How do you make your writing stand out?

Personally, I like to keep things interesting by focusing a lot on characters. Even if you know the general direction a plot is going to go in, having compelling characters can make the story still really enjoyable. It's kinda like How To Train Your Dragon or Big Hero 6; most people knew how the plot was gonna turn out, but they're still amazing movies because they immersed the viewer in the characters.

Writing compelling characters is the tricky part then. I attempt this by watching a lot of what people do in public or just reflecting on traits that I or my family and friends have. Integrating these traits into balanced and realistic characters is pretty hard, but it also lets you take a ton of inspiration from everyday life.

 

Building an interesting world filled with lore and secrets goes hand in hand with memorable characters. Even if you're just writing a slice of life story in the present, making the world feel alive will also help you to care about the characters that live in it.

Lord of the Rings and Star Wars are the two best examples of great worldbuilding to start with

 

I've noticed I tend to put a lot of emphasis on people's subtle reactions, be it changes in facial expression, posture, or even speech hesitation. My goal is that with that I can knock out two birds with one stone: I can depict a more visual description of what's going on and I can describe emotion without just coming out and saying "he was nervous".

I do this by reading aloud and sometimes even standing up and stage-acting my characters' lines and making note of my own facial expression changes as I do that. I want to make sure every averted gaze, bitten lower-lip, and clenched fist all seem natural in a theatric and emotion-conveying sense. Nobody has ever told me that it doesn't work from me, so I'm hoping it's just working in an effective and subtle way such that the reader doesn't actively notice, but still gets the image anyhow.

 

Well, with me it's a mix between compelling characters, an interesting plot and characters interactions. One thing I usually do is either show different manners of speech or dialogue choices.

 

I don't write too much but I've tried really hard to make some neat perspectives with my current story, Up On High. Writing from the perspective of the main character has been really fun.

 

A dry sense of humour and journeys not taken often by people.
And a lot to do with my heritage and also, headspace.
Gets people interested I feel.

Since you are playing characters when you write or acting.