Many of us have creative talents and ideas, some of those being painting for the ones good with a paintbrush and palette, sketching and designing for those good with a pencil, but for those with a decent level of experience with writing can do all of these things at once.

Every story has a beginning, middle and end. Each painting has an idea, theme and setting, much like drawing. With words, the crafting can be purely limitless. When you have an idea for something you are fond of or have a deep, passionate interest for, you are, at some point, going to want to do something with it.

Personally, I think that when these thoughts happen, they are inescapable one they come to mind and they nag relentlessly until you do something about it. There are many ways in which these can be expressed, as mentioned above. For us, ''us'' being ''everyone on this site who create stories'', we express them through our words, conjuring up our own, personal picture to share with the world.

Words can move a person to cry, smile, laugh or even make them feel angry. That's what makes writing a passionate subject and hobby for me. Being able to slip in some emotive language and mix it in with the atmosphere of a story to create a specific mood and feeling for the reader to experience is simply empowering. I'd be lying if I said I've never felt any of those ways before, and so would most of you, for that matter.

If you like a specific genre, let's say such as 'Drama' or 'Dark', you may want to combine the two, make a more intriguing story and hook in the reader with little to no effort. When you think about writing a story pinned with the 'Dark' tag, the thing that instantly comes to mind is blood, gore and an endless stream of blackness swimming with horror and thrills. When you think the same thing with 'Drama', you think about conflict, strong emotive language and perhaps a twist of mystery to get the reader thinking.

Personally, I use the above tags in my own stories as a way of channeling my own thoughts and ideas through my characters so that they have a unique voice for the reader to hear. To me, they are unlimited in the way they can make you feel and that's what I love about them the most. I used a particular twist on these tags in ''You Aren't Alone'' to make it more effective in the ways of emotive language and generating an unforgettable feeling for the reader to remember.

When you have an idea and want to make it work so that your work doesn't go to waste, a hook is what you need to have to 'fire things up' and catch the attention of your target audience. Remember - every story has one, and if it's going to be successful, you will need a hook.

For those of you who don't exactly know what is meant by the term ''hook'' in writing, it is basically the main thing in or about your story that catches the attention of the audience. For example, referring to my own work, the hook of ''Childhood Sweethearts'' is when the main protagonist, Cerulean Blaze, meets Cutie Mark Crusader, Scootaloo, and he ends up falling for her, as does she.

This is the main point in which the characters are having their own adventures of their love for each other and when the reader gets to this part, it makes them want to read on to find out what will happen to them later on in the story. It compels them to continue reading, to find out what happens, what will change or what's not or is meant to be.

Because I'm a fan of Fallout, I'm going to mention that the hook in Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons is when the main protagonist, Blackjack, finds out about a special program named EC-1101, designed to transfer the crucial systems of the country to another individual of high importance and she is led through an almost endless adventure of being torn apart, getting herself injured and almost dying in trying to find this out, for the greater good of the future of Equestria.

Getting back on track, when you have an idea in your mind that you want to make public and call it your own, the important thing is to stay motivated to make it a reality. Always, always, ALWAYS find ways to fuel your inspiration. It is crucial that inspiration keeps to a maximum, otherwise your motivation will simply fade and eventually drop.

If like me, you have TONES of ideas for a story (or for anything, for that matter), taking notes and writing your thoughts down in a book is what will allow you to scan over them and see what picture you can paint with it. At first, you may be thinking ''Oh, why did I start this, it's a load of crap, why did I even bother in the first place?''. Well, let me tell you - don't think that way, ever. Every writer starts off the same way (I know I did...) and that's why your motivation is what counts the most in writing a story.

Of course, it will be rough to you at first, looking like it won't work, your worst fears being that it'll turn out to be a flop, etc. That's the best part about taking notes - no matter how rough it may be at first, you will always have the chance to smooth it out and ''crank it to it's maximum'' by taking out the parts you hate or don't like and replacing it with another idea to make it more coherent and believable or even changing around bits and pieces in the plot to improve it to the best of your ability.

The path of a writer isn't an easy one, but it is a fun one. It only gets as fun as you make it out to be. Authors on this site, in my own opinion, are pretty awesome. When I first started out writing for FIMFiction, me and some other authors got involved with each other's work and helped each other out. We exchanged ideas and thoughts and even gave feedback on what we already had written down before placing them down for submissions to accept.

If you ask around, you will surely find an author or two to help you out if you're feeling unsure. If you'd like, you can PM and I'll be more than willing to give you my feedback and thoughts.

After all, we are all here because we love stories and enjoy writing them to express our ideas and thoughts. It's what makes each and every story we have unique and special. Words can make a person cry, laugh, smile, mad, happy and make them feel empathy or sympathy. It's a never ending crusade of emotions and feelings and it is truly special to us all.

Thanks for your time, and best of luck to you.
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-Ribe (Dan)

PS: As mentioned before, if you would like a proofreader or someone to give feedback on your story and give their thoughts on them, you are always free to PM me, or even if you would simply like to swap ideas.

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So true, Dan. So true: inspiration is key to good writing.

I see that you said you wouldn't mind giving feedback on some stories and, well, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind taking a look at my less-popular fic: When Darkness Breaks?

It's gotten a lot better over the past year, but something's still bugging me about it and I can't quite place it. Plus, it's only gotten 54 views while my shorter ones have gotten up to 300, and I was wondering what I could do to 'repair' it a little more.

If you do find the time to take a look at it, first off: thanks, and second: could you leave comments on the chapters as to what you think?