What are Your 3 Best Writing Tips?
By Mary Jaksch
Every writer is an expert on writing, write? I mean, right?
You don’t feel like an expert? Join the club! Neither do I. But imagine this scenario:
You’re at home. It’s a rainy Sunday afternoon and you’re sitting at your computer.
The phone rings.
“Hi,” the caller says. “My name is Jordana and I hear that you write.”
“I do, but…”
“Well, I want to become a writer. Could I please ask you something?”
“I don’t know whether I…”
“Look, just let me know your three most important tips for a new writer. What are they?”
What would you say to Jordana?
Please share your response in the comments! (You can find my three little secret tips there too)
Mary Jaksch is Chief Editor of Write to Done. You can read more articles on her blog Goodlife ZEN Grab her free Ebook “Overcome Anything” here or join her next Virtual Zen Retreat.
Photo by ninjaneil902
84 Responses to “What are Your 3 Best Writing Tips?”
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1 – Be present, feel deeply with all of your senses and LIVE! How else will you have anything to write about.
2 – Write for yourself but explore what ‘connection’ means to you.
3 – Read and write like your life depended on it. It’s like drinking water; it’s vital, but the occasional glass doesn’t do the trick.
Great post, Mary – good way to collate and distil some marvellous ideas!
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1. write for yourself first to learn and feel comfortable and confidence with your unique voice.
2. write with an eye to adventure but never lose your passion for certain topics.
3. write without fear of what others (family, friends, etc.) might say.
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Great question Mary. Here are my 3 best tips:
1. Don’t write if you don’t know your topic well and haven’t done your research.
2. Write in simple, everyday language. Don’t send your readers to the dictionary unnecessarily.
3. Follow Sol Stein’s advice – “show, don’t tell”. Exploit the engaging power of imagery.
A bonus tip – don’t just sit and write, read more, take a walk, take time out and meet people, look around and feed your muse.
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1. Take a writing course. Put your feet to the fire and see if you’ve got what it takes.
2. If you have what it takes, write, write, write and don’t look back.
3. If you don’t have what it takes, walk away. Save yourself from the agony of an unfulfilled life.
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For those that reference writing courses/meetings/conferences, what are your favorites?
Fiction, Non-fiction, whatever.
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1. Think about what you want to say before you start writing.
2. Write like you talk–only better.
3. Good writing is rewriting.
Works for me.
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My favorite observation on writing: “Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” ~Gene Fowler
On the way to looking that up, I stumbled across some great advice on grammar and mechanics:
“Do not put statements in the negative form.
And don’t start sentences with a conjunction.
If you reread your work, you will find on rereading that a
great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.
Unqualified superlatives are the worst of all.
De-accession euphemisms.
If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.”
~William Safire, “Great Rules of Writing”
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The best and least expensive writing courses I know of are given by your local colleges and universities. They’re 10-14 weeks long which gives you a lot of time to study writing and write. The teachers have been vetted, as well.
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1. Read your work out loud to yourself/wife/cat.
2. Writing is a habit, it must be formed and nurtured to become natural activity.
3. Critics wish they were writing novels. Don’t just critic things, write new material.
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Thank you for this thread and thanks for all the advice! I am a bit sceptical, though, about the advice that just state: “Write!” It sounds snappy and to the point, but it is a bit like if someone asked you for advice on how to lose weight, you would say: “Lose weight!”
Here’s my go on the subject:
1) Keep thinking about your goals and keep revising them: Why do you want to write? What do you want to write? How could you arrange your everyday life so that you could write more? As Steve Chandler puts it: “Discipline is merely remembering what you want.”
2) Do your best to avoid distractions, from the outside and from within. I have promised myself not to get on the Internet or check my e-mail before lunch on the days I am writing. I also tend to write in cafes where it is difficult to run away from a writing job and where you get at least an illusion of being social.
3) Ask for help. Interact with other people and ask for advice, feedback and encouragement.
I hope someone finds this useful!
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Actually, I once emailed Terry Pratchett (back when I wa, in Uni and he had a public email address – web 0.5 days), and he said, “You have a pencil? Paper? Then write!”
Glib, but then he is correct.
The best advice, not withstanding what I said above, came from Saul Stein when he said (paraphrased), “Writing is the putting on paper of what is not visible (or unsaid)”
I try every day to follow that advice.
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1. ***Care***.
Find the things that fill you with intellectual lust and endow you with a world-conquering glow of self-satisfaction afterwards. Things you fall in love with. Write *them*, When you’re writing straight out of your soul, your writing glows and sparkles like Tinkerbell, and your readers get the very best that you’re capable of. OK, as a freelancer it’s not always possible to write the things you love, but work towards that goal, all the time. Anything else is just a job.
2. Push everything you write in every direction (in a non-spammy way, without being obnoxious) – because you’re not a good judge of your own writing. You’ll always be able to find fault, and you’ll always see it as unfinished. So push it out there. Get feedback. Get rejected. Every single successful writer sits on a pedestal made of mistakes and rejected manuscripts. All of them. See if you can get as high as them, so you can shout howdy.
