Writing Tips - Let's help each other not be crap.

[[Insert Meme Here]]

Given i can't get these stories past the 39,000 word mark I'd like to try something else, but nothing seems to be working

That's not a creative slump, that's a lack of planning and dedication. Here's a question you should ask before creating anything: what do I want the viewer to get out of this piece?

Do you want to make them sad? Do you want to make them angry? Do you want to pose an ethical question? Do you want them to laugh at a magical world of absurdity? Do you want them to watch two lovers who were torn apart get back together in the end? Do you want to tell the story of someone stuck on an island? Do you want to tell the story of a regency era's young girl's adolescence? It doesn't really matter what you want them to get, but everything else about a story is malleable and subject to whimsy--plot, characters, everything. If you don't set in with a clear goal, you'll just kind of float around with no direction, whereas if you have a goal to work toward everything else is about moving forward towards it. I've heard that every story needs an overarching theme, but I don't think you need to plan it out so specifically like that, so much as you need to go in what an idea of what you want to get out of it... if that makes sense. Overthinking is just as bad as underthinking a story.

On a more personal note, I always make my characters first, then decide on the climax (NOT the ending). I do this for two reasons: character creation is my favorite part of writing and, by knowing what the climax is, I can build events leading up to it based on how I know my characters would act in a situation (since I made them beforehand). This way, there is always some kind of forward motion I know can be made, since I'm going somewhere specific, and the ending should just be the logical events after the climax.

Your initial statement:

Lately I'm finding the only way story I can do is with the protagonist getting fired from their job and then discovering a magical realm down the block.

Sounds incredibly dull from the start. Maybe your protagonist is bland and has no real motivation, and thus isn't moving the story forward. I find the main character is often the most difficult character to create. I've seen a lot of stories with this kind of setup, where the author spends a lot of time creating an alternate world, but virtually none on the protagonist. Some try to defend it by saying the main character is a self-insert for the reader, but the main character should have a goal to strive for and a definable personality imo. I don't relate to nothing, but I can understand someone who is different from me, at least, even if they act in ways I never would.

Actually, why not just have the story start in the magical world? I often find that "normal person finds their way into magical/special world" to be very... uh... they take me out of the experience, not draw me into it. But a story that just takes place in a magical world could be interesting just by virtue of being different from real life, and I'd have to suspend my disbelief less. If there isn't a very good, specific reason for why the story starts in the "real" world, I'd say skip that part. The recent popularity of isekai stories in Japan may also result in some feelings of over-exposure with the concept.

Also, don't worry about word count. Make a complete story. Make it as short or as long as you like, but make it complete. It's like writing an essay in high school--so many don't have anything to say, but pad the word count with bullshit to fulfill a requirement. No one wants to read that. I'd rather read a shorter story that told itself than a longer one that wasted my time.

 

[Crunchy Leaf]

I agree that that plot beginning sounds dull, and it's very much done. What happens once they're in this magical world? Are there adventures? Do they fall in love with an elf? Do they grapple with staying there or going back home? What's happening around the 39,000 word mark where you can't go on?

If you like that kind of story, why not write it from a different perspective--like a person or creature in the magical realm who has to deal with the regular-world person? Or a magical person gets fired from their job at the apothecary and winds up in our world.

 

[8777BB5]

That's not a creative slump, that's a lack of planning and dedication. Here's a question you should ask before creating anything: what do I want the viewer to get out of this piece?

Do you want to make them sad? Do you want to make them angry? Do you want to pose an ethical question? Do you want them to laugh at a magical world of absurdity? Do you want them to watch two lovers who were torn apart get back together in the end? Do you want to tell the story of someone stuck on an island? Do you want to tell the story of a regency era's young girl's adolescence? It doesn't really matter what you want them to get, but everything else about a story is malleable and subject to whimsy--plot, characters, everything. If you don't set in with a clear goal, you'll just kind of float around with no direction, whereas if you have a goal to work toward everything else is about moving forward towards it. I've heard that every story needs an overarching theme, but I don't think you need to plan it out so specifically like that, so much as you need to go in what an idea of what you want to get out of it... if that makes sense. Overthinking is just as bad as underthinking a story.

On a more personal note, I always make my characters first, then decide on the climax (NOT the ending). I do this for two reasons: character creation is my favorite part of writing and, by knowing what the climax is, I can build events leading up to it based on how I know my characters would act in a situation (since I made them beforehand). This way, there is always some kind of forward motion I know can be made, since I'm going somewhere specific, and the ending should just be the logical events after the climax.

