Episode 75
Tips to Improve Your Writing Part 2
“For the last time, my name is Ulv and I’m not supposed to be here!”
“Whatever you say D’nuk, whatever you say.”
Ulv was busy working a leather hide that he and T’Sichk had obtained from downing a large caribou. It was a good find. Ulv had been here for weeks. He didn’t know how he’d gotten here but for some reason, he was now in the far north. Ulv had a sinking suspicion that this was a vision, but it felt much more real than that.
Everyone in the village called him D’nuk and since Ulv had no way of getting back to Herlia and Hipam, he just lived life in the village. To be honest, Ulv wasn’t sure he wanted to go back.
Judir was dead. Cojari, imprisoned. The Kingdom, still under the rule of his stepbrother. Ulv had no idea what to do, so he continued working on the leather hide.
“You know, you can’t run from it or hide forever.” T’sichk said.
Ulv froze. “What did you say?”
T’sichk looked at Ulv and said, “I know you’ve been thinking about the Elder’s challenge. The village needs you D’nuk. You have to join the council. You have to attempt the trial.”
This was the first Ulv had ever heard of that.
D’nuk walked over to Ulv and put his arm on his shoulder. “Look, brother, you are wise and strong like the bear. The trial is difficult, yes, but you can overcome it. You should not think of the task in front of you, but the people behind the task waiting for you to stand up and be a bonfire to all who sit in the cold darkness. We need you brother.”
What would you like to do?
Intro
Welcome back to How to Be a Better DM. I’m your host Justin Lewis and I’m here to help you create better stories as you DM sessions of Dungeons and Dragons.
Main Topic
In one of my previous episodes, I talked about tips on improving your writing skills. As a Dungeon Master, you are one part writer, one part performer, and all parts crazy. You’ll need to know how to craft a story correctly and that means writing. So today, I’m continuing my discussion of how to improve your writing skills with these tips:
Join a Writing Group
My cohost, Tanner Weyland, and I joined a writing group in college. While we had both met working at Papa Murphey’s when we were younger, we really developed our relationship by going to this writing group together. At the time, I didn’t have any particular project I was working on, but being in the group forced me to write something. That exercised both my ability to just put pen to paper as well as my ability to think up creative things. You too should look at forming or joining a writing group. The culture of writing groups is generally one of constructive criticism that looks at how the story is written. It is immensely helpful for those who have never shown their work to others before. It allows you to see how people perceive and accept your writing, thus giving you an understanding of what is or isn’t clear.
The simplest way to join one is by starting one, but to join or start a writing group, you need to know people who like writing, so ask your friends and family. If that doesn’t work, you can try apps like Meetup or try posting it on social media.
Kill Your Darlings
Originally coined by Arthur Quiller-Couch, the term “murder your darlings” means sometimes you need to kill your favorite part, character, scene or aspect of your story. I once worked with a colleague who loved to draw. His love for animation ignited in me a desire to try and draw. So I started, and when I thought I had something spectacular I’d show him. He ended up saying, “Try changing this or that.” I wouldn’t because I was too afraid of messing it up. He eventually told me to not be afraid of messing something up, because my best work will always be in the future, and I could always draw something better. Well, with my pitiful drawing career behind me, the same rings true for writing. You need to sacrifice your favorite parts of your story so you can write the best parts of the story. It may be a cool idea, but does it fit? Is it what your players really need right now? Take your writing and then as an exercise, imagine what you would write if you took your favorite thing out.
Write Outlines
This tip has helped me in writing podcast episodes, Instagram reels, and D&D sessions. You can think of it like the building of a house. First is the foundation and the framing (or the concept and the outlining of the concept) then all the important details are filled in (full disclosure, I’ve never built a house and may not know what I’m talking about). The point is being able to think on a macro scale and then slowly fill in what you need allows you to make sure the timing works and you’re hitting all the parts of the story that you want to. You don’t necessarily need to think up every single detail but having an outline can really help. One simple outline is the 3 act play outline. As defined in Writing Excuses, a podcast all about writing better, Act 1: Put your characters in a tree, Act 2: Throw rocks at them, Act 3: Get them down. This is a great way to think about story arcs both in and out of D&D. You can even simplify it down to 3 part sessions. Each part in your D&D session will either be an exploration part, combat part, puzzle part, or roleplaying part. There’s really not to much else that D&D can be. It can also be more fluid and less structured, but using this can help get you started.
Write More than you Think You Should when it comes to character development
A good writer generally creates much more for a specific story than what they publish. The audience might only see a quarter of all the content the writer has prepared whether in their mind or on paper. I believe that this is because that’s what is necessary for something to feel real. You have to feel like the shopkeeper on the edge of town has a fully fleshed-out backstory because in real life that’s how it would be.
