Here are some tips I thought up for new or first-time writers. Hope these will give you some confidence with your writing.

    1. Get a beta-reader!

        Repeat after me: Your beta-reader is your friend. Your beta-reader is your friend. Got it?

        A beta-reader will help pick up on mistakes that you miss -- yes, even after reading over your story 10 times, there is a large chance you missed something like using "their" instead of "there." A beta will also give you a second opinion on how your story is doing, help you if you have problems thinking up a scene or a line of dialogue, etc.

    2. Watch the Show

        No offence, but you need to watch this show if you're going to write in the actual Buffy-verse and keep these characters, and watching 1 episode will work. That episode relates to the one that aired before it, and the characters will just continue to change in the next episode. These characters are complex and all of them have been through life-changing events. Their attitudes change season by season, and you need to understand what's going on in the season you are writing in.

    3. Don't get feedback the first story? Don't give up!

        Some new authors might find they have problems getting established and getting feedback from readers. Don't let that get you down! Quality is better than quantity -- if you're getting a small group of people that always review for you, don't give up writing and don't leave your story a work in progress!

    4. Need help? Ask!

        If you're having problems writing up something and want a second or third opinion, get out there and start asking questions! Get on a mailing list, find a message board, or personally e-mail authors that you read. Most authors out there will probably take a second or two to answer your question. There are always ways to get some help if you've got a major case of writer's block.

    5. Re-read like crazy

        Never type of a story and send it right away. It's best if you write it up, read it...go away for a while, then read it all over again. You'll probably be amazed at what you didn't catch the first time. Even if you have a beta-reader, that's no excuse for trying to make it the best story you possibly can. Become your OWN beta-reader and act as if you're proofreading someone else's story. Be serious about this.

    6. Know what you're writing

        Are you writing AU? Are you writing something that's happening in a certain episode or season?

        You need to know what you're doing to these characters and what you're going to have happen to them. If you're writing in a certain season, you need to keep them in character -- don't have them go off and do something that can't be rationally explained. If you're writing an AU, it's a good idea to try and  stick to at least some type of familiar characterization even if everyone is human, so the readers can make a connection with the characters. Characterization plays an important part in what makes a good story GOOD.

    7. Use a thesaurus!

        Stretch that brain of yours! Get rid of all "dead verbs": am, is, are, was, were, be, been, being and work on making your sentences more complex. Take out dead words (See Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them for a list) by using a thesaurus to come up with more, better, words -- some words you come up with might even help make the story sound more like what you were aiming for!

    8. Longer isn't always better

        I learned the hard way from formal essays in school that writing a essay that tends to avoid the topic or talk about things that have NOTHING to do with the topic in order to lengthen the essay, will just wind up creating a badly written essay, or in this case -- story. If you can say what you want to say in five words, don't make it ten! Sometimes you don't have to have a long story as long as you make an impact with what you DO say.

    9. Don't Beg!

        Generally, when I see stories that have a short summary and then two lines of something along the lines of this: PLEASE! PLEASE REVIEW! I'M BEGGING!!! ALL I WANT IS A REVIEW!!!! IF I DON'T GET AT LEAST THREE REVIEWS FOR THIS NEW PART, I'M NOT WRITING THIS STORY ANYMORE!!! I don't read the story. Why? Review-beggars tell me that they are more interested in getting tons of reviews instead of working on the quality of the story. I generally advise that you don't spend all your summary space begging for people to read reviews, because I know I'm not the only person out there that thinks that.

Did I miss anything? Want me to add something? Let me know!

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