Writing has always been a passion of mine even when I was younger. Over the years my writing has significantly improved. I have come up with my own writing tips that have helped me become a stronger writer and that I believe will help other beginning writers.

Tip #1: Read Books

This particular tip is one that all beginning writers are probably tired of hearing, as it is common advice. This tip does have a lot of truth behind it. The more you read books, no matter the author or genre, the more you are exposed to numerous ways of writing. You are able to see how various authors introduce their characters, how they form plot lines, as well as their unique writing style. Reading books can give you ideas for your own writing too.

Tip #2: The Female and Male Perspective

As a writer it is fun to experiment with writing from a female perspective, as well as a male perspective. However, it is important to keep in mind that writing in a female perspective is not the same as writing in the male perspective. In reality, females and males communicate, think, and act differently and therefore must be portrayed as such. Females tend to be more aware of details, whether that be about their surroundings or the way their peers are acting. While some males may recognize similar things, they tend to only acknowledge the general idea, rather than all of those small details. When it comes to dialogue, females tend to speak more than males. When you are writing dialogue being spoken by a male, you should try to keep their sentences short and lines to a minimum unless something extreme occurs where the character has kept something inside of them for too long.

Tip #3: Be Precise

As a writer, it is important that you are able to get straight to the point of what you are trying to say. It is important to be precise through short sentences, rather than long run-on sentences. As a writer, you need to be able to pick your words wisely. The more wordy you tend to be, the less the reader will want to read your story and the more likely it is for your story to get lost.

Tip #4: Have A Schedule

Writers will write everyday just because it is part of a routine. While it may be difficult on some days to find the time to write, writers try to make it part of their daily routine. They will write because they want to and need to. One day you may be able to write for fifteen minutes, another day an hour, but in the end it is important that you work on your writing to some extent.

Tip #5: Character Backstory

In my opinion, explaining your character’s backstory all at once in the beginning will definitely make your reader become bored fast. While backstory is important it is not that important to be revealed in the very first chapter. A character’s backstory should be shared at different times and chapters in the story. If you do decide to write a backstory in one chapter, make the backstory interesting and unique. Also add dialogue to the backstory, do not write one big paragraph after another explaining who the character is and what they have been through.

Tip #6: Use Personal Experiences

There is nothing better than writing about personal experiences or about things you know about best. When you are writing about these personal experiences you will be able to describe the experience better than anyone else. Do not just write about the big events that happened in your life, write about the small ones too. You can include conversations you have shared with people and add in characters that are similar to actual people who are in your life.

Tip #7: Outline

Each writer has their own way that they outline. Some authors may create complex outlines while others hardly outline at all. Personally when I outline, I will generally list the main points of what I want to have happen in each chapter. I feel that the more in-depth outlines are, the less creative space you have to write. In reality, stories may take a different path than what the outline originally suggested. I think it is important to outline generally but not to rely on the outline to tell the entire story.

Tip #8: Writer’s Block

One of the worst things that can ever happen to a writer is writer’s block. You never really know when writer’s block is going to hit you and for how long it is going to persist. Sometimes you can struggle through writer’s block and other times you can find a way to completely breakout of the phase. One of the things that I tend to do is read, read, read [Tip #1]. Reading helps me to breakout of writer’s block because it inspires my own writing. While writer’s block affects all writers differently, reading may not be the solution for everyone. Some other ideas may be to listen to music or free write (basically writing whatever comes to mind just to get those ideas flowing). It may also help to do something that will get your mind off of writing for a few hours or more if necessary.

Tip #9: Avoid Simple Words

Avoid simple words that almost every author falls back on, especially when it comes to speech tags. The most common and very overused speech tag is said. While every writer, including myself, uses that word, it is important to use other speech tags. Better speech tags might be declared, remarked, informed, confirmed, or mentioned. There is a long list of speech tags online if you ever need help coming up with new ones.

It is also crucial to avoid simple words in other aspects of your writing. Instead of saying a certain character is sad, describe them as miserable or somber. Instead of saying a character is walking from one place to another, say that they are wandering or marching. A reader will definitely appreciate your use of better words to show how a character is feeling or how they are moving.

Tip #10: Show Do Not Tell

This particular tip was one that I learned from a teacher. This tip is also one that I often have to remind myself of. Telling that something is occurring in a story is often easier than showing the event happening. Let’s say you were writing about a character who is running down the street.

Telling would look like: He ran down the sidewalk.

Showing would be: His legs moved quickly beneath him as his feet smacked heavy against the sidewalk.

It is easy to spot the difference when it comes to showing and telling. The reader would much rather see a character’s actions rather than being told.

Tip #11: Set Goals

Setting goals as a writer is always a good idea. As mentioned above, it may be difficult to write for the same amount of time each day. Writers are well aware that some days are more productive than others. For me, I always set goals each day that I am writing and I have in my head where I want to be with my writing by the end of the week. A goal I might have in a single day would be to finish one chapter. With each book that I write, my goals differ and the pace in which I write changes. Each writer should know themselves well enough to be able to set realistic goals. It is also good to keep in mind that while you will reach some of your goals, you may not be able to reach them all and that is totally fine. In the end, you just have to keep writing.

Tip #12: Stay In The Moment

Each writer has those certain moments in their story that just happen to be a tad more exciting than others. When you are writing those exciting parts, it is important to stay in that moment and not to rush ahead. Keep in mind the setting and describe it in more detail. Maybe the character’s moods are changing so be sure mention how they are feeling and the thoughts that are going through their head. Remember the five senses.

Tip #13: Wait To Edit

Do not write a paragraph or an entire page or even a chapter and start editing what you have written so far. Wait until your story is complete before doing this. Writing and editing at the same time will drive you crazy. You have to get your plot written before you begin to edit and make changes, whether that be deleting or adding. Editing can be stressful enough, so it is better to do it once all of the words and ideas are there.

Tip #14: Plot Lines

When I first started writing, all of my stories had a simple plot line. When I mean simple, I mean that they only had one. I once thought that one plot line was enough, especially if it involved a lot of twists, turns, and surprises. However, I quickly discovered that, that was not the case at all. It is always necessary for your stories to have at least two plot lines. The more plot lines a book has, the more interesting it is to read as it keeps the story intriguing. At the same time, do not incorporate so many plot lines that the reader will get too confused on what is going on and which character is who.

Tip #15: Stay Passionate

My final writing tip is that you should be passionate about writing. If you are not passionate about writing, you will lose interest and it will not be enjoyable anymore. Write about things that you have an interest in and that you love. In the end, writing is more than just a hobby.