Creative Writing Tips

    • Writing Ideas - Don't Quit Your Day Job

    • David Sedaris talked about it in one of his lectures he gave. One of the biggest challenges about becoming a writer is making it your full-time job. Work is one of the biggest inspirations for your writing, and so, making your job writing cuts you off from a lot of that inspiration. You might one day have to quit your job to make time for writing, but don't forget to find your muse.
    • Comments()

    • Characterization - Give Your Character Drive

    • Every character should have a motive for their actions. People don't act in an isolated state and so, you shouldn't let your characters fall into this rut. Be sure as you write that YOU understand your characters rationale and desires or else their actions won't make sense to the readers.
    • Comments()

    • Characterization - Spread the Details

    • People like to get characterization out of the way by bombarding the reader with all of the details at once. This strategy is just going to overwhelm the reader and cause many of the details to be lost. Sprinkle the characterization throughout the story, allowing the reader to learn more about the character when necessary.
    • Comments()

    • Elmore Leonard - Don't Use "Suddenly" or "All Hell Broke Loose"

    • While you might feel like something suddenly happened, it's a waste of space in writing. Suddenly gives the reader no visual understanding of what is being described, it makes something sound magical. Use more thorough descriptions of things and the reader will piece together what happened. Likewise, "All hell broke loose" gives no true visual of what's happening in the story. Don't rely on cheap phrases but instead, provide the visual imagery that will cause the reader to make that conclusion on his or her own.
    • Comments()

    • Writing Ideas - Write Whenever, Wherever

    • The best way to think of things to write about is to constantly write. If you push off an idea you have, it may be hard to get it back later, and it will stall your generation of newer ideas. As such, whenever you thnk of something, at least make a note about it. Then, when you get more time, write it out further to help expand your ideas.
    • Comments()


View all creative writing tips