okay here's what I mean by "revamped." I'm gonna say stuff that I like to see in stories, but I'm gonna list things you could do if you'd like to improve in that particular area! not all of them are gonna have improvement sections because it may be in the explanation itself or they just can't be improved. ALSO: some of these are gonna be from saeglopur's list because basically everything on there is true for me as well. OKAY LEGGO.
1. CORRECT GRAMMAR AND SPELLING. I'm a huge stickler for grammar and spelling and punctuation and all that nice shit. If you have improper grammar, odds are I'm gonna notice by the first paragraph and I won't read your story. I know it sucks that a lot of people are so anal about grammar, but we've got our reasons! It sucks just as much to read a sentence, much less a story, that has improper grammar. If your story has good grammar, it's a lot easier for the reader to comprehend and therefore much more enjoyable! The Grammar Gestapo in me orgasms when I come by a story with good grammar (not that they're hard to find).
how to improve: well, improvement in grammar isn't really something you can gradually work on. you either work the fuck on your grammar or get a BETA! and I know it sounds super easy like that, but if you have shit grammar, study up or ask a friend if he/she could edit your update (basically a BETA).
2. ORIGINALITY. Now you may be wondering, what the fuck is originality? Honestly, originality's hard to come by now because there have been so many amazing stories with great plots and stuff, so it's not necessarily an author's fault if their story lacks originality. What I mean by this is that a story doesn't have to be completely original, but it's gotta have its spikes and its perks, you know? It can't be "oh boy meets girl and they fall in love," for lack of a better example. I love it when stories have plot twists! But then again, who doesn't love a good plot twist, right?
how to improve: like I said in the last line, who doesn't love a good plot twist? maybe you aren't too great at plot twists. if you've got a lot of time on your hands, read some stories/books or watch some movies with plot twists! if you don't know any stories/books/movies with plot twists in them, feel free to message me and I'd be happy to recommend things that I, personally, think have plot twists in them.
3. GROWTH IN CHARACTERS / DIMENSIONAL CHARACTERS. If you're gonna have a stereotypical cheerleader, for example, give her some dimension. Maybe you like having a dumb, rich, pretty, and popular blonde as a cheerleader, and that's okay! But the least you could do is give her more depth.
how to improve: take the cheerleader as an example. she's dumb, rich, pretty, and popular? give her a secret, a talent, an imperfection! which leads me to the next thing that I like.
4. FLAWS. No one is perfect, no matter how flawless they may seem. Anxiety. Panic attacks. Suicidal thoughts. Depression. Those may not necessarily be flaws, but they're all problems that real people have. No one in real life is perfect, therefore please don't make your story characters perfect! If anything, they should be real.
5. REALISTIC CHARACTERS. This completely ties in with flaws, which is making me think this should have gone before flaws, but whatever. Like I said in flaws, no one is perfect, no character is perfect. To me, flaws, quirks, secrets, and passion all make a character seem more real. BUT, keep in mind that no person or character is just completely imperfect. I know a lot of people stress that no one's perfect, but no one has absolutely nothing going for them, either. Sure, your character might be a total book worm who hangs out at the library during lunch, but he/she has got to have at least one friend. It doesn't even matter if their only friend is the librarian, but come on, let's be real! No one can survive without friends.
6. GOOD FRIENDSHIPS. This doesn't necessarily apply to your romantic couple, whoever they may be, but also to your OFC's (original female character, for those of you who don't know) best friend or your OMC's (as you probably guessed, original male character) relationship with his dog. While betrayal is a great plot twist, your characters need to have friends.
7. UNEXPECTED RELATIONSHIPS. While the cheerleader and the jock are a given and the total nerd and the jock are kind of expected, throw a curve ball in there! Think about where you are/were at in the high school social hierarchy. Maybe you weren't a cheerleader, but you definitely weren't a nerd. Maybe you were a rebel, a hipster, an indie-freak, boho spirit, old soul? Mix it up with your relationships, because while the nerd-and-jock thing is kinda cute, even that gets old.
8. EMOTIONAL SCENES. It doesn't have to be a lovey dovey scene. It doesn't have to be a sex scene. But it's gotta have emotion, and behind that emotion, it's gotta have passion. Not sex passion or smutty passion but it's gotta have some kind of fire fueling the emotion! It could be a huge revelation, a blowout fight, a confession, anything, really. It's just gotta have emotion and passion.
ummm that's about all for now and I'll probably add more later. but I hope this was helpful!
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