Writing tip #26
Write a book that you, pe rsonally, would like to read. If romances aren’t really your cup of tea, but you’d like to include love interests in your book, immerse it in the genre that you most enjoy. How can you write something that other people will like if you’re not really that into it yourself?
Writing tip #25
Don’t give up. For christs sake, do not give up. Once you’ve completely slipped out of the habit of writing, getting back in will be so much harder than the mental block you originally needed to overcome. Write something irrelevant or meaningless if you’re completely stuck for ideas, you can go back and edit/cut some of it later, once you’ve revived your writing zing.
Writing tip #24
Don’t go overboard with your descriptions, and try leak them into the story piece by piece. If there are paragraphs and paragraphs of description, a reader will probably skip right over it to find the plot again and could end up missing important details.
Writing tip #23
Make sure you give your characters reasonable flaws in order to make them most relatable. Here you should note that giving your character a pseudo-fault, such as clumsiness, a lisp, a large mouth etc, anything which could be brushed off as sweet or endearing, does not count as a flaw. Make them jealous, make them irritable, make them really real.
Writing tip #22
Love your writing! Don’t get too stressed out when running low on ideas or motivation, don’t see what you’re doing as a chore. If you force yourself to write, it simply won’t work. Have a coffee, have a breather and remind yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing.
Writing tip #21
It might sound lame, or cliche, but our subconscious often whips up ideas that we wouldn’t have in our most outlandish of moments, so keep a small notepad next to your bed and upon waking up, jot down any snippets of dreams you can remember, and don’t be afraid to incorporate them into your writing.
Writing tip #19
When including humour in your writing, remember that each of your readers will have a diverse sense of humour and it will be difficult to have jokes which appeal to everyone.
If you use irony or sarcasm, ensure you make it as clear as possible you are doing so or it will fall flat.
Writing tip #18
Without invoking emotion, stories would be extraordinarily dull, and there is no greater way of communicating feelings from your characters to your readers and adding verve your sentences than through the power of their five senses.
Smell is commonly known to be the most potent inducer of memory, so try to detail scents or tastes where possible.
Just little things such as referring to a tree as either a pine, or an oak, will increase the atmosphere a tenfold and really give the reader a taste of what your characters are experiencing.
Writing tip #17
Be wary of words ending in -ly.
They’re fine sparingly, of course they are, but, as with anything, they will become tedious to read if not in moderation.
Did the boy run quickly to the store or did the boy race to the store?
Did the man look angrily towards him or did the man glare at him?
Each latter will definitely wake your reader up and will read much smoother than the formers.
Writing tip #16
Really throw yourself into the era or setting of your writing. If your story is set in Victorian Britain, how about some classical music, if it’s an action scene, listen to the soundtrack of your favourite action movie, a sad moment, create some pathetic fallacy for yourself and just really imagine that you’re there with your characters.
Writing tip #15
Instead of tagging each line of dialogue with ‘said’ or similar, identify the speaker by describing them in related action.
Writing tip #14
A nice trick that I got taught in high school is to switch off, or cover up, your monitor while typing, especially when in the middle of a creative flow. That way you can’t get sidetracked with spelling, grammar, flashing email notifications…
When you mistype a word, backspacing and rewriting will deter you from your mindset, but if you can’t see then you can’t edit and it will just be you and your brain.
Obviously go back through and edit afterwards, haha, I don’t think any editor would be best pleased if you submitted a portfolio of blind work.