3. You’re not *becoming* a writer. You *are* a writer. It’s something that you are, not something you might be one day. If you’ve written something, you’re a writer. The end. So use that kind of language when people ask you what you do. Believe it and revel in it (without pretention or pomposity). And measure up to it, too – which means writing lots and lots, even if it’s just for the hell of it.
…..
There’s a lot of really good suggestions in this comment thread. I like. :)
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Follow the advice of Elmore Leonard and “leave out the parts people skip.”
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1. Write what you know. Even if it’s a subject matter you know nothing about initially, try to understand it as best you can. And then once you’ve internalized it and figured out what makes it of interest to YOU, it’ll be easier to communicate “what you know” to your readers.
2. Write tight. If you can’t be your own editor and ruthlessly slice and dice copy, then you aren’t going to get any better. Don’t be married to your words. Sometimes you have to lose a few layers of paragraphs to get to the good stuff.
3. Write every day. How else can a muscle get any stronger? You have to use it! Start a blog. Begin a short story. Do whatever it takes to get your thoughts written down each and every day.
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Don’t take advice, which means you should ignore what I have to say. And another tip – Don’t waste your money buying costly binoculars. Just stand closer to the object you want to see.
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1. Don’t edit anything you write until you’ve written all you can, at least for that time session/chapter/word count. Let it flow, get it out, revise later.
2. I found my best writing friends and thus invaluable help and advice by searching for writing groups online and joining the local writers guild. Don’t underestimate the value of networking, critique groups, and moral support.
3. If you’re meant to be a writer, NOTHING, be it rejection, discouragement, periods of staleness, what have you, will ever stop you. PERSIST.
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1.Shut up.
2.Be quiet (and)
3. Just transcribe what you hear coming from your head after 10 minutes of applying 1 an 2 above.
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1.Shut up
2.Be quiet, close your eyes(and)
3 Open your eyes and just transcribe what you hear coming from your head after 10 minutes of applying 1 an 2 above.
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1. Be very sincere.
2. Avoid vagueness. Instead refer to people, actions, stories.
3. Deliberately imitate the best writing you find.
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1. Be natural. You don’t want to come across as “trying too hard” in your prose. And unnatural dialogue is the kiss of death for a reader.
2. Give your characters flaws. Nobody can relate to perfection.
3. Do your research, but don’t let that stop you from actually writing. If you need to go back to research something later, just make a note in your manuscript. Don’t get bogged down with the process.
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1-Write
2-Read
3-Observe
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1. Keep it short*
2. Keep it interesting
3. Don’t leave the reader hanging
*Just enough is more.
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1. Each day: Get in front of the computer and write
2. Each day: Get in front of the computer and write
3. Each day: Get in front of the computer and write
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1. The more you read the more you will succeed.
2. Believe in yourself, then others will as well.
3. Always write from the heart.
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Most of the ground has already been covered. I am a character writer and one of the most magical feelings in the world is having your characters come to life and head off in directions you hadn’t anticipated. There is no sure fire way to accomplish this, but something that often works for me is vague plotting. When your plot is too defined, you tend to shoehorn your characters into it. This is restrictive and suppresses your subconscious (where the good stuff lives).
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My three favorite tips:
1. Every scene should have a succint mission to accomplish. And it should get to it quickly, with pace and efficiency and the colorful extension of characterization.
2. Character isn’t just quirks and personality. It is decision and action, juxtaposed against pressures, conflicts, temptation, backstory, inner demons and desires. It it integrity, courage, generousity, lovingness, truthfullness… or not.
3. Enjoy the writing journey. Don’t copy the bestsellers because that word means nothing to you and is out of your control. In fact, the only thing you have control over is your work, from there it’s almost completey out of your hands. If you do this for some future return, you’ll be frustrated. If you do it for the love of putting it on paper, then you’re a happy writer.
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Thanks for the article. Very helpful. I’m a publisher myself and I always like to read articles like yours.
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1. Read a lot.
2. Write daily – even junk. Write from your heart; later from your head.
3. Be good to your body; exercise – get out of the house. Your brain will thank you.
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Great houses are expensive, but if you want a house that is really fancy then you may contact some private individuals who have the ability to build you a stunning house.
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Aaron — would love to hear you elaborate a bit on your post. I use house analogy a lot myself… not sure where you’re taking it here. Thanks.
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1. WRITE
2. READ
3. Read pages like this so you can get more tips than I just gave you :)
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While I am a complete amateur, I do have a few things that I find helpful writing pretty much only for my own pleasure. Plus I am actually way too young to write tips. So I don’t know if these will technically improve or worsen your writing, but at least this helps me to get started.
1. Write what comes, and let your style flow naturally. Don’t think “I want to sound like this and that”, but just write for now. Write. As much as possible.
2. Don’t worry about anything when you are writing the first version. You come back later and edit it, so no need to overthink stuff when you are just trying to get everything down in a logical order – or not even that.
3. Read, listen to music, watch movies, look, see, listen, catch inspiration on the way. Sit down. Let pictures fill your head, and think why, where, when. Enjoy for example long busrides watching your very own movies, and write them down if not at the spot, then as soon as possible. Keep thinking of your ideas until you get them down. Talk to your ideas and characters, make little behind the scenes -shots with them, to open up their personality. It doesn’t just help, it’s great fun!
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