Proper spelling and grammar is an important aspect of writing that comes to mind. While it may work for a certain character to speak in a way that'd normally break what's accepted as "normal" in this regard, having entire stories written with misspelled words and/or broken grammar can make for a difficult reading experience!

Story flow is also something I personally keep in mind when writing. The natural "flow" of a story depends on various aspects such as grammar, as described above, but also the continuity of plots and character development. In most stories, things aren't meant to just happen with little to no regard for cause or effect. Even if a story is written with pristine spelling and grammar, it can still come across as "chunky" to readers if it doesn't flow well!

What about you? Do you have any tips on how to improve your writing?

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I might just as well put here the links to the guides I’ve written over the years for people on this site:
Creating Compelling Characters
Story Titles, Cover Art, and Descriptions 101
How to (Not) Write Story Beginnings
Making a Good Story
Grammar Advice for (not just) Novice Writers
Common Issues and How to Avoid Them

Some of these writing miniguides are quite old, and I hope to get to them at some point to improve their quality, but they should still suffice.

It's also good to bring up any writing-related questions in The Writers' Group. Furthermore, story titles and descriptions need to be enticing and grammatically sound too, so if you need help with these, there's a special group for that as well.

I’d also suggest getting multiple points of view on any issue that you might encounter. And don’t rely on simple, one sentence-long lines for advice. They may seem short and sweet, but they can never encompass the whole extent of the issue in a reasonable way. That of course doesn’t mean that the longer the answer, the better, but if somebody just barks at you “Show, don’t tell!”, then chances are, you’ll be better off seeking advice elsewhere. Writing is a complex matter somewhere between art and gentle manipulation of mind. Treat it as such.

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I'll just throw some random things out here:

Did you know there is a Site Writing Guide? There's one for BBCode, too!

Spellcheck your story, but also make sure the corrections are right.

There should be a new paragraph every time there is a new topic. Don't let your paragraphs get to the point that you have what looks like a "wall of text", as people will often not read really long blocks of text.

Commas represent a pause in the sentence. Read the sentence out loud, pausing where the commas are, and if where the pauses are don't make sense, move them. There are also various ways to get the computer to automatically read what you wrote to you, and that can help as well. You'll often hear problems in phrasing you don't see.

Apple Jack Applejack
Applebloom Apple Bloom
Sweetiebelle Sweetie Belle

Know the difference between then and than, and when you should and shouldn't put in an apostrophe.

Look for words you are repeating a lot, and think about getting rid of them or using synonyms. Repetition can be good for emphasis sometimes, though, and words that are basic building blocks like "and" or "the" are fine.

Also look for filler words, like "basically" that don't add much to your writing.

You really don't need to stop and spend three paragraphs describing a character, especially if they are one of the main ones in the show. Even if they aren't, break it out and spread it in the story in bits.

Try writing something to really tight word counts. Going over your text looking for words you can delete gives you a good idea of what is and isn't needed. (I usually suggest the monthly Flashfic competition for this, as you are asked to write a story of 150 words or less on a prompt...)

Look very closely at ... and ; in your writing, as things are often better written without them.

Break the rules occasionally, but know when you are breaking them.

--Sweetie Belle

My advice:
1 ~ Narrate in your head.
2 ~ Make sure you're not tired or your mind will fill in the blanks as you type, making some sentences feel incomplete or unreadable.
3 ~ “Of of” honestly pains me...
4 ~ Repeating the word- well- THE, it's ok to do. Direction words such as Down or Up, try to avoid those.
5 ~ Why are you reading tips? Be yourself and give your stories flavour! Yes, grammar is important but use the vocabulary you know and express yourself through your craft the best you can. Then, if you learn new things- evolve your work if it pleases you.

Applejack's accent is far easier to screw up than you might think, so write it carefully. Keep misspellings or "accent-ified" words to a tasteful minimum; an occasional contraction is fine, and sometimes a particularly impactful word can be emphasized for comedy's sake (i.e. the gub'mint vs. government,) but anything other than sparing use quickly becomes annoying at best and downright offensive at worst. Remember, she talks funny, she's not illiterate. She's not saying "Ah wint down to thuh stoyre," she's saying "I went down to the store." This is especially important in dramatic scenes - serious dialogue falls completely flat when the reader is having to sound out every word like a toddler, and trying to parse an enormous block of text through somebody's attempt at her accent is like smashing one's toes in a freight elevator door. It's downright awful.

Instead, inform her accent. We've all heard her on the show, so we know what the voice sounds like. You don't need to clip Rarity's sentences and over-accentuate her diction, because we know what Rarity should sound like - it's the same with AJ. If you pick the right kind of vocabulary and expressions, our brains will fill in the voice. Plus, it's way more fun to write! Doing a deep dive through wiktionary for wacky Southern-isms is hilarious fun, and you'll expand your phrase book with all kinds of great sayings. "Devil's beating his wife." is a personal favorite, but there's a term for every situation.

Finally, a word on the second greatest of all Southern inventions, "y'all," which ranks just ahead of barbeque, but just behind the mint julep. Y'all is always plural, with no exceptions. Applejack would never, in a one-on-one conversation, refer to her partner as y'all, because that wouldn't make any sense. That's what "you" is for.

This can be a little tough for those with no innate understanding of the word, so let's go through some scenarios.