Your initial statement:


Sounds incredibly dull from the start. Maybe your protagonist is bland and has no real motivation, and thus isn't moving the story forward. I find the main character is often the most difficult character to create. I've seen a lot of stories with this kind of setup, where the author spends a lot of time creating an alternate world, but virtually none on the protagonist. Some try to defend it by saying the main character is a self-insert for the reader, but the main character should have a goal to strive for and a definable personality imo. I don't relate to nothing, but I can understand someone who is different from me, at least, even if they act in ways I never would.

Actually, why not just have the story start in the magical world? I often find that "normal person finds their way into magical/special world" to be very... uh... they take me out of the experience, not draw me into it. But a story that just takes place in a magical world could be interesting just by virtue of being different from real life, and I'd have to suspend my disbelief less. If there isn't a very good, specific reason for why the story starts in the "real" world, I'd say skip that part. The recent popularity of isekai stories in Japan may also result in some feelings of over-exposure with the concept.

Also, don't worry about word count. Make a complete story. Make it as short or as long as you like, but make it complete. It's like writing an essay in high school--so many don't have anything to say, but pad the word count with bullshit to fulfill a requirement. No one wants to read that. I'd rather read a shorter story that told itself than a longer one that wasted my time.

I agree that that plot beginning sounds dull, and it's very much done. What happens once they're in this magical world? Are there adventures? Do they fall in love with an elf? Do they grapple with staying there or going back home? What's happening around the 39,000 word mark where you can't go on?

If you like that kind of story, why not write it from a different perspective--like a person or creature in the magical realm who has to deal with the regular-world person? Or a magical person gets fired from their job at the apothecary and winds up in our world.

Thanks for the help guys. For the record I hate the "average person discovers magical world" plots with a passion, but got sucked into writing it due to a suggestion of a friend. Hopefully with your advice I can get back to what i want to write about

 

[[Insert Meme Here]]

For the record I hate the "average person discovers magical world" plots with a passion, but got sucked into writing it due to a suggestion of a friend.

Okay, so take this to heart: no one else's advice on a specific story truly matters, except maybe a copy editor. And friends and family give the absolute WORST advice. If you try to please everybody, you please nobody, and if you write a story the way someone else wants you to, then you're not writing YOUR story. You're writing someone else's half-baked idea. Would you build someone else's dream home on your property?

Write for you first, the reader second. Cuz if you're not into what you're writing, it'll show.

 

[adorable bitch]

Hey, I'm writing a story taking place in a very fucked-up magical world that resembles our own world with some horror elements.
I'm planning for some pretty screwed-up shit to happen, and I want some advice to stay out of the realm of edgy and brooding.

I'm hoping that by making my characters generally likeable and hopeful people I can combat this? (though, throughout the course of the story their hope wavers quite a bit, with good reason.) Some good things happen to them throughout the story as well. The two main characters are also pretty flawed and some have had some pretty awful stuff happen to them in the past. One of them is a stoic.

I'm not even sure if this is a reasonable thing to be afraid of honestly. I've just been worrying about this recently for some reason.

 

[[Insert Meme Here]]

I'm planning for some pretty screwed-up shit to happen, and I want some advice to stay out of the realm of edgy and brooding.

Simply put, space it out and intersperse it with good or at least hopeful things. Bad things happening to characters we like causes emotional stress. Not necessarily a ton, it's a very useful tool for viewer investment, but too much of it just wears a person down to exhaustion. This is the worst thing that can happen in your story, because they'll stop caring about the characters.

It's okay to make your characters suffer. Often good, even. But if one thing after another is happening solely because you want them to suffer, that's not engaging for the reader. Most people aren't into torture porn. "Making characters miserable" also isn't a plot, and without a plot, there is no line of reason to follow why events are happening. If it just feels like bad things are happening because bad things HAVE to happen to these characters in this story, it will feel pointless, hollow, and tryhard edgy.

You know how in porn with "plot", the plot only exists to string together the sex scenes? Don't do that with scenes of fucked up shit happening. Context is key. Your characters should have a purpose in the story other than "being miserable."

 

[MW 002]

Not sure how helpful this will be to anyone, but if you’re thinking about writing a fantasy epic then perhaps start by writing a short story or two that takes place in that universe? It should at least be helpful in that it gives you a feel as to what kind of world you’re writing.

