Tag: writing tips

34 Writing Tips (In no Particular order)

  1. Writing never has to be perfect.
  2. It does have to be understandable.
  3. A writing session can be anything from 1 word and beyond.
  4. If you wrote on your phone, you’re still a writer.
  5. Reading is inhaling, writing is exhaling.
  6. Not all days have to be writing days. Some days you can just live.
  7. Art inspires art.
  8. Pain inspires art.
  9. Too much pain and grief does not feed art.
  10. Music holds a lot of secrets.
  11. The best ideas come amen you can’t write them down (the shower, driving, a staff meeting).
  12. Anyone who uses that tone when taking about your writing doesn’t deserve to hear about it.
  13. First drafts should always be fast.
  14. If an idea is not cooperating and let it sit for a while
  15. Sometimes characters need weird names. Other times characters with normal names will do.
  16. No words are ever wasted.
  17. Fertilizer (AKA shit) makes the best foundation for a great work.
  18. Play around with what works. Favorite novel? Examine why.
  19. Try something new whenever you can. New genre, new technique? Try it at least once.
  20. Finish something. Whether it’s long or short.
  21. Write something as often as you can.
  22. Play
  23. Experiment
  24. Sometimes drafts take a long time.
  25. Sometimes you stop and you start over and over again.
  26. Sometimes a draft is a draft after draft after draft.
  27. Rewrites are writing.
  28. Editing is writing.
  29. Thinking about your works is writing.
  30. Staring at the wall is writing too.
  31. Outlining is writing.
  32. Sometimes, ideas don’t play nice.
  33. Sometimes, they’re too kind and keep coming faster than you can write them down.
  34. No matter what you do, never stop creating.

 

Top Three Writing Tips

I can’t believe we’re in April. April, despite being the start of Spring and warmer weather, is always a horrible month for me. Not only do I have two birthdays followed by death days (yeah, those suck hardcore!), but there are several anniversaries of deaths over the last few years, birthdays of those who have passed on. April is just an awful month.

But! I am still here posting and doing what I can to make it better.

Today, it’s my top three writing tips.

1. Write “This is the shitty draft” or something similar on a blank page to get started.

A blank page is terrifying, especially compared to the perfectly curated image in your head. I used to panic and freeze and not be able to write because “it would never be as good as in my head.” Hence, this tip. It turns off the expectation for the work to be “the best ever” and lets it just be what it is: a first draft.

2. Let the first draft be as bad as it needs to be.

Similar to the tip above, let the first draft be bad. My first drafts are full of notes that make me laugh, notes that make me cringe, way too many parentheses with stupid remarks like this:

Not only does it keep the writing from being too serious, but it makes me laugh when I read it back later and helps me remember how much fun I had writing in the first place.

  1. Have fun with it and play!
    This tip is a little difficult if you’re hard on yourself like me. I’ve always been an anxious kid, and an even more anxious adult so play has never been easy. Writing was where I could feel free and play. I could ask the “What if?” questions and really find the fun in the story.

Overall, there are so many writing tips that might or might not work for you. Do what works and discard the rest. We’re all ultimately on our own writing journeys.

I’m sharing what works best for me. But I hope everyone finds what works for them.

What’s your favorite writing tip?

 

Writer Life Lesson #21: Set a Timer and Write Like Mad

Writing is a difficult task, and yet the easiest task in the world. All you have to do is put words on paper, any words at all. That, unfortunately can become pretty complicated when you add in work, school, family time, shopping, etc etc etc. When you add in all the other aspects of life, writing can seem to become not as important as everything else. 

This week’s lesson: Set a Timer and Write Like Mad!

It sounds easy enough, right? Set a timer and just write. It doesn’t matter what, or where, or even how. As long as words are going down on the page, whatever the medium, you are making progress. 

I usually set a timer for 10 or 15 minutes to start with, since starting with a full hour or even 45 minutes can be very intimidating. This can change depending on your desire to write too, or how much time you actually have. Some days, all you’re going to get is five minutes, as unfortunate as that may be. 

This method works so well because it gets past that feeling of unworthiness and the fear of messing up and helps to break through to that sweet spot of writing where everything just falls into place. It will get you into the writing mood. 

I am off to do 10 minutes, anyone want to join?