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The Drafting ProcessAmong the countless number of writers in this world, each of us writes according to his or her own process. It's a routine we settle into, a habit we develop. That being said, there are good and bad habits out there, and to produce the best work we can, we need to adopt the very best of these habits while discarding the rest.
In this guide, I'd like to introduce one such habit: a basic (though incredibly effective) seven-step writing process that I've read being thrown around by a few authors (Stephen King in particular). From my own experiences, it has proven indispensable, and I highly recommend it. Not as your absolute process, mind you (although following it to the letter would still be effective), but as a base to work off of, making your own additions here and there to make it your own.
Step 1: Write the first draft.
The writer that creates something perfect on his first try is an incredibly rare specimen (although, so I've heard, not completely no

An Argument for "Said"Preface:
Before reading this argument, I want to explain that the following principle applies primarily to writings of the English language. Although it may apply to others as well, I have learned through the comments below that at least in German and Russian this principle is reversed. Therefore, this is a principle of culture and linguistics, and unless you are planning to write in English, you should look to writers of your own language before making any decisions on the matter. That being said, on to the argument.
An Argument for "Said:"
When writing dialogue, one of the necessary elements is the use of "dialogue tags," which identify who is speaking (hence their other name, "identifiers"). They're pretty easy to recognize, but just so we're clear, here are a few examples with the tags in bold:
"It's quite sunny today," she said.
"Release her, you fiend!" he roared.

The Basics of Comma UsageThis guide is meant to give you, as a writer, a thorough foundation in comma usage. I won't cover every use, but I will go over a majority of them, all of which are worth knowing.
As far as this tutorial's subject matter is concerned, I feel comfortable explaining about ninety percent of what follows. However, I want this to be as accurate as possible, so I've gone to other sources online to back me up (primarily to fill in the gaps of my knowledge in terminology). I've included the links to these sources immediately below as well as in the author's description. I will refer to them throughout the tutorial by their source number (Source 1, Source 2, etc). If you wish to better your grammar even further, I particularly recommend grammarbook.com (Sources 2 and 3). Note that all the examples I give in this tutorial were not taken from the sources; they are my own.
1) grammar.ccc.comnet.edu ("Conjunctions")

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Final Frontier - Epilogue            Before Hal lost consciousness in the hospital room, he had just enough time to see his brother, reach for his hand, and say, “I’m sorry, Jackson. I really am….” And then he drifted off. It wasn’t until two days later that he was able to stay awake long enough to hold a full conversation. The first thing he did was ask how he’d been found.
            Jackson was the one who’d found him. He came by Monday morning, ready to take Hal to work, but despite his pounding at the door and his shouting, there was no response. “I thought you were skipping again,” he said. He came back later that night to chew Hal out, but no one came to the door then either.
            It was the next morning that he found Hal. The apartment door, this time, was cracked open.

Final Frontier - Chapter 12            Hal had never experienced Desidera as he did now.
            Before, whenever he’d immersed, he’d always explored with a thought in the back of his mind: soon this will end; soon I will have to return to the material world, where all of this is beyond my reach. The thought had always spoiled the experience. Now things were different.
            He’d finally acknowledged that the material world was a lie. He’d detached himself. Completely, just like Alice said he’d have to, and because of that choice, Desidera was truly his world now. With each passing moment, he’d felt his senses sharpening. The trees, the sands, and oceans became new under his awakened eyes, vibrant with new color and light. The touch of a leaf or of Alice’s cheek was increasingly more pristine

Final Frontier - Chapter 11            For a long time after Schmidt left, his words filled Hal’s head. They seemed to float separately, his mind too numb to connect them. He wasn’t sure how much time passed like this, but he was vaguely aware that the room had gone dark.
            When the fragments finally connected into a single thought, it sounded almost like a plea: That’s all Desidera ever was? A videogame?
            Rage flooded Hal’s chest, he shouted, “No!” and slammed a hand on the coffee table. The glass top splintered and pinched off a sliver of his palm. Blood slipped into the cracks.
            You can’t deny it, he thought. The proof is all there. Desidera is nothing more than a videogame. Here in the material world, that

