Tips and a new friend for Diddy

Just wrote these tips for writing Diary style writing to answer somebody's question over at the Writer's Group:

1. It always depends on the perspective your character is looking from-- and the age/personality you are writing from. For example in Diddy I'm writing from the perspective of a child so I can't use big words at first. Gradually as he gets older and encounters new situations I do start adding in more technical language. For the personality side Diddy is slightly naive and very into doing the right thing if it means having fun-- so I have to show this through the way he speaks (more colloquial in style for example). For your fic if you are looking at it from the stallion's view it will be more experienced in writing style and perhaps more brash than say a little colt would be.

2. You have to remember that in diaries there's no such thing as proper detail. In relation to psychology (boring to think about, I know) there is many research studies that shows we just can't pick up on every single piece of date going around us. In Diddy things are often hinted at but because Diddy doesn't have all of the information it is only briefly mentioned. Missing out key details is important because if you are describing things too much then it's not realistic to how a real Diary is written. In this case it is very much not too much quantity and not too much quality.

3. Always keep in mind that what many people put in Diaries is generally more muddled than most things. In people's minds there is a huge surge of important information over minor details. If you ask somebody, after witnessing a crime, what they can remember about the criminal it is always things such as a 'ski mask' or 'a sack' that are remembered (namely the 'schema' or 'stereotype' we have of certain things). Think about, in your zombie apocalypse story, what your character's expectations of this kind of event will already be-- what few bits will they pick up as the most important thing about the situation they are in. Is it their Father's tears that they'd never seen before? Is it the zombie's peeling the flesh of one of their close friends? Is it the fear in their wife and son's eyes?

4. Always plan what's going to happen in throuough detail before you write. When I started Diddy I genuinely only had a loose idea where I was going and because of this I went on a long time without writing a word. It is so easy to get writer's block when writing a Diary Entry that if you have a detailed plan it can help you get back into the flow much easier.

5. If you stop writing at any point re-read what you've already wrote before carrying on. This makes sure that you've fully grasped what your writing style was again so you can stay in character.

6. Hire a pre-reader. When in Diary mode you can forget about silly little things such as spelling and grammar (yes this happens in other styles as well). Genuinely though until you fully get to grips with the style it's best to have someone to edit/proof-read it for you to make sure it all makes sense (which it quite often doesn't because you're just shoving words down as fast as possible).

7. Finally the most important factor of all to me: DON'T just write your character, BE your character. If you don't feel what they feel, see what they see, hear what they hear then it may not be as easy for people to believe what is being written. If you actually live your character's life while writing it can help so much with the other steps I've already talked about. It may sound cheesy reading it right now but it's a story-saver when it's time to write the thing.

(Thus ends my long, ever-to-much-psychological evaluation of a Diary style).

DIDDY'S FRIEND:

I have now officially started work on another story to be posted towards the end of Diddy (I know, Diddy has to go at some point. So sad). But just to keep us all going, even though we will lose The Diary of Diddy Discord, we will perhaps gain The Diary of Silas Sombra.

So for a while now I've been trying to think of what villain I could do Diary entries for next-- and then it hit me-- instead of Chrysalis (who gets a major part in The Legend of Alicorn later) why not little Sombra. And the great news is that one of the other main characters in this shall be Diddy himself. This will make a lot more sense to you when it actually comes out, believe me.

Until then there's still a bit of a ride for Diddy to go on at the minute and I hope you all enjoy.