((I’m currently doing this as I’m taking a break after finishing my first draft, which I have decided to put aside because I have some more interesting ideas in mind))

 

[adorable bitch]

anybody got a good resource for writing skin-tones? beige, fair and brown seem sort of boring and vague for the main characters.

 

[[Insert Meme Here]]

anybody got a good resource for writing skin-tones? beige, fair and brown seem sort of boring and vague for the main characters.

Question: why is this information relevant? Generally, less description is more in regards to characters unless there's some significance. And by significance, I mean plot-level significance (like in Inconegro, where skin tone actually mattered since it allowed the main character to go undiscovered.) Even things like name choice can color (ha) a person's impression of what someone will look like, and it breaks immersion for the reader to suddenly have that broken later on. You wouldn't expect a LaQueesha to be Japanese and you wouldn't expect a Jae-Hyeok to be Middle Eastern. On the other hand, names like "John" or "Maria" could be just about anything, in a given context.

But in answer to your question, avoid it, and replace it with more interesting and relevant information that hints at it if the reader absolutely MUST know what the Pantone of their skin is. Compare what the following tells you:

"I really miss mom's chorizo... no restaurant in this tiny-ass town has anything close."
"I really miss mom's haggis... no restaurant in this tiny-ass town has anything close."
"I really miss mom's kachori... no restaurant in this tiny-ass town has anything close."
"I really miss mom's hárkal... no restaurant in this tiny-ass town has anything close."
"I really miss mom's dim sum... no restaurant in this tiny-ass town has anything close."

See what information that tells you about their background just by swapping out one thing? Why hold their hand when they can form a picture of it themselves?

Don't fall into the trap of laying out information like bullet points. If you're going to describe something, find out why you're describing it. If the description is boring, it's probably boring information. But also don't be afraid of boring information; if everything was artistically described every time, then you just end up with purple prose. It's okay to let some information be basic if you have to tell something outright but it's not reasonable to guess in context.

Another method is to put it into a scenario where their skin is contrasted with another object or something, and just kind of slip it in. Something like, "Lana picked at the loose string of the tablecloth, desperately trying to find an answer for him. She wants to run away. She wants to hide. But she knows she can't, and so she takes a deep breath and fans her hand out against the white tablecloth, her fingers spread out like a melted chocolate stain."

[I know it's not art as an example, but you see the implication of darker skin for Lana here, right?] There is no absolute answer that will work, it depends on what your writing looks right. But if you're super-concerned about a character's skin and not the character's purpose, you're focusing on the wrong thing. If it's an issue born out of not knowing how to add details to things without making it boring, that's a general writing problem you need to work out. Write more, fix it later.

 

[adorable bitch]

Question: why is this information relevant? Generally, less description is more in regards to characters unless there's some significance. And by significance, I mean plot-level significance (like in Inconegro, where skin tone actually mattered since it allowed the main character to go undiscovered.) Even things like name choice can color (ha) a person's impression of what someone will look like, and it breaks immersion for the reader to suddenly have that broken later on. You wouldn't expect a LaQueesha to be Japanese and you wouldn't expect a Jae-Hyeok to be Middle Eastern. On the other hand, names like "John" or "Maria" could be just about anything, in a given context.

But in answer to your question, avoid it, and replace it with more interesting and relevant information that hints at it if the reader absolutely MUST know what the Pantone of their skin is. Compare what the following tells you:

"I really miss mom's chorizo... no restaurant in this tiny-ass town has anything close."
"I really miss mom's haggis... no restaurant in this tiny-ass town has anything close."
"I really miss mom's kachori... no restaurant in this tiny-ass town has anything close."
"I really miss mom's hárkal... no restaurant in this tiny-ass town has anything close."
"I really miss mom's dim sum... no restaurant in this tiny-ass town has anything close."

See what information that tells you about their background just by swapping out one thing? Why hold their hand when they can form a picture of it themselves?

Don't fall into the trap of laying out information like bullet points. If you're going to describe something, find out why you're describing it. If the description is boring, it's probably boring information. But also don't be afraid of boring information; if everything was artistically described every time, then you just end up with purple prose. It's okay to let some information be basic if you have to tell something outright but it's not reasonable to guess in context.

