Helpful tips for Authors! <3

Hello! I’m new to the Episode Forums and I don’t know if I’m in the right category sjsdh :sob: but I created this thread to help new fellow authors with their story with some tips for basically anything that has to do with writing a successful story. I hope I help at least one person here! :two_hearts: :pleading_face:

HOW TO PLAN A STORY! :sunny:
An original and interesting plot is the first thing you will think about before writing, so you probably will start to think, how can I have an intriguing, unpredictable plot for the readers to enjoy?
My advice would be reading books and watching movies, those are the most important two factors to get inspired! If you see a scene that you like in some book/movie, write it down! Getting little parts here and there can make your own original plot!
Also, before even touching your laptop to write and code your story, you should have everything planned on a notebook or your phone. That’s the key to prevent writers block! :two_hearts:

EXTRA ADVICE! :sunny:
If you ever want to surprise the readers in some part of a chapter, grab the MOST predictable scene you know, and twist it in your own way. For example the bad boy sits next to the MC in class and “coincidentally”, they get assigned a project together.
Change it so that the MC gets up and just doesn’t want to do the project with him, so they switch partners, if the main character hates the bad boy, the most realistic thing she would do is just back away right?

THE MAIN CHARATERS :sunny:
The main characters will be the main focus of the WHOLE story, may as well make them likeable! Unless you’re writing a story where the MC/LI is perfect, make the readers relate to the characters, everyone has flaws and fears and their not so best moments, some examples for fears and flaws is:
Fears:
Heights, the dark, confined places etc…
Flaws:
Jealousy, greed, rebellious etc…
Give them goals in life, their goals will impact the ending, let’s say the MC wants to be an artist and the LI wants to be an architect, the characters will fight their way to reach those goals until they make it!
Give them unique remarkable traits, maybe the MC can’t control her laughter in serious situations or doesn’t share food for example, you get the point!

HOW TO MAKE YOUR CHARACTERS CLICK :sunny:
The chemistry between the main characters is really important, or else the reader won’t engage with them and the dialogue will be bland.
Make your characters joke around, even make fun of each other jokingly of course, accept each other’s flaws and make each other feel loved and accepted, doing crazy things together, not every couple has sex and kiss each other 24/7 ksjska :sob:

CODING :sunny:
Please please DO NOT rush your story, I know coding is really hard and complicated, I hate to say it but most people prefer advanced directing instead of basic UNLESS the plot is interesting itself, do not rush yourself and take your time on your story until you feel like everything is perfect to you! Your hard work won’t be ignored! :two_hearts:
There are plenty of Joseph Evans tutorials on Youtube, and you can even visit the forums if you have a coding error! I’m sure everyone will be more than glad to help!

PROOFREAD YOUR STORY :sunny:
I can’t stress this enough! Please, please proofread your story or let someone else proofread it before publishing, I know reading the same chapters over and over again can be boring but it’s the only solution to publish an error free chapter!! And trust me, you’ll find many errors if you don’t!

EXTRAS :sunny:
WARNING: You don’t have to do everything I say in this part, it’s just what I came across while researching.

-Chapter Length: :ocean:
I found out most readers prefer average length chapters, not too short, not too long! So about 10-15 minutes! :heartpulse:

-Story Genre: :ocean:
Readers WILL care what genre your story is.

-Pet Peeves:
Most readers pet peeves are: :ocean:
*Bad directing.
*Bad dialogue.
*Bad grammar.
*When the story is rushed to the point where it doesn’t make sense.
*No character development.
*Cheesy romance.
*Predictability.

-What the readers love in stories: :ocean:
*Cliches when it’s done right.
*Advanced directing.
*Original plots.
*Good dialogue.
*Well developed characters and plot.
*Funny jokes.
*CC, LL and LGBTQ+

-Customization: :ocean:
I can’t answer this subject for anyone because it differs from a reader to another, so my advice would be to do what you’re planning to do, whether you wanna include full or limited CC or no CC at all, it’s your story after all! :heartbeat:

-Choices: :ocean:
Most readers care about choices since Episode is a choose your story game!
Although a good amount of readers also like playing a story where they feel like they’re watching a movie, so they don’t care if they have a say in it!

I hope i helped anyone out there!! Good luck on writing your story! :two_hearts: :heartpulse: :pleading_face:
Have a good day/night! :hibiscus:

20 Likes

Thank you for this post. It is very helpful. I feel like the strongest point is this one

I love when this happens yet I rarely see it happening. But it inspired me!

I also need to make my the mc and the li click in someway but I didn’t know how. I ship my own characters ofc but I didn’t know how to make the reader ship them too and not see them as a typical couple. I will follow your advices!

1 Like

I’m glad i inspired you in any way! :pleading_face: :heartpulse:

2 Likes

I think it actually just depends… I’ve heard many authors get spam fanmail asking for CC

Here on the forums, most of us are authors or authors/readers, so we have a different perspective from the people who are just readers. So I’ve learned to realize that polls here aren’t always accurate (if you did a poll.)

Either way, nice tips! :grin:

3 Likes

Ah alright! And yes i saw this result through a poll! I’ll update the Customization part then! :heartbeat::sparkles:

2 Likes

Bump!! :heartbeat::two_hearts:

1 Like

Thanku for this!!!

1 Like

Bump!!