So You Want To/See the Index

How-To Guide

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.

So 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.

So You Want To Write Up a Suggested Page: Make the title into a link (and stick a slash between the So You Want To and the name of the page, like this: [[So You Want To/See How To Do This]]). Move it onto its own line somewhere in the appropriate section.

So You Want 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.

So You Want 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.

So You Want 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!

If you have trouble picking a title for your story, refer to Genre Title Grab Bag.

Compare All the Tropes How to Guides.

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:

Also see Story Structure Architect and The Hollywood Formula.

Genres

The tropes that make the genre:

Write an Alternate History
Write a Black Comedy
Write a Conspiracy Theory
Write a Crossover
Write a Cyber Punk Story
Write a Dating Sim
Write a Detective Novel
Write a Diesel Punk Story
Write a Dom Com
Write a Film Noir
Write a First Person Shooter
Write a Furry Comic
Write a Gaming Comic
Write a Good Yaoi
Write a Hard Science Fiction Story With Space Travel
Write a Harem Anime
Write a Heroic Fantasy
Write a High Fantasy
Write a Humongous Mecha Anime
Write a Kid Novel
Write a Korean Drama
Write a Love Story
Write a Magical Girl Series
Write a Magical Girlfriend Series
Write a Major MMORPG
Write a Minor MMORPG
Write a Mon Series
Write a Police Procedural
Write a Real Time Strategy
Write a Romantic Comedy
Write an RPG
Write a Shonen Series
Write a Shoujo Series (Needs help. Maybe not a total rewrite, though.)
Write a Slasher Horror Story
Write a Steampunk Story
Write a Superhero Comic
Write a Survival Horror Game
Write a Teen Drama
Write an Urban Fantasy
Write a Vampire Novel
Write a Very Special Episode
Write a War Story
Write a Webcomic
Write a Yuri Manga
Write a Zombie Apocalypse
Write Scheme and Scansion (needs a better description but probably not a total rewrite.)

Medium

This section is for certain mediums

Settings, Location

This section is for certain settings and locations in a story

Make a Runaway Hideaway

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 Master Characters and Heroes and Heroines articles for some basic character templates.

Avoid Writing a Mary Sue—also a Troublesome Trope
Write a Cloud Cuckoo Lander
Write a Harem Hero
Write a Magnificent Bastard

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.

Be a Booker

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

Genre:

So You Want To Write An Action Movie
So You Want To Write An Adventure Story
So You Want To Write An Affectionate Parody
So You Want To Write An Alien Invasion Story
So You Want To Write An Animated Children's Movie
So You Want To Write An Arabian Nights Day story
So You Want To Write A Big Damn Movie
So You Want To Write A Boarding School Story
So You Want To Write A Body Swap Story
So You Want To Write A Chick Flick
So You Want To Write A Chick Lit story
So You Want To Write A Clock Punk Story
So You Want To Write A Cloning Story
So You Want To Write A Cosmic Horror Story
So You Want To Write A Dark Fantasy
So You Want To Write A Dungeon Punk Story
So You Want To Write A Dystopia
So You Want To Write A Gay Romance
So You Want To Write A Gender Bender Story
So You Want To Write A Heroic Bloodshed Movie
So You Want To Write A High School Sitcom
So You Want To Write A Hispanic Style Soap Opera
So You Want To Write A Humanity Ensues Story
So You Want To Write An Idol Singer Story
So You Want To Write A Low Fantasy
So You Want To Write A Martial Arts Story
So You Want To Write A Mister Seahorse Story
So You Want To Write A Murder Mystery
So You Want To Write A Ninja Story
So You Want To Write A Pirate Story
So You Want To Write A Post Apocalyptic Story
So You Want To Write A Prince and Pauper Story
So You Want To Write A Psychological Horror story
So You Want To Write A Road Movie
So You Want To Write A Samurai Story
So You Want To Write A Science Fiction Story
So You Want To Write A Screwball Comedy
So You Want To Write A Sentai Show
So You Want To Write A Shonen Ai Manga
So You Want To Write A Situation Comedy
So You Want To Write A Slice of Life
So You Want To Write A Soap Opera
So You Want To Write A Space Fighters Series
So You Want To Write A Space Opera
So You Want To Write A Space Western
So You Want To Write A Spy Fiction Story
So You Want To Write A Supernatural Mystery
So You Want To Write A Teen Drama
So You Want To Write A Thriller
So You Want To Write A Time Travel Story
So You Want To Write A Toku Series
So You Want To Write A Tragedy
So You Want To Write A Trapped in Another World Story
So You Want To Write An Urban Legend
So You Want To Write A Western
So You Want To Write A Wizarding School story
So You Want To Write A Wuxia Story
So You Want To Write A Xenofiction Story

