Lots of people have emailed me about the fact that they need help with their stories, or the fact that they need help about something similar to that.

Well, this blog is for you.

I suppose, to start off, I’d like to point out a handy little tool called IESpell. Unfortunately, it’s only for those with Internet Explorer, so I’ll be keeping my eyes open for options for people with other browsers.
What this does: It’s a browser plugin, so it puts a little button on your browser. Once you’ve finished typing your blog, highlight the text and click the little button, and it’ll spell-check it for you! It’s really super useful.
Best of all, it’s free, and you can get it here: link

Now, before I start sounding too much like an advertising commercial, let’s continue onto the points of making a good blog..

For making a good blog:
If you’re trying to express an opinion, express it in the neatest and friendliest way possible! Nobody likes hearing ‘cake suks, ther so stupd’. Ever. Try to express it so it doesn’t piss people off, hit for home on your points, state your case cleanly, and don’t ramble. Something like this, ‘Well, I never did like cake because the frosting was always too sweet for my taste.’ See the difference? Explain why you say what you say! People will love it so much more. (Note: My example sentences aren’t really true. I love cake!)

Secondly, grammar is a big deal. If you want your blog to be a good one, use proper grammar! No internet speech, such as ‘r, b, u’ and so on. Type out your words, and never forget, when you’re referring to yourself, make sure to capitalize the ‘I’. Let me show you an example of this.

‘i played ms for 5 hrs today. it was fun.’
‘I played MS for 5 hours today! It was loads of fun.’

Again, see what I mean? It makes all the difference in the world!

(Also, make sure you can take criticizing politely. Be able to defend your case as absolutely humane and polite as possible. Never get angry when defending your opinions, otherwise you just look silly.)

For making a better story:
Now, with stories, even more than blogs, grammar is the key. With stories, you need good grammar, otherwise, I’d suggest you don’t write them at all. When I’m envisioning in my mind a story that I’m reading, it totally destroys it when I see tons of grammatical errors. Look back up in the other section for more tips.

Expression and emotion are very important here. Express how your characters are feeling, even the slightest thing will add to the story! Here’s an example:

‘”Are we ready?” Meriako asked, walking over to Mip.’
‘”Are we ready?” Meriako asked, a slight sense of nervousness in her voice. It was clearly expressed in the way she shifted her weight from one foot to another as she slowly trudged over to Mip, each step sinking slightly in the snow.’

See how much better the second one was? It still expresses the same thing, but the second line goes into much more detail, as a good story should. From the slightest ear twitch, it should all be in there! In your mind, imagine the scene as a picture.. now take everything from that picture, and describe it in your story.

Watch the way your sentences flow. You don’t want them too choppy, but you don’t want them going on far too long.
Last but far from least, have fun! Don’t write your stories just for the likes or the views. Write them for you, for your happiness, not everyone else’s. You can sense if you’re doing these for yourself or for others in writings, so do things for yourself! Anything else is just an added bonus.

Everyone, I know you can do this! I’ve seen alot of great stories with tons of potential, and hopefully this will help everyone.

Please PM me with any questions, as I just love hearing from all of y’all!

Have fun with your writing!
~Mip

(MaskOfSmak pwns you.)