-Do not censor yourself. Go overboard with your characters to bring them to life.
-Stay true to writing what you love.
-Read widely, both within your genre and outside it. You'll pick up keen insights from other writers.
-Writing is art, publishing is business. You need to learn both.
-There is no substitute for disciplining yourself to write daily.
1) Write what you love. Worry about finding a genre later.
2) The housework can wait, delegate if necessary. Be sure to walk the dog, though.
3) Do your research and build your characters so they're believable.
4) Don't be afraid to sound ideas off people you know will tell you they like or don't like something. Take criticisms constructively.
5) Don't read your reviews. Even if they're good, don't read them.
1. Have a writing place, go there at....
2. The writing time and write. Thank the inner 'judge' and tell them you will seek their counsel some other time. Review what you wrote the next writing time.
3. Get a writing buddy, if you can, to connect with once a week to share progress and comment.
4. Identify your own style and process, winging it or all planned out or somewhere in between, and just trust what works for you.
5. Revise, revise, revise, and delete those words like 'actually' and any verb ending in 'ing'
1. If you're writing in your manuscript and something isn't working right, but you are not able to put a finger on what the problem is, don't be afraid to put it away for a few days. It could be you have information that is out of place and belongs in a place later (or earlier) in the story, or the problem could be having something to do with your main character's character arc. It could be something else, too. Walking away from it temporarily will allow your brain to relax and regroup. The answer will come to you.
2. Don't write like someone else. Write how you write. Your process is yours. Doing what works for you will make the road less bumpy and more fun.
3. Writing, whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction, is more than the act of writing itself. It is a process and it all takes time. Rushing through from the beginning to the end will only get you no where fast. Take your time and have fun with it.
4. After you write your first chapter, move on to the second and third and so on. Don't try to make everything perfect straight out of the gate, or you will be there forever at the beginning and never finish.
5. Talk to other people. Preferably, choose one or two people you can trust to talk to when you have an idea or hit a snag and don't quite know how to proceed. For me it's my son and daughter who I talk to. Sometimes verbalizing the issue(s) can clear the problem up.
1. Trust your own process. There are loads of writing how-to books out there with conflicting information. Read some of them. You will find that many have the same advice but worded just differently enough to allow them to label the advice as "their method." None of them are the be-all, tell-all, how-to bible. But they all have useful suggestions to help you hone your craft and help you define the method that works for you.
2. Commit to the writing. Whether your goal is an hour of writing a day, or a page count or a dedicated day on the weekend, strive to reach that goal.
3. That having been said, don't be afraid of failing. If you can't make a goal for whatever reason, don't beat yourself up over it. Taking wellness breaks is okay and encouraged.
4. Find people to read -- and to criticize your working drafts. Friends, family, professionals. Criticism before publishing is necessary. Your beta readers might just find a plot hole or two that really needs to be addressed. They might also disagree with each other regarding what they like and what they don't like. That's okay! And it's also okay to take their criticism with a grain of salt. You don't have to change anything based on beta reader criticism, but keep an open mind and always thank them for their input.
5. One "rule" about writing and success that I will always agree with, as told by screenwriter William Goldman (The Princess Bride, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, among others...)--Nobody knows anything! The best you can hope for is an educated guess.
1.Read widely in your genre and make notes about the style of conversation.
2.Study books in your genre to see how scenes are constructed.
3.Begin writing after you have picked out your main characters and know something about where the plot is going.
4. Read your book aloud. This helps you catch awkward phrasing and grammar mistakes.
5. Have someone else (professional editor) read your book before you publish.
1. When you first start writing your story, just write it and get it down, worry about editing later, and don't get bogged down in the details of grammar or word choice.
2. That being said, edit, rewrite, and edit for flow, inconsistencies, and style.
3. When you feel you are finished and ready to publish, get a professional editor, not your sister who is an English teacher or next-door neighbor who is a prolific writer but a professional, they are worth every penny.
4. Find an editor that enjoys your genre and ask questions about their editing, what you expect and what they do may not be the same. Some do line editing, copy editing, developmental editing, etc. Make sure you ask for what you want and match with the right editor.