Another method is to put it into a scenario where their skin is contrasted with another object or something, and just kind of slip it in. Something like, "Lana picked at the loose string of the tablecloth, desperately trying to find an answer for him. She wants to run away. She wants to hide. But she knows she can't, and so she takes a deep breath and fans her hand out against the white tablecloth, her fingers spread out like a melted chocolate stain."

[I know it's not art as an example, but you see the implication of darker skin for Lana here, right?] There is no absolute answer that will work, it depends on what your writing looks right. But if you're super-concerned about a character's skin and not the character's purpose, you're focusing on the wrong thing. If it's an issue born out of not knowing how to add details to things without making it boring, that's a general writing problem you need to work out. Write more, fix it later.

It's mostly because I have a strong idea of what the characters look like in my head and I want to display it in my writing. I know it's not the most important thing, and I'm not talking 5 paragraphs of prose. It's less of a matter of race and wanting the reader to imagine some of the crap I've designed. Some of the characters are also from a fantasy race. I want them to have a clear image of them in their minds, and not find out halfway in that they've been imagining the character wrong.

To be completely honest, I also really just enjoy designing characters. (though I've probably picked the wrong art-form to express that in)


Some people I know get their knickers in a twist when I use food to describe skin though, so I've been wondering what sort of words I could use. (tawny, fawn, rosy, sandy, etc)

I've also done a bit of thinking though and I think you're partially right. I believe I may be overthinking this. The human races don't really need to have their skin described all that much, and the characters I've made that come from different (familiar) cultures are pretty self-explanatory. Plus the people that bitch constantly about skin-color and race are usually stupid as shit and never satisfied by anything you do to please them. (as evidenced by this website)

edit: I also think other physical features of the character convey more information and hints to their character than skintone.

 

[MW 002]

Okay so I just wanted to post this and say:

If you’re ever in doubt about your ability as a writer, share a sample of your work with other people. You’d be surprised to see how others will perceive your works (good or bad).

 

[BubbleButt]

I've always had trouble with outlines, so my writing is mostly pantsing it.

However, that's something I would really like to change so I can actually have a throughline to finish one of my drafts someday because they just go off the rails depending on my mood.

Any good resources or outline skeletons anyone could recommend for practice?

 

[MW 002]

Just gonna spread the word about it here: https://www.curensea.com/home

If you want to dump some of your writings somewhere and have people tip you for your work, Curensea is a pretty decent platform for it. It’s not a get rich quick scheme though, but if you end up earning enough tip coins then you can actually get paid for your work.

Something to consider if it’s a side thing you want to do.

 

[Haramburger]

Stephen King could learn from that.

He kind of did later in life. He started out with short stories like Skeleton Crew, then did decades of tomes, and ended up doing short stories again towards the twilight years like 1408. I think it was 23 pages, and they made a movie(that I actually liked) out of it.

 

[kinglordsupreme19]

I've always had trouble with outlines, so my writing is mostly pantsing it.

However, that's something I would really like to change so I can actually have a throughline to finish one of my drafts someday because they just go off the rails depending on my mood.

Any good resources or outline skeletons anyone could recommend for practice?

The only outlining resource I've ever read isn't even one for books: it was Dan O'Bannon's guide to Screenplay Structure. It was a good read, and although I didn't quite use the three-act structure he advocated, I definitely became a lot more confident in my construction was a result.

 

[Bunny Tracks]

You don't have to explain everything. Sometimes the mystery is better than the answer.

 

[MW 002]

Okay, if I read ONE more fantasy/Science Fiction story that has allegories to racism/transphobia/sexism/any kind of bigotry from the ebul white men, I am going to toss my laptop across the room. It doesn’t help that none of these authors really have anything new to say on the subject apart from a cheap way to see “see? Look how woke my work is” without really going out of their own comfort zone.

This is even more aggravating when it’s a dystopian. We have a lot of stuff going on in the world today that could make for an interesting dystopian if viewed in a different pair of lenses.

No seriously, there’s more interesting stuff out there to make social commentary on. Unless you have something new to say about bigotry that people either don’t bring up often/never bring up at all, find a different subject.

 

[Salt Water Taffy]

Okay, if I read ONE more fantasy/Science Fiction story that has allegories to racism/transphobia/sexism/any kind of bigotry from the ebul white men, I am going to toss my laptop across the room. It doesn’t help that none of these authors really have anything new to say on the subject apart from a cheap way to see “see? Look how woke my work is” without really going out of their own comfort zone.

