10. Be the first to admit that you don’t know.
As a writer, you will be only truly be able to write about what you know. If you want to write well. I have been trying to write a detective novel for years, but I am no professional detective. How could I possibly understand such a subject right when I have not done so. Now I would also argue that you don’t have to do something to write about it. I don’t have to be a villian, in order to write about one. What most people do not realize is that as a writer you have to be in the head of every character you ever create. You have to be every hero, virtuous and true; all the way down to every psychopath bad guy.
9. Edit, edit, edit...and when you think it’s perfect...Edit again.
When I started writing I believed that everything I wrote was perfect and never needed to have to edit. That’s an ego thing that I know I had to begin with for sure, but many writers find that at least in the beginning and even worse years after getting started that ideal could get stuck in a writer’s head. I have been writing for over ten years, believe me you will always still have to edit your work, or get it edited. Forever. But my advice towards editing is not to edit as you go. Do Not Edit As You Go...It will bog you down and drag the writing process to a crawl to the point that you will forget whatever you were trying to write while you were editing. Just write and edit later.
8. Keep writing.
It doesn’t what you write, but you must keep writing. This is a skill like any other and you have to practice. When I get stuck on my fiction writings I write articles like this, or work on other stories that I am working on. But I would say the most for me that I can go before my writing skill starts to lapse is about a week. Any more than that and my skills start to fall out of my head and it takes a lot of work to get it back. I have done this several times...Take too long of a break and have to relearn how to write again it seems. So just bare that in mind when you think about taking a break or realize you haven’t wrote in a while.
7. Remember it’s a first draft…
If you have a chapter that doesn’t look right. Keep it. Don’t just wad it up and toss it across the room. You can always come back to it and edit it, or even rewrite it. I have had many stories that I have started that never went anywhere but I went back to them and reused scenes or ideas out of them. It’s like the writer’s clip art bank that you can go grab from at anytime. If you write them down, label the notebook and put it away. If you type, put it in a different archive folder.
6. Give your characters flaws.
No reader will be able to imagine themselves as a flawless character. And some people would argue that Superman is perfect for an example of how I am wrong, but even he gets his butt kicked in some way or another every episode and comic. Yes there is a main story conflict but there needs to be a side conflict of the characters growing, and overcoming some kind of flaw is a great way to add a growth and conflict within them. As a human being we are grossly flawed, and we will relate to characters far better if they are as screwed up as we are.
5. Don’t settle for what will sell.
Each writer has a story...if not many. But they are your stories and yours alone. These stories are your babies, your creations. Treat them as such. Be very careful if you want your story to be published. A good majority of these publishing companies might ask you to change half your story because as much as they might not know about what good writing is, but they do know what will sell. And they might tell you to change your entire book just because they want to have something that will sell regardless of the insult to change everything. The one time I got close to publishing this agent asked me to change my entire plot and change the name of my main character. My main protagonist is named after an item that came from a place of eternal fire and burning. And if I consented to change the name of my character it change his whole identity. You may not to be able to keep all of the things about your story when it comes to publishing but have an idea what you are willing to change and what you are going to hang onto forever. But I would also suggest to not even think about publishing until you have a manuscript in your hot little paws.
4. Talk
Talk to as many people from as many different life styles as you possible can. From plumbers to the pope, if you could get the chance. The more people that you can get a grasp of how they work and personalities that you can absorb the more you can throw at characters that you create. That way later down the road, if you need a plumber, or a doctor, or even simply just a random person walking down the street, you will have a backlog of personalities and mannerisms that you can draw upon to use.
3. Watch
I know it sounds a little weird but writers are the domestic profilers. This along with talking to people and the next tip is how as a writer you get the characters that will be in your stories. You will get resources as if you were a photographer gathering clips of backgrounds and characteristics that you can use. Look how restaurants are set up. How buildings are gathered. Watch and gather hair, faces, and bodies that you can use later. I know that as a writer you look slightly as a criminal casing the joint, but this information will be priceless down the road. Take notes, mental or physical about the world around you.
2. Listen
Listen to people, to animals, to the world, and more importantly to yourself. Not only is it important to learn different speech patterns for your characters and what not, but listen to yourself. Not what you think will sell, and definitely not what others tell you to write. Write what you want to write. Listen to the critiques and the advice, but remember that it is just advice, that should be taken with a grain of salt. I have had several reviews that were fantastic and others that were horrible. But listen to your soul, your mind, and your heart, and don’t be afraid to write what strikes you.
1. You have to be insane, to stay sane.
Go a little crazy. Think outside the pages and don’t be afraid to do what everyone else won’t touch with a thirty foot pole. There are so many stories that won’t be told because they come from left field, but even I’m not in left field...I am in the parking lot wishing I could be in left field. So let the crazy ideas flow and run all over this planet until the crazy is proven to be the truth. There will be agents and publishers that will laugh at some of the sideways stories, but remember that J.K. Rowling was rejected several times before someone decided to finally publish her now very famous books.
