pallettown

*waves* Hello, it's Kyoko again! I'm back to lend you a hand and give you a few tips on how to become a better writer (and maybe even speller xD). Who knows? Maybe you will learn a thing or two by checking this out. Note that this is only my opinion and advice in this tutorial, and you are not forced or required to use it.
Oh, and a simple warning: This is long. I write too much.
Well, let's get started then:

The first major thing in writing a story/fanfiction, is the plot. Or storyline. You can't make a story without a decent plotline, right? Of course. With me, creating a plotline is one of the most toughest thing for me. The easiest advice I will give you, is to start out small. Kick off with something simple and typical before you make everything become complex. That way, it will be easier to know what you're writing about, and visualize the whole story completely. Also make sure that you give a reason to important key points, like why the main character would be an orphan, why he/she has scars on his face, and so on. If it's "Just there", or "Because it just is", then that would make you sound unorigional and lazy. Be creative.
Note: A love interest in a story is alright, but if that's all it's going to revolve around then it's best not to show it to the public. There's millions of those already that it isn't even funny.

Next major tip, is character development. Reading something when the character is pixel-perfect and gets everything he/she wants, personally, is the most boring thing ever. Nobody wants to read that. Also, try not to give the main character "SUPER AWESOME UNBEATABLE POWERS!!!!!" because it makes them look even more unrealistic. Try making them simple and easy: natural colored hair instead of glossy pink, and make sure the main/side character isn't pretty as a god(dess) and have all the boys and girls fawn over them. That becomes very irritable to readers.
Besides mentioning all the things that I'm telling you to not do, I'll list some things that you should do. The character in your story should be something that came out of your imagination. They would look ridiculous if it was a replica of another character, but switched around to make it seem like it's yours. That makes it seem like you don't really care about what your writing about. Since there's so many OC's out there, yours might slightly look alike to another persons. But it doesn't matter as long as it's not on purpose. Or else you'll look bad. (I'm being so obvious..)

Now that we're past all of that, here's something else that's important: Spelling and Grammar. This is a MUST. Poor grammar, spelling, and lack of paragraphs gives people a headache and turns them off from what you're writing about. Even if it takes you forever to type complete words out, it's worth it. Here's some examples:

Sentence 1: "2day I went 2 da pond n saw sum duckz."
Sentence 2: "Today, I went to the pond and saw some ducks."

Isn't sentence 2 better to read rather than sentence 1? Yes, it is. Secondly, having commas, quotations, and periods put in your story in the right place make it better as well. If there isn't any, it will be a big mouthful to read and annoying. Another example:

Sentence 1: "Jillian went to the store she saw some apples and decided to buy some since she was so hungry and had some cash on her that her mother gave her for her birthday yesterday.Can i have some apples? she asked the store owner."
Sentence 2: "Jillian went to the store. She saw some apples and decided to buy some, since she was so hungry and had some cash on her from her birthday yesterday. "Can I have some apples?" She asked the store owner."

So, type good before you show everybody. Spelling is another big thing to remember, even if it feels annoying to write out full words. You'll get used to the new habit eventually.

You're most likely thinking: "Well, where can I post my story that I typed up?" Good question. Websites I recommend are Mibba.com (they have a spellcheck), Fanfiction.net (ONLY if it's (1. a fanfiction, and (2. No OC's.) Or, maybe just good old Piczo. If you know anywhere else besides those websites I just listed, then go there.

Well, that's all for my tutorial. I hope you liked it, even though I most likely missed other imporant key points for creating a story/fanfiction.
P.S... you do not call a fanfiction a story. Why? Because, if you call a fanfiction a "story", then it is showing that you are copying a series, which is blatantly stealing. Of course, that's why they invented the word "fanfiction". I apologize for wasting a few seconds of your time if you already knew that.