This is even more aggravating when it’s a dystopian. We have a lot of stuff going on in the world today that could make for an interesting dystopian if viewed in a different pair of lenses.

No seriously, there’s more interesting stuff out there to make social commentary on. Unless you have something new to say about bigotry that people either don’t bring up often/never bring up at all, find a different subject.

Going off of that it's really starting to get stale that every irredeemably evil dystopian government is basically the Nazis with a slightly different color scheme (and this has been a problem since even before Nazis became the go-to boogeyman again in the last two years or so). People who aren't creative enough to develop a new dystopian world but still want to write a dystopia just cut and paste Nazis and give them space zeppelins (oh hi First Order). Putting a stamp that says "Nazi" on your dystopian gvt's forehead is the author's shortcut to say "YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO LIKE OR AGREE WITH THESE PEOPLE" with the subtlety of a sledgehammer and they think that the audience will automatically like the protagonists because they're punching Nazis. First off, if your characters are boring, most people aren't going to immediately like them just because they punch Nazis (except for a very niche market of Antifa people). Second, a dystopian government that was simply cut and paste from a historical government isn't going to feel genuine (this tends to get lost underneath all the "the Nazis were bad, kids!" that pretty much all WWII related media has had for the last few decades, but the Nazis didn't just appear out of nowhere to do evil. The specifics of Nazis, ideological and stylistic, were very much a product of the time and place it arose from and likely won't happen in a similar enough way to warrant cribbing their iconography ever again.) So if your evil government just appeared one day to reign evil, it won't feel believable and thus it won't feel as much of a threat. At this point when I see a dystopian government start burning books, I know their days are numbered, because what's the author gonna do, let the Nazis win? For the love of Godbear get some new uniforms and get a new logo doesn't look like a four-boomerang-shaped symbol.

 

[MW 002]

Going off of that it's really starting to get stale that every irredeemably evil dystopian government is basically the Nazis with a slightly different color scheme (and this has been a problem since even before Nazis became the go-to boogeyman again in the last two years or so). People who aren't creative enough to develop a new dystopian world but still want to write a dystopia just cut and paste Nazis and give them space zeppelins (oh hi First Order). Putting a stamp that says "Nazi" on your dystopian gvt's forehead is the author's shortcut to say "YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO LIKE OR AGREE WITH THESE PEOPLE" with the subtlety of a sledgehammer and they think that the audience will automatically like the protagonists because they're punching Nazis. First off, if your characters are boring, most people aren't going to immediately like them just because they punch Nazis (except for a very niche market of Antifa people). Second, a dystopian government that was simply cut and paste from a historical government isn't going to feel genuine (this tends to get lost underneath all the "the Nazis were bad, kids!" that pretty much all WWII related media has had for the last few decades, but the Nazis didn't just appear out of nowhere to do evil. The specifics of Nazis, ideological and stylistic, were very much a product of the time and place it arose from and likely won't happen in a similar enough way to warrant cribbing their iconography ever again.) So if your evil government just appeared one day to reign evil, it won't feel believable and thus it won't feel as much of a threat. At this point when I see a dystopian government start burning books, I know their days are numbered, because what's the author gonna do, let the Nazis win? For the love of Godbear get some new uniforms and get a new logo doesn't look like a four-boomerang-shaped symbol.

To add to this:

It really annoys me whenever writers of dystopians often overlook the social aspects of what leads to new government take overs/revolutions leading into totalitarianism (the Russian Revolution is a perfect example of how a revolt just lead to even more suffering, rather than the positive change most citizens were hoping to obtain after overthrowing the Tsar).

Actually, it’s what annoys me about the Handmaid’s Tale: Gilead is portrayed in a way that it seems like it occurred overnight, regardless of the fact it most certainly wouldn’t happen that quickly in the real world without any international intervention. Sure, if the religious were to occur in any era before the 60s in America, I might be able to suspend disbelief. But anytime past the year 2000 and I’m not going to be able to overlook it at all.

If you’re going to write about an evil government- try writing a prequel regarding the social circumstances that led to the pseudo-Nazi-Communist-Trumpenreichen society in the first place. What was the previous government like? Did people actually like the previous government? What was society as a whole like back then? The more thought put into it, the more believable it will be.