Medium:

So You Want To Make A Collectible Card Game
So You Want To Make A Fighting Game
So You Want To Make A Side Scrolling Platformer
So You Want To Make A Video Review Show
So You Want To Write A 4X
So You Want To Write A Choose Your Own Adventure
So You Want To Write An Educational Cartoon
So You Want To Write An Interactive Fiction
So You Want To Write A Mainstream Pop Song
So You Want To Write A Narrative Or Epic Poem
So You Want To Write A Rock Opera
So You Want To Write A Sprite Comic
So You Want To Write A Trailer
So You Want To Write A Turn-Based Strategy
So You Want To Write A Webtoon
So You Want To Write A Young Adult Novel
So You Want To Make YouTube Poop

Story Aspects, Scenes and Large Ideas:

So You Want To Bust Genres
So You Want To Create A Fantasy Counterpart Culture
So You Want To Get Crap Past The Radar
So You Want To Think Of Everything
So You Want To Write A Bestseller
So You Want To Write A Clip Show
So You Want To Write A Death
So You Want To Write A Deconstruction
So You Want To Write A Dream Sequence
So You Want To Write A Final Battle
So You Want To Write Something Lighter and Softer
So You Want To Write A Long Runner
So You Want To Write A Pilot Episode
So You Want To Write A Reconstruction
So You Want To Write A Satire
So You Want To Write A Short Story
So You Want To Write A Spiritual Sequel
So You Want To Write A Teen-Appropriate Series
So You Want To Write A Wedding
So You Want To Write A Winter Holiday Special
So You Want To Write A Xanatos Gambit

Groundbreaking Works:

So You Want To Write The Next Avatar: The Last Airbender
So You Want To Write The Next Bleach
So You Want To Write The Next Calvin and Hobbes
So You Want To Write The Next Death Note
So You Want To Write The Next Fallout Equestria
So You Want To Write The Next Final Fantasy
So You Want To Write The Next Fullmetal Alchemist
So You Want To Write The Next Homestar Runner
So You Want To Write The Next Looney Tunes
So You Want To Write The Next Neon Genesis Evangelion
So You Want To Write The Next Puella Magi Madoka Magica
So You Want To Write The Next Scooby Doo
So You Want To Write The Next Silent Hill
So You Want To Write The Next SpongeBob SquarePants
So You Want To Write The Next Super Sentai or Power Rangers
So You Want To Write The Next Tales Of series
So You Want To Write The Next Simpsons
So You Want To Write The Next Watchmen

Major Authors:

So You Want To Be The Next George Lucas
So You Want To Be The Next Hayao Miyazaki
So You Want To Be The Next Hideo Kojima
So You Want To Be The Next Jim Henson
So You Want To Be The Next Joss Whedon
So You Want To Be The Next Pixar
So You Want To Be The Next Shigeru Miyamoto
So You Want To Be The Next Sierra/LucasArts
So You Want To Be The Next Studio Ghibli
So You Want To Be The Next Terry Pratchett
So You Want To Be The Next Beatles
So You Want To Be The Next Walt Disney
So You Want To Be The Next Yoshiyuki Tomino

Individual Characters:

So You Want To Write A Chessmaster
So You Want To Write a Complete Monster
So You Want To Write a Five-Man Band
So You Want To Write a good Plucky Comic Relief
So You Want To Write A Guile Hero
So You Want To Write A Hero
So You Want To Write a Love Interest
So You Want To Write a Manic Pixie Dream Girl
So You Want To Write A Messianic Archetype
So You Want To Write A Phantom Thief
So You Want To Write A Tsundere
So You Want To Write A Villain
So You Want To Write a Yandere
So You Want To Write Dialogue

Creator Jobs:

So You Want To Be An Animator
So You Want To Be A Caustic Critic
So You Want To Cast A Hollywood Blockbuster
So You Want To Pick A Filming Location

Troublesome Tropes:

So You Want To Avoid Author Tract
So You Want To Avoid Being Anvilicious
So You Want To Avoid Breaking Your Aesops
So You Want To Avoid Flanderization
So You Want To Avoid Glurge
So You Want To Avoid Homophobia
So You Want To Avoid Padding
So You Want To Avoid Plagiarism
So You Want To Avoid Poe's Law
So You Want To Avoid Racism
So You Want To Avoid Sexism
So You Want To Avoid Transphobia
So You Want To Avoid Wangst
So You Want To Avoid Writing A Designated Hero Or Villain

Meta:

So You Want To Avoid Writer's Block

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