How to Ruin your Novel

Unoriginality
I'll say this first, all stories written are just previous stories with the writer's own twists. Everything's been done before, but that doesn't mean you can't use one or a few of those ideas. Just add your own touch to them. Of course, unless you're writing a crackfic to post for whatever reason on the Internet, don't shove everything your pretty little brain can think of into your novel. It has to make sense, or at least seem like it makes sense.  

Overexplaining
Your readers aren't idiots. They don't need you to write paragraphs after paragraphs explaining every little thing. Some things are better left shrouded in mystery, piquing the reader's interest, others are better off explained in a few short sentences. Once you explain something, you don't need to repeat it every chapter. Stay on track. Don't start recapping the events like you're some commentator. It gets annoying.

No Emotion
If there are no emotions in a novel, it makes the novel feel like a manual or a textbook. Boring. If you want your readers to laugh and cry along with your characters, describe their emotions. Put yourself in your characters shoes. Even if you haven't experienced what they're going through, think about how they would be feeling.
Here's a body language cheat sheet to help you: [link]

No Conflict
There's absolutely no conflict in your story. People read stories to live another life through the characters. If they can't relate to them, they won't experience their life. The characters need to want something and that something needs to be worthwhile. There needs to be setbacks, things that prevent the character from getting what he or she wants. Make the reader want to stay and root for the characters.

Characters
The readers don't have to love your character, but they have to care about what happens to them. If they don't care about the character, they don't care about the book.
Antagonists don't have to be pure evil, the same way protagonists don't have to always be good. The antagonist may have the right goal in mind, but they're going about it the wrong way. The protagonist might resort to underhanded tactics to get what he or she wants. That's okay.

Backstory
It might be a little hard to tell when you should begin your story. Just write enough to make your readers care about what happens to the character and make them continue reading. If you jump right into the action, say your character about to be killed by a monster, why should the reader care about their death? They don't really know much about him or her. Back up a little and try to express that character's motivation. You don't necessarily have to tell the reader what the character wants, but they should know that the character wants it.

Laziness
Lazy writing is bad writing. Laziness isn't just limited to letting the draft sit there unedited for weeks, months, even years. It includes relying on cliches and telling instead of showing what the character is feeling, thinking and doing. Don't keep your readers away and give them a detached summary of what's going on in your head, show them.

Giving Up
Writing a novel is a lot of work. Sometimes, you just sit there for hours, staring at a blank page, waiting for words to come to you. At other times, you might be staring at a draft wondering how you're supposed to improve it. If you don't write your novel, then who will? It's certainly not going to write itself. You have to write it. It's your story, isn't it?  

I hope this helps and have fun writing!

Writing Romance: How NOT to Do It

Perhaps I'm not the best person to be writing this guide with my indiscriminate hate for people my age and having zero personal experience with relationships of this type. But I do know real relationships. You learn a lot of things if you just sit quietly in high school and discreetly study people around you. (It's for research, don't you look at me like that.)
For me, a writer who twists the concept of romance so much that it's barely recognizable anymore, I have to know the basics of true romance. Can't screw it up if you don't know what the heck it is you're screwing up, am I right?

Let's first look at what defines a romance novel. A central love story and an emotionally-satisfying ending.
A love story needs to have conflict for the two people to fall in love. If your idea of conflict is "I don't have a boyfriend and no one likes me!", I suggest you start running before I find something sharp and pointy.
The characters need to grow. Not physically as in inches and centimetres, but mentally. Otherwise, the reader will put your story down.
Finally, there's the resolution. The problems need to be solved for the reader to buy the happily ever after.

Let's get on with the don'ts of romance writing.

Love doesn't happen instantly. That's infatuation. The online dictionary defines it as puppy love or temporary love of an adolescent. You don't really love someone you just met a few seconds ago. You haven't gotten to know them yet, so how can you? Maybe you've fallen in love with their appearance. 
Romeo and Juliet is a good example of this. Romeo fell in love with Juliet in seconds. Look where that got them. (If Romeo and Juliet was meant to be a satire, Shakespeare is a genius.)

You can't truly love someone without knowing them first. I think this requires no further explanation.

You won't die if that person leaves you. It's not like you suddenly share vital organs at that first glance and need them by your side at all times. You still have your organs, they still have theirs.

Hearts can't literally be broken into millions of pieces like glass. They're squishy and fun to poke. Don't even use this in real life after a break up.

Don't fangirl over the love interest. Please don't waste our time, only you have the perfect mental image. Whenever someone tries to describe a book character to me, this pops up in my head and I just stick on whatever characteristics you give me, such as this colour eyes and this colour hair.

Actually, if you've read any show vs. tell guides, they should've told you not to use these as the only descriptions. You're supposed to link appearance to personality or actions, something like that. I don't remember the exact tip.
Don't stick words like sexy/handsome/insert other adjective here if your only reason is JUST BECAUSE HE IS. Get. Out. Now. I'll forgive you if the MC realizes that the love interest is nothing but a pretty face and moves on to a guy with actual character.

Mary-Sues and Gary-Stus are a no-no in every genre. Again, no further explanation is needed.

I hope this entertained you as well as showed you what not to do if you're writing a romance novel.

