What are the best 3 tips for writing in your opinion? There are so many posts about how to write smth, but I always wondered which 3 tips helped you the most.
Hi, darling! Thanks for your question :) This is very much up to opinion, of course, but a few things came to mind right away…
My Top Three Writing Tips (via Mod Joanna)
1. Trust yourself – and your instincts.
As modern-day writers, we have access to the internet – which means not only do we have countless online resources telling us exactly how to write, but we read more classic, brilliant literature than any generation of writers before us. All this information is running through our heads as we pick up a pen or open a new document, thinking of the perfect way to say what we want to say. And it’s damaging.
This information is useful, but when you sit down to write, shut that noise down. Get rid of external distractions, too, until it’s just you (and whatever background noise you like) and the page. Write, and as you’re writing, pay attention to what you’re feeling. If you’re not interested in the scene you’re writing, trust that and change it so that it’s more interesting. If something you put down feels mushy, or dramatic, or out of character, trust that and change it. If the chapter feels too long but chapters are “supposed to be a certain length”, or if your description feels long-winded but “you need to establish the setting”, or you can just sense something isn’t working but you don’t know – stop. Find it. Change it. It’s that simple.
The biggest question we get on this blog (and that I’ve seen on most other blogs) is, “Should I?” Should I keep this prologue in my story? Should I make my character more flawed? Should I write from second-person POV? Should I do x if other people say I should do y instead? And while I can give you my opinion, the most important answer I have is this: if you’re asking the question, you know the answer. If something works but you still want it to change, you need to change it. If something doesn’t work but it’s easier to leave it that way, you need to change it. If something works and you don’t want to change it but other people think you should… don’t.
Do what feels right – not what’s easy and not what’s directed to you. The more you listen to your internal voice, the easier it will be to hear it.
2. Let the first few hundred words suck.
This rule is especially important the longer it’s been since you’ve written, and it’s an easy one. When you first start, don’t expect anything quality in the first few hundred words. You have to get into the page first – dip the toe, brace the cold, get your hair wet. Start the engine and see how it feels, and don’t put any pressure on yourself.
In my experience, starting has never been easy, even during weeks when I write 1K+ a day, every day. And yet for some reason, I always give myself 200 painful words before deciding, “I’m not getting anywhere today. Forget it.” And that’s usually when I’m right on the cusp of something good, and I can tell because when I do push myself past that point, I get something good. It’s been a lifesaver for me!
For a lot of writers, when we know we’re capable of our heights, we aren’t gracious with ourselves. We kick ourselves for struggling. We lament writer’s block. Instead, we could look at each day as a new pen – it takes a bit of scribbling to get the ink flowing, but that doesn’t make it a bad pen.
3. Be in your scene, not at the window.
No matter what POV you’re writing in, it’s important that your readers are immersed in the story; and if your readers are going somewhere, you have take them there. Instead of writing from a bird’s eye view, you need to write from the view of someone in the room – even if that person isn’t a character, but your ghostly figure levitating in the middle of the scene, narrating for the rest of us.
This is especially important in relation to your sensory description. One of the most off-putting and common problems in the stories I read online is a lack of any sensation besides sight. I can sit there for three minutes reading about the interior decoration of the room before finding out if the characters are even there, or what they’re doing, or what they’re thinking. Don’t overwhelm my mind’s eye, please! Instead, tell me:
what’s going on in your character’s body – because they’re probably aware of it. If he’s sitting in the waiting room, let me feel the rumble of his stomach because he forgot to eat on the way there. If she’s cuddling someone, what does that person’s shampoo smell like, and where is their hair tickling her skin, and is their breathing matching up or is hers more ragged and if so, is she anxious, or excited, or exhausted? Engage me with what the characters are feeling and I’ll feel it, too.
what’s going on in the room – so I can be there, too. Is that the TV I’m hearing, or just crickets outside, or just my breathing and the clock ticking in the next room? Does it smell like the food I half-ate, or the dog who likes to sleep here, or beer because my roommate is drunk off their ass? If it’s an action scene, it probably smells like sweat. If it’s a love scene, it probably tastes like toothpaste.
what’s going on in the world – especially if this is a world-heavy story. In the city, cars honk outside, and the new girl from the suburbs will not be used to this, and it’ll probably crank up her stress. In the apocalypse, you may hear some random screaming from the victim of a mugging, or gunshots from the neighbors who are always causing trouble. In space, you don’t hear anything, but silence is its own sound and it can be crazy-making. The sci-fi future probably smells like metal and disinfectant, and a pixie society probably smells like pollen and whatever you’ve decided pixie dust smells like. Tell me all about it.
That’s what comes to me, but I’m sure every writer out there has a different set of tips they hold close to their heart. I hope everyone feels welcome to add their opinions in the reblogs/comments :)
As always, thanks again for the question and your patience <3 Be sure to let us know if you have any more questions!
If you need advice on general writing or fanfiction, you should maybe ask us!