 

[[Insert Meme Here]]

So, while Hirohiko Araki is a very love or hate manga artist, his "Manga in Theory and Practice" is a very enlightening read about how he creates a story, and I recommend it even if you're not interested in comics or manga. I don't agree with strictly everything he says, but he has very clearly thought about it and, even better, has been putting it into practice for 20+ years. I think anyone interested in any medium of story creation could get something out of it. It's a pretty fast read, too, so it's not like reading someone's 400pg thesis on how writing should be done or a textbook. I find myself pulling it back out every once in a while to read it again.

Spoiler: Some highlights of the first few chapters

There are 4 major fundamental parts to the structure of a manga according to Araki, and I'd argue most forms of storytelling: Characters, Story, Setting, and Theme. It is possible to make a successful story based on characters or setting alone, but these are extreme examples. Most stories require some balance of these four, particularly if you want the story to remain interesting after a few years.

A character should:

• be distinct
• have an empathetic or interesting motivation for their actions
• already have a history within your (the writer's) mind, even if that history is never explained to the reader, as this will define who they are and why they behave the way they do

You have to have a good grasp of your main characters before you create your side characters, or else everyone will blend together. But the side characters are not less important than the main character--they, too, should have distinct purpose. Side characters actually have more freedom than the main characters.

Story may be a fundamental part of manga structure, but Story alone cannot make a story worth reading. Without at least one of the other fundamentals, this will not draw in peoples' attention for long. The closest story type that does this is the murder-mystery, and even that will fail without something else going on. However, a manga (or any other medium) without Story will not age well in most cases, as characters and such will become dated. Story keeps the characters, setting, and theme moving forward.

The story chapter actually is one of the biggest parts where I disagree with Araki-he states that your main character should always move in a 'positive' direction-but rather than type out his entire argument, which is actually more complicated than it sounds, I'll say to check out the book yourself. But I do agree with his assessment that no one wants to read about a "hero" who does nothing but fail for chapters on end, even if they do eventually get their shit together. I also agree with his assessment that taking your main characters back to zero is a bad idea.

In any story, let your characters act, don't let actions just happen TO them. If things are just happening TO the main character, then why is the story following this asshole?

When it comes to setting, readers want to be immersed. While they can become immersed in places that obviously can't exist, very mundane things can destroy that immersion if you're not careful, like turning a gas-powered train into an electric-powered train (as actually happened to Araki). And some things can't be researched online. Here's an interesting tidbit, keeping in mind that this book was originally written for a Japanese audience:

Jojo's seventh story arc, Steel Ball Run involves a race across America, but I knew that undertaking that journey by myself in one single trip would have been impossible. Instead, I split up the research into three sections: from the West Coast to the deserts, from the Great Plains to the Mississippi River and Chicago, and to the finish line in New York. Each region possesses its own culture and is home to different types of people.

Without going there for yourself, it's impossible to comprehend the feeling of scale in the midwestern United States, where the scenery stretches on forever and unchanging. The feeling of distance there is nothing like in Japan. Say, for example, an enemy is approaching from afar--at such a distance that escape would be trivial in Japan. In the Midwest, the open landscape remains identical from one hour to the next, and I was struck by the real sense that I could never make an escape from such an adversary; there was simply nowhere to hide. I was able to put that experience to good use when it came time to draw the manga.

Obviously, not all of us can afford to take trips around the world for research, but it may be important to keep in mind. But also don't use everything you research--the audience doesn't care about the little things to be thrown in their face, either.

The Theme connects the four fundamentals. Themes should not become muddled, and the themes will, inevitably, reveal the creator's own philosophy on whatever it is the theme is talking about. As such, never choose a theme because it's popular. The theme should be whatever it is you truly believe. That isn't to say the theme has to be completely thought out before you write or draw anything, but the theme will be an underlying guiding light to whatever happens in your story. Faking it will never work long-term.

The rest of the book is dedicated to how he implements these rules into his work--which I'll leave for him to explain.

He also has a very nice template for character history, to mark down relevant information about a character before the story even starts. Not that you have to fill out every single box, but if character creation isn't your strong suit, maybe think about it. Also good for organization, if you have a lot of characters. Here's a link to the history template someone made out of the book.

On another note, my story beginnings are fucking terrible. I start out like a discount Hemingway. After a few pages, once I get into the groove, it gets a lot better stylistically, but I legitimately do not know how to make the beginning of a story not suck. Even going back later and fixing only helps so much. And I hate in media res openings, so advice like "start with something interesting" doesn't help me much. I never understood how people struggled with the ending of a story, but beginning one is the absolute worst! How do you guys like to start things?