So with your main NPCs, make sure you prepare a whole lot more about their character than you think you should. This means filling in their memories, adding in character quirks, and answering silly questions about them like what’s their favorite color. That last question might not be exactly pertinent but you get the point. Fill out more info about the character because if you’re player ever asks, you need to have an answer that makes sense and rounds out the character in a complete way.
Take a Writing Course
There are thousands of writing courses online and therefore thousands of options. You could even find free Youtube videos online that might do the trick. If you’re considering this option I would encourage you to consider a paid writing course because then you’ve actually committed. You will likely get far more out of it than if you didn’t pay.
I will also mention that not every writing course or writing instructor is the same. You may like some more than you like others. That’s ok. Try and vet them before you pay that way there is less buyer’s remorse. Also, taking writing courses with friends can help you to stay committed.
Take an Improv Class
As a Writing course can help you write better, an improv class can help you become more creative. There are generally improv classes as comedy venues but sometimes you might have to find a local group that hosts it.
This will also push you out of your comfort zone and help you get comfortable showing your creative work to other people. As humans, we are naturally scared of what people might think of what we’ve created. It’s almost like showing a baby to someone who doesn’t care. Taking an improv class can help you get comfortable with that and become more self-assured so you don’t care as much about what people think.
Conclusion
In the end, there are countless ways to improve your writing. I only mentioned a few more on this list but I bet you could think up way more. I’d love to hear your suggestions so email them to me at howtobeabetterdm@gmail.com.
The important thing is that you keep working at it and you keep getting better. Because then you will be the world’s greatest DM. We’ll be back next week for another great episode. Until then, let’s roll initiative.
Mentioned in this episode:
Introducing Wolfgang
Meet Wolfgang. This is who Tanner will be playing in our upcoming Actual Play Show, Pact and Boon. Go to Session0studios.com/pactnboon to learn more information.
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Transcript
ah
producer]:oh
producer]:m for the last time my name is of and i'm not supposed to be
producer]:here whatever you say do whatever you say was busy working leather hide that he
producer]:and teschik had obtained from downing a large caribou it was a good find o
producer]:had been here for weeks oh he didn't know how he'd gotten here but for
producer]:some reason he was now in the far north i had a sinking suspicion that
producer]:this was not real but just a vision but at the same time it felt
producer]:so much more real than that everyone in the village called him the nook since
producer]:olive had no way of getting back to harley and he pump he'd just been
producer]:living in the village and to be honest olive wasn't really sure he wanted to
producer]:go back huger was dead jerry imprisoned the kingdom still under the rule of his
producer]:stepbrother oh had no idea what to do so he continued working on yeah so
producer]:he continued working on the leather hide you know you can't run from it forever
producer]:sick said froze did you say c looked at all and said i know you've
producer]:been thinking about the elders challenge village needs you de nook you have to join
producer]:the council have to attempt the trial this was the first had heard of that
producer]:tenue walked over to v and put his arm on his shoulder luke brother are
producer]:wise and strong like the bear trial is difficult yes but you can overcome it
producer]:you should not think of the task in front of you but the people behind
producer]:the task waiting for you to stand up and be a bonfire to us who
producer]:sit in darkness need you brother what would you like to do welcome back to
producer]:how to be a better d m i'm your host justin lewis and i'm here
producer]:to help you create better stories
producer]:as u d m sessions of dudon z d m sessions of dungeons and dragons
producer]:in one of my previous in one of my previous episodes i talked about tips
producer]:on improving your writing skills as a dungeon master you are one part writer one
producer]:part performer and all parts crazy you'll need to know how to craft story correctly
producer]:and that means writing so today i'm continuing my discussion on how to improve your
producer]:writing skills with these tips number one join a writing group co host tanner wayland
producer]:and i joined a writing group together in college and while we both met working
producer]:at papa murphy's before when we were younger we really developed our relationship by going
producer]:to this writing group together and at the time i didn't have any particular project
producer]:i was working on but being in the group forced me to write something and
producer]:that exercised both my ability to just put pen to paper and and also my
producer]:ability to think up creative things you should look at forming or joining a writing
producer]:group the culture of writing groups is generally one of constructive criticism that looks how
producer]:the story is written it is immensely helpful for those who have never shown their
producer]:work to as before it allows you to see how people perceive and accept your
producer]:writing thus giving you an understanding of what is or isn't clear and the simplest
producer]:way to join one is by starting one but to join or start a writing
producer]:group you need to know people who like writing so ask your friends and family
producer]:and if that doesn't work you can try as like meet up or try posting
producer]:it on social media number two is kill your darlings originally coined by arthur quiller
producer]:couch the term murder your darling means something
producer]:yeah
producer]:means that sometimes you need to kill your favorite part of the story character scene
producer]:or aspect of your story and i once worked with a colleague who loved to