"Applejack pointed a hoof at Twilight, a forehead vein bulging in anger. 'I never thought one of my friends would use the m-word, but I reckon I had you figured out all wrong.' " - Applejack is mad at Twilight specifically for her usage of naughty words. "Y'all" here wouldn't make sense.

"Applejack pointed a hoof at Twilight, a forehead vein bulging in anger. 'First Rarity, then you? I guess I can't trust either of y'all.' " - Applejack is mad at the two unicorns she knows. Usage of either here indicates that this is a limited usage of "y'all" - it's plural, but we know what the limits of this group are.

"Applejack pointed a hoof at Twilight, a forehead vein bulging in anger. "I thought we were friends, Twilight, but I'm startin' to think all y'all horners are the same." - Applejack is mad at all of unicorn-kind. Note the variant "all y'all" here, which generally indicates the most inclusive sense of the plural. In this case, Applejack is purposefully making sure Twilight knows it's not just Twilight and Rarity she's insulting, but their whole kind.

"All y'all" can also be used to differentiate between different plural groups. For example, if Applejack wanted to reprimand the whole town for their habits, but wanted to single out her friends for special treatment, she might go for
" 'All y'all should be ashamed of yourselves, and-' she pointed a hoof at her erstwhile friends, all of whom were hanging their heads in shame '-y'all should be especially.' "

The most simple yet effective advice that I would tell every writer is to have purpose in everything you do in writing.

Don't be arbitrary or just go with the flow. Ask the question "why" all the time. Why do you choose this character? Why do you let them act this way? Why do you write in first person point of view, or use present tense instead of past tense? Why describe this room here, and this dress there?

Apply this mentality all the time while you write, and you'll find your writing much better.

For the people that disliked...😜

I did not edit this.

Two that apply for me, mind...would be my desire for flowery prose over...actually telling story. so after reflecring on my thought processes that lead me to that I realize writing is much easier. Straight forward style will allow me later to potential add that stuff.

Their are also questions that you can ask...and should. Do not necesary relie on binary thinking to allow you grow as writer. For me question my own thinking about how I write? What I am writing and just how even paragraph are used...

Has allowed me to ask questions that I have never heard before because people never give voice to these same thoughts? Like oh...mysterious mysterious. More so then even that is sort groove of that thought that if input specific thoughts you will get this. You need to question and fun!

I would also allow your self to expriement. Because lets face it does everyone really want to be a publish author? And even you do[aka me] its fun just to try something! I thinking allow yourself creativity aka the act of channel a idea. [Not just coming up with one. Its a direction of sorts.]

Also...dont be afraid to be silly...because as the late and great Terry Pratchet said. Their is not reason you cant be silly and serious.

Paraphrased by the way....

Honestly I could go on for more. Its subject I think and write about a lot for myself. Truthly I think a lot about sharing my thoughts here or even add another writing book by publishing.

I may do that.

Cheers for this nice thread!

Ps. I forgot if a piece of writing advice is to strict then ingnore it...to extent. Writing should be fun and cool. Not miserable narrow exprience.

I will add...again. That asking seemingly silly questions I find lead to startling realizations that you write...and engage more mentally with the act of writing then just writing - bird by bird.

I will add since the thought struck me. Reflect on your own writing and not so much on others advice. Odd, I know. But consider that you are doing the writing and with every new thought and understand you grow? Perhaps even ask more questions that have few answers? You even can come to a greater understanding of why you write.

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I forgot the whole read your work outloud. That to be honest has been one of the best decision to improve my writing.oh! And varieing sentence length, added with that is simply amazing.

Most classic advices: Consider the 6 Questions of "Do you have a story?":
1. Who is it about?
2. What did they want?
3. Why can't they get it?
4. What did they do about it?
5. Why doesn't that work?
6. How does it end?

And consider the 4 questions from David Mamett:
1) What does your hero want? (GOALS)
2) Who/What Stands in their Way? (OBSTACLES)
3) What happens if they don't get it? (STAKES)
4) Why Now? (TIME/SITUATION)

In fact, let me give you a youtube to let you listen to Glenn Gers

My personal advice? Listen to other's advice but remember its you and your story. Sometimes just go for it and fix it up later.

A few books I've found to be very helpful:

K.M. Weiland's Creating Character Arcs — Of all these sources, I'd recommend this one as the best place to start. It focuses on character development and how to integrate a character arc into the plot and structure of a story.

John Yorke's Into the Woods — A detailed dive into five-act story structure. Not just the 'how' of structure, but also the 'why' of its importance to effective storytelling.

Robert McKee's Story — It's a dense read, and the two I've listed above cover what I consider to be the most important subjects. I include this here mostly because McKee is kind of a big deal. I wouldn't recommend anyone start here, but I'd still say it's worth a look.

Those three are mostly aimed at screenwriting, but the same principles apply to all forms of storytelling.

Of course my absolute favorite book of all time ever is Shawn Coyne's The Story Grid. Where I would describe the other three as discussing the theory of storytelling, The Story Grid is a practical guide to writing stories people will want to read. Coyne is also a professional editor who has worked in the publishing industry for decades. His book is written particularly with editors/editing in mind, and in addition to describing methods for breaking down and analyzing a story to identify where it doesn't work, why, and how to fix it, he also covers the importance of genre and how to better understand it.