Anti-social skills to improve writing
🏷️ Storytelling, Tào lao
A: What are anti-social skills I can use to improve my writing?
B: First, it is eavesdropping. If you are riding a bus and hear an interesting conversation, you could write it all down. Of course, when you write fiction, you are not describing real people, you are making up characters. But sometimes the words you overhear can give you ideas
A: Anything else?
B: The second skill is to start pretending your characters are real. What do they like? Where are they from? What music do they listen to? Spend some time with them. If you are on a bus, think about what they might be doing if they were there too. Would they talk on the phone, listen to music, draw pictures, sleep?
A: Is that all?
B: There is one more skill, the anti-social skill number three, muttering to yourself. When you speak your character’s words, you can hear whether they sound natural and fix them if necessary. I have some tips for you when you do this
A: What are they?
B: Most people are usually informal when they speak, so remember to use simple language and contractions. Also, keep it short. People tend to speak in short bursts, not lengthy speeches.
A: Okay
B: By the way, use adverbs with caution. They may be redundant when the words in your dialogue match the character’s action