Remember that you don’t have to limit yourself to a single field. Many established writers spread out and explore—perhaps they write creative essays while publishing their creative non-fiction work. Maybe their short novels have poems inside of them. This field is so vast and interesting that you need to have a perfect taste for all of them. Don’t stick to fiction, if you write fiction; you should also try non-fiction as well.
Noise: some writers enjoy absolute quiet. It’s similar to a musician practicing music in silence. Others will listen to music to jog their creative juices. Others will want the company of friends to bounce ideas. Time: Some writers jot down thoughts just before they sleep. Early morning hours work well for others, as fewer people are awake to bother them. Other writers may enjoy being badgered, and therefore write in between coffee breaks or other work sessions. Other writers will like long periods of undisturbed writing time and dedicate their weekends to writing. Location: establishing a particular building, room, or even a chair can help the writing process. This familiarity will train your brain to work creatively, or technically, to suit your goals. Some places give us the power to write; strange but true!
Do not limit yourself to single genres or fields. To truly enrich your writing experience, you must explore. You may not enjoy fantasy, but other people read and write fantasy for a reason. Read with this motto in mind: “I read to write. I read to learn. I read to be inspired. ”
Nothing is ordinary or boring. There’s something odd or special about everyone and everything. Find what it is. There’s a mystery in front of you: a TV that won’t turn on, a bird that won’t fly. Figure out how things work, don’t work, and why. Pay attention to details. The leaves are not only green: they’ve got long, thin veins, rigid stems, and are shaped like spades. Change perspectives, and you’ll learn. Nature is an amazing source of inspiration. Just walk outside and appreciate the outdoors for a couple of minutes to try to get some inspiration. If you have the means to travel, go somewhere that you’ve never been before and do something you’ve never done before, as that might also help inspire you.
Dreams: a major source of the weird and unusual. Write it down before it disappears! Pictures: photographs and doodles Quotes: things people say, sentences that surprise you, short poems, the insides of a fortune cookie
Go somewhere busy, preferably a place with lots of people. Imagine that your vision of the scene is a video camera, recording everything. Take out your notebook and write down exactly what is happening. Include all the senses—sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. Take a voice recorder and spy on a conversation. Don’t let the speakers know! Eavesdrop on their conversation. After you’ve recorded for an adequate amount of time, transcribe the conversation on paper. Play with the words—delete things, change things, add things. Create a new setting or a new situation. Create a character. What do they want? Fear? What is their secret? Who are they related to, and where do they live? What’s their last name…if they even have one? As early as you can, set writing goals and try your best to stick to them.
a good idea of what you want to write about some skill with which to write about it the tenacity to finish the job
Does it pay the bills? A good day job should ease your financial burdens so you can write without worry. Stress is not conducive to your project. Does it leave you enough time and energy to write? A good day job should be easy enough on your energy level so that you’re not exhausted afterward. Does it provide a good “distraction”? Having a space away from your writing work can be helpful. Spending too much time on a single project can be overly immersive. It is good to take a step back, relax and stop overthinking. Does it have other creative people? A good day job should give you awesome coworkers. Creative people are everywhere! They are not just writers or artists.
The senses. We perceive and experience the world through our senses. An immersive and convincing work will often have readers seeing, touching, tasting, hearing, and smell. Concrete details. These types of details provide a specific sense of understanding of what is going on in the writing. Rather than generalizing an image—“she was pretty”—get specific: “She had long, golden braids, which were interwoven with daisies. ”
1st POV: uses “I” involved – the narrator is an active player and teller of the story detached – the narrator is not telling their own story specifically, but maybe the story of a central character Plural (we) – a collective narrator, maybe a large group of people 2nd POV: uses “You” inverted, the narrator is referring to him or herself as the writer and perhaps dissociating themselves from distasteful thoughts/traits/memories You = a character, distinct with their unique qualities You = direct address to the reader You = reader is an active character in the story 3rd POV: uses a character name omniscient – narrator knows everything, has free reign in the story and complete authority, and can hurl judgments limited – this POV is missing something. It is like a window of vision that gets smaller and smaller as you become more limited single characters’ thoughts and feelings – Harry Potter is limited to Harry’s thoughts and feelings direct observer – a narrator’s telling of a situation, but cannot explicitly discern the emotions of the characters fly on the wall–the narrator is a spy, watching the situation from a distant perspective, but is not privy to everything for information is limited by the narrator’s location on the wall
Take a look at a notoriously long, overwrought sentence. The following sentence won the satirical Bad Writing Contest second prize. It’s no secret why it qualifies as “bad writing. " The sentence is caked in jargon, riddled with imprecise catchphrases, and is way too long:“If, for a while, the ruse of desire is calculable for the uses of discipline soon the repetition of guilt, justification, pseudo-scientific theories, superstition, spurious authorities, and classifications can be seen as the desperate effort to “normalize” formally the disturbance of a discourse of splitting that violates the rational, enlightened claims of its enunciatory modality. "
Pay close attention to certain problem verbs. Verbs such as “did,” “went,” “saw,” “felt,” and “had,” while occasionally appropriate, don’t add any spice to your writing. Substitute a more specific word for problem verbs when appropriate: “accomplished,” “skipped,” “gazed,” “experienced,” and “secure” all communicate more specific ideas. Use the active voice instead of the passive voice, as a rule of thumb. Active voice: “The cat found her master. " Here, the cat is doing the work, so to speak. She is actively finding her master. Passive voice: “The master is found by his cat. " Here, the cat is more removed from the action. The master is being found; the cat isn’t finding.
Sometimes, adjectives are redundant. Take the sentence " I watched as he lifted the last pawn and set it down, checkmating the king, clinching his successful victory. " What victory isn’t successful? Here, the adjective simply restates what we already know. It doesn’t add anything to help the reader comprehend what’s going on. Other times, the adjectives writers use can be pretty obscure. “He is a puissant adversary” is a sentence that is neither accessible nor fitting. “Puissant” means powerful, and substituting “powerful” for “puissant” would have made the sentence both understandable and bearable.
Study roots of words. Word roots (especially Latin roots for the English language) will help you decipher the meanings of unknown words without a dictionary. Knowing the roots mal-, ben-, epi-, EU-, ag-, and con- is a good start.
For one, there’s no social context. The writer can’t use his or her hands to gesture, and can’t rely on facial expressions to steer the conversation toward clarity. The reader is all alone and must rely solely on the words to gather meaning. Second, the reader takes what the writer says at face value. The reader doesn’t expect to have to ask the writer whether she meant what she wrote; the reader assumes that the writer meant what she wrote. The writer doesn’t clarify confusing words, which means that if you write down a confusing word, the reader is left confused. For these reasons, take the time to say what you mean. Figure out what you want to say before you say it. Be dogged about sniffing out the right word, even if it takes you time. A lot of sub-par writing is the refusal to fit the right word with an idea, not issues with plot or stylistic concerns.
Exclamation points. Use exclamation points sparingly. People don’t often exclaim things; nor do sentences often merit exclamation. Elmore Leonard, the great crime writer, has this to say: “Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. " Semicolons. Semicolons act as hybrid periods, connecting two sentences that have a logical connection. Still, Kurt Vonnegut argues against them: “Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college. “[13] X Research source Although Vonnegut’s assessment might be a little harsh, it’s probably only good to use them from time to time.
