C. Swallow's Blog - Posts Tagged "advice"
10 Simple Tips for Genius Fiction Writing
1. Never compare your writing to another’s. Remember, every author is different, they will write different and explain different and create different.
2. Writing is an art form. Throw your writing course out the window. This is fiction. This is about instinct. Passion. Creativity. Imagination. Not just formal structure, which comes last, of all things.
3. When you write, pretend you are looking on from a third eye, a stranger’s perspective. If the third eye can understand your writing, well done, now most people can understand it too.
4. Who’s your audience? Forget your audience. Forget about thinking of everyone’s tastes. Writing well isn’t about crowd pleasing. It’s about an idea, a concept, a character, a scene, a plot; painted into life with your use of words.
5. How to write well? Think of your passion and vivid image. Create said passion, said vivid image; with words. Do not over think. The very first thing that comes to mind, is usually right.
6. Editing; a once over will clear up most common errors. Waiting a short time and re-editing will cover the other 2% of errors missed. If you care about your writing you’ll read it slow and find these mistakes with ease. If you still have a ton of mistakes, you simply need to slow down.
7. Wrapping up a story isn’t just about tying up loose ends. You need to stick to your guns and write very carefully. Do not choose a ‘cop out’ ending that wraps things up easily. Now is the time to be complex and intriguing. Still have no idea how to end it? Perhaps there is no foreseeable ending in mind, because a sequel makes more sense!
8. Attention, attention! Why isn’t anyone reading my story? Hello, where are the many readers in the universe that haven’t check out my story? Well, what are the first things readers look at when choosing to read a book? Cover, blurb, first chapter. These three things must be top quality. Anything less and don’t expect readers to check out your work.
9. Be self critical but not too self critical. Is writing too hard? Not really. Everything in life, generally, is hard unless you stick through it and dedicate yourself to getting over inevitable obstacles. You will fail, you will suck, you will have a shit chapter every now and then, you will have shit grammar, shit design and then you will FIX it and you WILL get better.
10. The Writing Itch. Do you have the disease? If you can’t shake the need to write out a chapter or a scene or an idea or five novels at once, then you most obviously have the Writing Itch Disease. Congratulations, you’ll probably succeed. Don’t bother trying to write for fame or money. You’ll never get there if you don’t have the write intentions.
2. Writing is an art form. Throw your writing course out the window. This is fiction. This is about instinct. Passion. Creativity. Imagination. Not just formal structure, which comes last, of all things.
3. When you write, pretend you are looking on from a third eye, a stranger’s perspective. If the third eye can understand your writing, well done, now most people can understand it too.
4. Who’s your audience? Forget your audience. Forget about thinking of everyone’s tastes. Writing well isn’t about crowd pleasing. It’s about an idea, a concept, a character, a scene, a plot; painted into life with your use of words.
5. How to write well? Think of your passion and vivid image. Create said passion, said vivid image; with words. Do not over think. The very first thing that comes to mind, is usually right.
6. Editing; a once over will clear up most common errors. Waiting a short time and re-editing will cover the other 2% of errors missed. If you care about your writing you’ll read it slow and find these mistakes with ease. If you still have a ton of mistakes, you simply need to slow down.
7. Wrapping up a story isn’t just about tying up loose ends. You need to stick to your guns and write very carefully. Do not choose a ‘cop out’ ending that wraps things up easily. Now is the time to be complex and intriguing. Still have no idea how to end it? Perhaps there is no foreseeable ending in mind, because a sequel makes more sense!
8. Attention, attention! Why isn’t anyone reading my story? Hello, where are the many readers in the universe that haven’t check out my story? Well, what are the first things readers look at when choosing to read a book? Cover, blurb, first chapter. These three things must be top quality. Anything less and don’t expect readers to check out your work.
9. Be self critical but not too self critical. Is writing too hard? Not really. Everything in life, generally, is hard unless you stick through it and dedicate yourself to getting over inevitable obstacles. You will fail, you will suck, you will have a shit chapter every now and then, you will have shit grammar, shit design and then you will FIX it and you WILL get better.
10. The Writing Itch. Do you have the disease? If you can’t shake the need to write out a chapter or a scene or an idea or five novels at once, then you most obviously have the Writing Itch Disease. Congratulations, you’ll probably succeed. Don’t bother trying to write for fame or money. You’ll never get there if you don’t have the write intentions.
