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So You Want To / See the Index

Go To

This index holds the various pages of the So You Want to namespace. Go to Write a Story and Be Original for basic advice that transcends genre boundaries.

If You Want to Suggest a Page. There is a rather large section at the tail end of the article. It is separated into the same sections as the rest of the article—as shown by order of appearance—though not labeled. Feel free to add suggestions using the existing format, and please look there first if you wish to write up a page.

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To Write Up a Suggested Page: Make the title into a link (get rid of the spaces, and stick a slash between the So You Want to and the name of the page, like this: SoYouWantTo/SeeHowToDoThis). Move it onto its own line somewhere in the appropriate section.

To Start a New (Unsuggested) Page: Just create a bulleted link at the end of the appropriate section, then click on it, click the Edit Page button, and start editing.

To Expand an Existing Page. There are a few pages that need expanding. If you see one and you feel like you're up to it, please do so.

To Get the Template: Head over to See a Template, open it for editing, and copy the template at the bottom of the page. Then come back here, click on the link for the page you want to create, open it for editing, paste in the template, and start filling in the sections. There you go!

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Compare TV Tropes "How to" Guides. Contrast Things You Are Not Allowed to Do. See also So You Want to.Make a Joke About the So You Want to Namespace

The Basics

This article covers advice for all writers, regardless of genre or medium; it's the stuff that would go on every page, but instead we put it on this one page and just point you over here:

See also Story Structure Architect and The Hollywood Formula.

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Visual and Literary Genres

The tropes that make the genre:

Interactive Media

Medium

This section is for certain media:

Settings, Location

This section is for certain settings and locations in a story

Story Aspects, Scenes and Large Ideas

This section covers things that are either not big enough to be an entire genre or too big to be only for one genre (but are still not all encompassing enough to go to the basics section).

Groundbreaking Works

An overview of how these works rose to the top of the food chain, and how you might duplicate their success:

Major Authors

These are for advice on what to study to improve your craft, given your target genres, demographics, and mediums:

Individual Characters

Writing a story is hard but writing believable characters, the core of any good story, is even harder at times.

We need tropers to create new pages of these standard characters, and start giving advice on how to craft them! In the meantime, you can visit 45 Master Characters and The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes & Heroines for some basic character templates.

Creator Jobs

Writing a story is important, but writers aren't the only ones doing work. Most creative mediums are collaborative, and many people help to make a quality product. This section is for those who want a specific job in any of the creative industries or want to do a specific creative aspect for a work. Pages should detail some of the finer points about such jobs and if possible give proven ways to get into such careers.

Troublesome Tropes

We all know that Tropes Are Tools. But some of them tend to be useful only in the hands of a Master Craftsman. So here are some pages to help you avoid those tropes... at least until you know what the heck you're doing.

Suggested Pages

So You Want to Write a Genre

So You Want to Stand Out in a Medium

So You Want to Write the Next Great Work

So You Want to Be the Next Creator

So You Want to Write a Character Type

So You Want to Be a Profession

  • Be a Game Master
  • Cast a Hollywood Blockbuster
  • Pick a Filming Location

So You Want to Avoid Pitfalls

Alternative Title(s): Main, So You Want To

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