Have you ever wondered to yourself, why am I doing a job I hate?
I have, and I understand the importance of having a job to pay bills. However, I wasn't fulfilling my true desires. If I had continued doing what I was doing, I would have worked myself to death. There are more critical things in life than work. Starting as a writer is going to be hard, and I understood this, but I am not going to let that stop me.
Here are some tips that have helped me along the way.
1. Just write
If you never do it, how do you know if you are any good?
Every person who writes has their method to do it. For me, I found it most comfortable to write and edit later. Some authors can write and then review later, where others break everything down into pieces. Then some people like to write different scenes at different times and incorporate them into their stories.
There are so many different ways for people to record their thoughts and stories. Some prefer pen and paper, and others may prefer a laptop. Then some people may still prefer a typewriter. It just all depends on a person's preference. I try to incorporate all three, sometimes depending on how I feel that day.
If you want to write, do it and then go from there with whatever is comfortable for you.
2. Read as much as you can
Why should I read other people's work, when I am trying to do my own?
The answer here is that it provides you with different insights. It exposes you to many different writing styles. Reading allows you to become better with vocabulary. Sometimes, when I get consumed in my work, I tend to lose concentration on the words I write. At that time, I stop writing and turn to read something than my writing. Often enough, I then go back to find all the areas I could have improved my communication.
That is what writing is, a form of communication. Our characters want their stories told, yet they need us to tell it for them. If we can't communicate properly, how are we ever going to be a good writer? It also helps to improve our grammar. So take the time to read and write in your way. It's the same for music composers if they never listened to music, they could never successfully compose it.
3. Observe everything
Why do I need to observe everything around me if I am writing?
Well, ideas do come from somewhere, and that somewhere is all around you. Pay attention to details around you. Pay attention to the people around you and their body language.
For example, while I was driving, I saw people building a fence. Every day that I drove past, the progress of the wall got further. I didn't know these people, yet I would have never thought of building a fence the way they were. I took mental notes in my head, which I later recorded while I was not driving. The way they made the fence was very rustic looking, and they used straight upright trees as the posts. At first, I thought they were putting them there for Lord knows what reason.
The second day I drove by, they had taken boards and started nailing them to the posts horizontally on the side facing the road. Every day there was more and more progress. By the time they had finished the fence, it was a solid 8-foot wall with boards nailed horizontally across. You weren't able to see the tree posts anymore, and it looked like a solid wall. It was quite beautiful once it was complete.
That is just something so simple, yet I watched the progress every time I drove by. It allowed me to possibly use that description of a fence in a story later on in the future should I choose to do so. Before I had taken the time to be more observant I used to miss things all the time. I never used to notice the detail in objects or actions of people.
I used to miss the fact that my neighbours always greeted each other the same way every day. I never noticed that my sister's truck had my niece's hockey number on it. Now I see these things, and everything helps to create an idea.
4. Keep a notebook handy
Why would I want to do that when I have everything I am writing in front of me?
The simple fact is that we all make mistakes. There have been multiple times I have messed up a timeline or forgot I wrote something in a previous chapter. At the end of every writing session, you should take the time to record the small details that you wrote. It can take a writer two days to write something that can be read in 30 mins. Therefore, we forget sometimes a minor or significant detail we already recorded. In my current book that I am working on, I forgot to do this simple act. I wrote in chapter 1 that my character already knew she was adopted. When I reached chapter 2, I repeated the same type of scene over, as I did in section 1. It had taken me more time to fix than it should have. I had to go back and try and remember where that little bit of information needed to be revealed.
If you write it down, you can at least refer back to it after and see what is supposed to be correct. While I was writing Running from Fate, I had messed up the timeline so bad it took me days to fix it. I had on one page out that it was one day, and five pages from that, I had moved the timeline back past that day. I got so confused and frustrated that I now try to keep everything recorded.
5. Take a course on creative writing.
I already read well, and I am decent at writing, why would I need to do this?
You don't need to take a course. You can study it on your own. However, a creative writing course is precisely what it is named to be. It provides more insight into things you thought you knew about writing.
For example, some people may not know they need to start a new paragraph every time someone new talks in dialogue. I am guilty of this myself. When I realized how confusing it could be to read otherwise, I had to fix everything again.
I am not saying to jump up and enroll in a course, take the time to study a bit before just jumping into things.
On a final note, STOP PROCRASTINATING!
I can be the worst for this, and I admit it. I get so caught up doing other things that I say to myself, "Oh, I can do that later." When in all reality, I can't do it later. If you want to do it, do it.
I am the worst procrastinator I know, I drag my butt to do the dishes, and I hate folding laundry, but I can't do that with my writing or reading. If I procrastinate in doing that, I will never get ahead. I need to keep a bold note sometimes in my notebooks to tell me not to delay. The longer you put things off, the harder it is to start again.
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