5. If you are a first-time writer with no writing experience, you can send query letters and see if anyone bites but it's very hard to find an agent. Don't be disappointed or give up. You had a story that you wanted to tell and if you can't get an agent, it's not the end of the road. Self-publishing is a respectable way to get your book into the reader's hands.
1) Random Notes: Document your thoughts and ideas, quickly. Have something to hand you can capture them all. I use notes on my phone after dreams. And while I'm bored and daydreaming like on planes.
2) Turn Notes into Topics or Subjects: Focus on topics or subjects that you want to talk about and start making lists from your notes. These lists can help guide the next part of the process.
3) Themes: Make more lists, don't just rush to get the story moving. Focus on where the actions will happen, and what some of the actions or themes will be. I listed some locations I wanted to feature in my story based on places I know.
4) Characters: Focus on the DETAILS of your characters. What they look like, where they come from, what drives them. List it all out. Don't jump into writing yet.
5) Storyboard: Spend time listing your chapters, with a rough outline of what happens. Only when you are happy with this, can you start writing.
All of these 5 things are completed BEFORE i start to write a single sentence.
I have more tips on my blog including for editing (ugh!).
Thanks for reading,
Much love,
Will Gibson (I'm new here!)
https://www.theunravelling.online/post/let-s-talk-about-the-writing-process-5-top-tips-for-new-authors
#1 is Jim Valvano's iconic quote - re: the famous NC State basketball coach's battle with cancer. "Don't give up. Don't ever give up." If it's your passion, it's your life, Keep writing.
# 2 -That said, realize that "Blank paper (or these days, a blank screen) is God's way of telling you it's not so easy to be God." (various quotes). It's hard freak'n work.
#3 - Read a lot in your book genre and others and take notes. Trust me, the good stuff will rub off. Also take some time each day to read a few pages of one of your books -- and enjoy what you've accomplished - you'll surprised how well your book compares,
#4 Once your story is far enough along, get some input from a person or two you trust, but don't let them write your story. A corollary: with very few exceptions, ignore any feedback that any family member ever tries to foist on you.
#5 Find a good time and place where your mind is alert and still - to do nothing but write -- maybe for a half hour or maybe a couple hours or more.
Write as two selves—your writer self and your reader self. Write what you would like to see written and trust your readers will follow. Come at the page with truth (or your characters' truths) and conviction. Write rich characters. Spend time considering the backstory that never makes it to the page. When they become live and in the 3D for you, they will become real for your readers. What I thought was my worst screenplay made it to fifth place in film competition out of five thousand entries. I can only attribute it to my 100% conviction to the characters in that story. Also, be your own editor. Put the work away and pull it out again and cut extraneous fluff and plot points that aren't quite working. Just doing these few things will create a world that readers can immerse themselves in.
Got writer's block? If you're in the middle of a project, sit quietly and consider your characters as if they were real people. Consider what's happening in their lives, what their surroundings are, their hopes and dreams and how what's happening will affect them. How they are feeling?
Now, sit down, put up a new document, and just start writing anything. It doesn't have to be brilliant, you can edit it later.
Carry around a notebook or laptop etc for when you have your next great idea.
Write each day if you can.
Make a plan before you start typing... in my experience this helps me get started.
Add new ideas is as you go - always happens to me after a while of writing the 1st draft.
Start writing your novel from any point, the middle, a random chapter or the end part even!
Never try to write the finished product the first time. I edited the 'Tales of the Magic Piano' no less than twenty times. Write down your ideas initially. Try not to repeat verbs in consecutive sentences. Follow a story board. Be careful as you can with your grammar. Be as artistic as you like. Don't let the rules of grammar prohibit the free flow of artistic expression.
When your done writing your first book. Set it aside then write another one. Then when your done with that one then you can go back and start editing one of them. Then when your done editing that one, start writing something new. Then edit your last book you've written. This way you will always have something to "work on" Do this and you will never run out of "Work"