Writing Tips #3
I wanted to share the most important pieces of advice that I wished I had realized sooner.
Stop editing your first draft. The most important thing to finish your story is to get to the end! Finish it, with as many errors as it has. First and foremost, finish your first draft, the rest will slowly be fixed with revision. And believe me, you’ll have to revise more than once. So don’t be scared if the first draft is different from what you want the story to be, each revision will get you closer.
Be subtle. Your readers are smart, you don’t have to spell everything out for them. Don’t tell them how you want them to feel, make them feel like that. Show don’t tell.
Brackets are your friend. The most important thing when writing is to keep the momentum, try not to interrupt the flow of words even if you get stuck on something. Can’t find the exact word you’re looking for? Put something in brackets like [synonim of x]. Not inspired for a specific scene that leads to another one? Don’t get stuck on it, write a simple summary of it in brackets and move on, like [insert battle scene between x and x]. You can always return to these brackets and edit them later.
Write what you love. It’s easy to try and write what you think other people will like, what will become popular, or similary to avoid clichés and try to be original. Write what you would want to read instead, have fun with it. There’s always someone who will enjoy your story, even if it may not be for everyone. Passion is one of the most important things in any creative content, and people can tell when something is written without it. Even if it’s not perfect, that passion will make more people enjoy it than if it was perfect but dull.
Trust your instinct. With time you will develop a writer instinct and come across certain things that don’t feel right. Maybe a certain character isn’t working, or a scene lacks something, or a paragraph feels strange for some reaosn. Listen to that little voice that warns you that something is wrong and analyze what needs to be changed and how.
Think about the characters first. Before starting your story, think carefully about your main characters, they’re the stars of the story after all. The plot is secondary. You need to be sure of what the characters role is, as well as their personalities, arc and voices. If people empathize with them and like your characters, they will care more about what happens to them in the story.