Words Often Confused

If you know the difference between your/you're; then/than; lose/loose, then you probably won't be subject to ridicule or lose respect from fellow writers. This is from a photocopied booklet in my English class, so I don't know who to give credit to.

a/an

• A is used before a word that begins with a consonant, plus u when it sounds like 'you'.
• a pencil, a union, a European trip
• An is used before a word that begins with a vowel sound. It's the sound that matters, not the letter.
• an apple, an hour, an umpire

accept/except

• Accept is a verb and it means to 'receive willingly.'
• I accept your invitation. (I willingly receive your invitation sounds a bit weird, but it makes sense.)
• Except means 'excluding' or 'but.'
• Everyone came except him. (Everyone came but him.)

affect/effect

• Affect is a verb and means 'to influence.'
• Her advice may affect his decision.
• Effect means 'result.' If a, an or the is in front of the word, then it isn't a verb and will be effect.
• His words had a great effect on the crowd.
• The rain had no effect on the attendance.

it's/its

• It's a contraction and means 'it is' or 'it has'
• It's cold. (It is cold.)
• Its is a possessive. (Possessive like its, yours, hers, ours, theirs and whose are already possessive and don't need apostrophes.)
• The committee gave its review.

loose/lose

• Loose means 'not tight.' A trick to remember is that loose is roomy enough for two o's.
• My pants are loose and baggy.
• Lose misplaced its second o, so it only has one.
• We're going to lose the game.

passed\past

• Passed is a verb.
• He passed the house.
• Use past when it's not a verb.
• He walked past the house is the same as he walked by the house, so it's not a verb.

peace/piece

• "Piece of pie." The one meaning a piece of something always begins with pie.
• I gave that kid a piece of my mind.
• Peace is the opposite of war.
• They signed the peace treaty.

than/then

• Than compares two things.
• I'd rather have this than that.
• Then tells when (then and when rhyme)
• He finished his test and then he went home.

their/they're/there

• Their is a possessive.
• Their house is pink.
• There points out something (the three words indicating a place or pointing out something all have here in them: here. there, where).
• I was sure I left it there.
• They're is a contraction. Just substiture they are and see if it works.
• They're happy now. (They are happy now.)

two/too/to

• Two is number.
• I have two dogs.
• Too means 'more than enough' and 'also.' (Too has more than enough o's.) 
• The lesson was too long.
• I found it boring too.
• Use to for all the other meanings.
• He's going to the beach.

were/where

• Were is a verb
• We were miles away from home.
• Where refers to a place. (Remember that the three words indicating a place or pointing out something all have here in them: here. there, where)
• Where is he?

woman/women

• Woman is singular. One female.
• That woman is my mother.
• Women is plural. A bunch of females.
• Those women are loud.

you're/your

• You're is a contraction and means 'you are.' (If the sentence works when you replace you're with you are, you're good.)
• You're welcome. (You are welcome.)
• Your is a possessive.
• Your toast is ready.

Gotta love my English teacher's stash of booklets, right? Actually, I think every English teacher in my school has their stash. Another one has piles of writing tips and materials printed out. He also said something very useful to his class. "You can't prepare for an English exam, so you just bullsh!t it."

Crafts for Writers!

When I fry my brain after weeks or months of writing, I usually turn to crafting. Here are some craft tutorials that you guys might find interesting.

Page corner bookmarks. Tutorial from I Could Make That
Torn up bits of paper are horrible bookmarks.

Make your own pencils. Tutorial on Scissors.Paper.Wok
Because school pencils and pens are like, so yesterday. (=^x^=)

An envelope book. Tutorial on making-mini-scrapbooks.com
It'd be a good place to store ideas you've written on slips of paper and Post-Its.

Feather gel pens. Tutorial on Idle Wife
Who doesn't like pretending they're writing with a quill? 

And because we've all worked hard, whether it be at school, work or in writing, we deserve some chewy chocolate chip cookies. Here's the recipe from The Pastry Affair

Kaye - 100% crazy with a side of nuts

Since I'll be posting quite often on here (Tuesday, every week, I'll try not to make everyone sick of me), I should introduce myself. Hi, I'm Kaye Dominique!  I'd rather not post pictures of me online, so here's a dream avatar I made.

I'm sixteen years old, in the middle of my third year of high school. I moved to Canada when I was nine years old from the Philippines. My English isn't heavily accented like other Filipino kids, and since I don't look Filipino, I'm often mistaken as Korean. (Even my own parents think I look Korean.)
Writing is my life. I can`t go a day without it. I have to write something everyday, even if it`s crap. This leads to a lot of deleted files on my iPod Documents app. I`ve been writing since grade eight. I started with fanfiction and eventually got to where I am today, original fiction with a healthy dose of insane characters and gore. This year, I also discovered that I am now incapable of writing anything else, proven by the children`s story assignment. Yeah...that didn`t work out too well. I ended up with a story about a garden of severed arms. Cantarella, which was up on inkpop for a short time, is an entry in the Polar Expressions contest. The winners will be announced next month. I`m so excited!
My personality...I'm emotionally imbalanced. I'm obsessive over certain types of things. The sadistic side of me helps with my stories, since all of them are really dark and twisted.
My hobbies include playing Minecraft, crocheting and crafting. Sounds nice, right? Yes, because I totally don't push mobs into lava pools or go crazy with the TNT. Nope. I want Assassin's Creed Revelations because of the story, not because I can murder everyone in sight (and desynchronize because of it). I also don't make cute and cuddly crocheted armies that I could take over the world with.

I did not make the cute monsters in the picture, but I`m working on it.

You`ll see me posting tips about characterization, portraying emotion, crafts that writers and readers would enjoy and also how to kill someone with a spoon. I`m just kidding with that last one. XD I just had two cups of green tea (green tea-flavoured sugar is more like it), so I`m kind of hyper right now. Sorry if I scared anyone!