. Well I'm here to give you all a few pointers on how to kick WB in the nads.

The Senses

We all have five senses, no matter what race you place. Touch, Sight, Hearing, Taste and Smell. All of them affect us and our characters in some way all day, every minute, every second. USE THIS. Think about what you're writing, think about where your character is and what he/she is doing. Make notes in your head about what each of these five senses are picking up. Think about it as much as you can, then write it out, make it known. Not only will you give you more to write but it will give the situation a lot more depth and even lead into character development.

Your Surroundings

At no point in time is anyone not surrounded by something. At point in time do your surroundings not affect you in some way. Just like the senses, your surroundings have everything to do with how you act and what you do. Give these detail, write about how your character is reacting to what he/she is surrounded with. Use the senses to give even more detail to the surrounding area.

Your Thoughts and Feelings

Since when do you think about something and it not affect your next action in some way? Never. USE THIS. What is your character thinking about? Do they smell something they like? What do they think when they touch the cold steel of their pistol? What do they feel when they see dead bodies? What do they want they hear the sounds of gunfire or screaming? How does your character react to being told what to do? Use all of this. Ask yourself questions and answer as your character, then... write the results into your post.

Those three things are all ways to combat WB, give you muse and ideas, and make your post longer while still giving it substance.

I hope you enjoy and welcome these tips.