producer]:draw his love animation and ignited in me a desire to try and draw as
producer]:well so i started and when i thought i had something spectacular i'd show him
producer]:and he'd end up saying try changing this or that on i naturally wouldn't because
producer]:i was too afraid of messing it up he eventually told me not to be
producer]:afraid of messing something up because my best work will always be in the future
producer]:and i couldn't draw and i could something always better i could always draw something
producer]:better well with my pitiful drawing career behind me the same rings true for writing
producer]:you need to sacrifice your favorite parts of your story so you can the best
producer]:part of the story and it may be a cool idea but does it fit
producer]:is it what your players really need right now take your writing and then as
producer]:an exercise aimagine what you would write if you took your favorite thing out number
producer]:three is right outlines this tip has helped me immensely in writing these podcast episodes
producer]:instagram reels and even dan d sessions you can think of it like the building
producer]:a house first is the foundation and the framing or the concept and the outlining
producer]:of the concept then all of the important details are filled in whole disclosure i've
producer]:never actually built a house and may not know what i'm talking about the point
producer]:being able to think on a macro scale and then slowly filling in what you
producer]:need allows you to make sure the timing works and you're hitting all the parts
producer]:of the story that you want to you don't necessarily need to think up every
producer]:detail but having an outline can really help one simple outline is the three act
producer]:play outline as defined in writing excuses a podcast all about writing better that i've
producer]:talked about lots of times act one is put your characters in a tree act
producer]:two throw rocks at them act three get them down this is a great way
producer]:to think about the story arks both in and out of dandy you can even
producer]:simplify it down to three part sessions each part in your dandy session will either
producer]:be an exploration part combat part puzzle part or rope in part and i got
producer]:that from rob who is a listener of the show but also we're working with
producer]:him on a collaboration so i've been learning lots from him he's also an english
producer]:teacher which is probably why he's so smart uh there's really not too much else
producer]:that d and d can be it can also be more fluid and less structive
producer]:but these these simple parts exploration combat puzzle and role playing can help you get
producer]:started number four write more than you think when it comes to character development right
producer]:more than you think you should when it comes to character development a good writer
producer]:generally creates much more for a specific story than what they publish and the audience
producer]:might only a quarter of all the content that the writer has prepared whether in
producer]:their mind or on paper for that story and i believe that this is because
producer]:that's what is necessary for something to feel real you have to feel like shopkeeper
producer]:on the edge of town has a fully fleshed out back story because in real
producer]:life that's really how it would be so with your main n p c s
producer]:make sure you prepare a whole lot more about their character and their back star
producer]:and there their mannerisms and how they would act then you think you should and
producer]:this means filling in their memories ending in character quirks and answering silly questions about
producer]:them like what's their favorite color that last question might not be actly permanent but
producer]:you get the point and and feel out more inflow about the character because if
producer]:your player ever asks you need to have an answer that makes sense and rounds
producer]:out the character in a complete way you want the player to feel like every
producer]:character is a real person next take a writing course there are thousands of writing
producer]:courses online and therefore thousands of options yeah oh
producer]:you could even find free utubevideos online that might do the trick and if you're
producer]:considering this option i would encourage you to consider a paid writing course because then
producer]:you've actually committed you will likely get far more out of it than if you
producer]:didn't pay i will also mention that not every writing course or writing instructor is
producer]:the same you like you you may like some more than you like others and
producer]:that's okay so try and vet them before you pay that with so try and
producer]:vent them before you pay that way there is less buyers remorse also taking writing
producer]:courses with friends can help you stay committed so buddy up next take an improve
producer]:class as a writing course can help you write better and improve class can help
producer]:you become more creative there are generally improve classes at comedy there are generally improve
producer]:classes at comedy venus but sometimes you may have to find a local group that
producer]:hosts it instead this will also push you out of your comfort zone and help
producer]:you get comfortable showing your creative work to other people as humans we are naturally
producer]:scared of what people might think of what we created it's almost like showing a
producer]:baby to someone who doesn't care taking an improve class can help you get comfortable
producer]:with that and be more self assured so you don't care about what people think
producer]:as much and you're more prepared showing what you have to other people so in
producer]:the end there are countless ways to improve your writing i only mentioned you more
producer]:on this list but i bet you can think up way more and i'd love
producer]:to hear your suggestion so email them to me at how to be a better
producer]:dem at g mail dot com the important thing is that you keep working at
producer]:it and you keep getting better because then you will be the world's greatest dem
producer]:we'll be back next week for another amazing episode but until then let's go ahead