Final Frontier - Chapter 10            It wasn’t Jackson.
            A man in a business suit smiled at Hal. He had a briefcase in one hand and he held out the other in greeting. “Hal Garland?” the man said. “Hello, I’m Gene Schmidt, a representative from the Bancroft Corporation. May I have a moment of your time?”
            Hal looked at the hand, nerves tightening. The Bancroft Corporation. The company Morris had died exploring Desidera for. He forced himself to shake Schmidt’s hand. “And why would a Bancroft representative want to talk to me?”
            “Actually, Mr. Garland, I’m here to talk to you about this apartment’s last tenant, Morris Tanner. He was a Bancroft employee for a time, and w

Final Frontier - Chapter 9            When Hal emerged from Desidera, he was exhausted and sore, his shoulders stiff. His throat burned, and his tongue lay dry in his mouth.
            He rolled into the kitchen and filled a tall glass with water from the tap, downed it. Another. Hunger pressed at his gut next, so he put two instant burritos in the microwave. As he was about to enter the time, he noticed the time display read 6:00 PM. He’d been immersed in Desidera for nearly twenty-four hours.
            You forgot the alarms. That’s dangerous, Hal.
            After pressing start on the microwave, his finger came away shaky. What had happened in Desidera that took so long? He didn’t even go down to any of the sectors. Alice had explained his fear, and then—they j

Final Frontier - Chapter 8            Toward the end of Hal’s second month as a controller, a shuttle from McHenry was scheduled to arrive around one o’clock. The control tower had fourteen others at work that day, sitting at desks before radars and computer screens, some standing and looking out over the landing pads with binoculars. Each of the tower’s four walls had inward-slanting windows that overlooked the Academy launch site.
            Matthew, one of Hal’s coworkers, was checking the flight schedule. He said, “Hey Hal, you want McHenry?”
            Hal glanced at the schedule himself, then nodded. “Sure.” He handed Matthew a pair of binoculars. “Just do me a favor and check to make sure pad three is clear.” He could get visual confirmation himself, but in a wheelchair,

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Writing Tips Index - Inkfish7

Fri May 25, 2012, 4:10 PM

Writing:

The Price of Plot Twists
- In this entry, I discuss the folly in relying too heavily on plot twists.

Describing your Characters

- In this guide, I explain the purpose of character descriptions and the kind of details they should include.

The Drafting Process

- For every writer there is a routine, a writing process that's individual to each person. However, like all other aspects of writing, one's routine is also often in need of improvement. In this guide, I outline seven steps that act as a healthy base to any writer's process.

An Argument against All-Caps

- In this guide, I explain the issues with using all capital letters for emphasis in writing and provide an alternative.

An Argument for "Said"

- In this guide, I explain why "he/she said" is the most valuable dialogue tag at our disposal as writers.

Grammar:

The How To's of Dialogue: Grammar and Otherwise
- This guide is geared towards identifying all dialogue situations and explaining how they should be dealt with grammatically.

The Basics of Comma Usage
- This guide is meant to give you, as a writer, a thorough foundation in comma usage. I don't cover every use, but I go over a majority of them, all of which are worth knowing.

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Writing Tips Index - Inkfish7by =Inkfish7

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An index for my writing guides. I'll keep it updated.

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~UnknownOO8 Sep 28, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

Thanks for those! You confirmed some of the things I was unsure of in a very easy way to understand, especially with the multiple examples and exceptions, and I learned quite a lot of things as well I must say!

Really, thanks!

=Inkfish7 Sep 28, 2012 Student Writer

No problem! I'm glad you found them useful

~Hinata6Uchiha Jun 6, 2012 Student Writer

All of your tips are very helpful! I'm definitely going to use your advice towards working on my own novel that I have been working on.

=Inkfish7 Jun 6, 2012 Student Writer

Great! Good luck

~dreamcloud123 Jun 6, 2012 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

My gosh its a dream come true...

Thank you so much!!

=Inkfish7 Jun 6, 2012 Student Writer

Haha, no problem

~MirDeeDee Jun 5, 2012 Hobbyist Writer

Sorry for all of the favorites, I just found all of your guides, and I found them incredibly helpful. I write short stories for fun in my spare time, and I know I will definitely want to have these guides handy from now on.

=Inkfish7 Jun 5, 2012 Student Writer

Haha, trust me, I'm not one to complain about excessive faves! So thanks. I hope they'll prove helpful to you and your writing.

~MirDeeDee Jun 5, 2012 Hobbyist Writer

Thank you so much!!

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