Day 25: Writing tips

Every writer has their own personal way of doing things and their own writing preferences. I'm going to tell you a few of my own, which come from many different sources.

1. The most important thing anyone has ever told me about writing is dare to suck. Seriously, I don't care if you write something terrible. If you write enough of something terrible, there will be good bits, which you can polish and make shiny so that you end up with a good piece of writing. Watch this video for more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nyhv80HDSj4

2.  I don't subscribe to the idea that brevity is best. Many teachers will recommend that you write "she yelled/whispered/murmured" or some other variation of "said", but there's nothing wrong with writing "she said", as long as you don't overuse it and you use the appropriate modifiers (such as "she said angrily"). If you constantly try to replace "said" with another word then your writing will sound unnatural. It's the same in many other cases, too -- don't ramble, but do describe.

3. Leave the title until last. While in some cases the title might come to you right at the start of planning a novel or poem or play, usually it's still undecided when you're editing your final draft. I'd suggest that you don't fret about titles until you've finished everything else; by the time you're done writing, you'll be so familiar with your plot that you should find it much easier to pick out a key point as a title. Use a quote from somewhere in the work you've written if you like.

4. As much as I adore Oscar Wilde, he tends to write paragraphs that can span for more than a page, which I really dislike. I have no problem with reading something lengthy, but it helps for it to be broken up into separate ideas; paragraphs that drag on are prone to skim-reading, and nobody wants the writing they've slaved over to be skimmed. The same can be said for the length of a chapter or scene; if it goes on for too long, your reader is likely to get bored.

5. Don't spoon-feed meaning. I believe that this is another Maureen Johnson-ism, and it's a good variation on "show don't tell", since I'm sure you're all tired of hearing that one from every English teacher on the planet. Basically, don't be blatant: though this does work in some circumstances, you're usually better off being subtle with your ideas through the use of imagery or through a person's speech and attitude. If you can help it, don't tell your reader outright that your main character is intelligent or clumsy or responsible (and especially don't do a Bella Swan and call your character all these things only to provide evidence that she's none of them). Show it instead, though actions and dialogue.

6. To quote this blog, "sentences are not minivans". Don't try to cram everything into one sentence, especially without using a semi-colon. It's best not to have too many clauses in one sentence or it just gets cluttered, your main clause gets lost, and the meaning becomes distorted.

That's all I've got for now, but I might add to this post if I come up with some more tips. If you have any of your own tips that you want me to include, then feel free to let me know; and, of course, you don't have to agree with everything I've said!