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.
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    • Elmore Leonard - Don't Write What People Don't Read

    • Elmore Leonard said "Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip." This is an important lesson. Think about stories you read. Are there any parts you simply skip over? Identify what causes this and avoid doing it in your own writing.
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    • Writing Ideas - Read Everything

    • A lot of people learn by example and why should writing be any different? Read other peoples stories and you can get a feel for what they do that works and doesn't work. It also might help you think of your own ideas that spin off from what they do.
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    • Experiment Using Writing Prompts

    • We've got a ton of great writing prompts on this site. Use them. These prompts will help you experiment with new writing techniques and can help inspire different ideas in your head. Even if the piece you write based on the prompt isn't the one you're looking for, it can help open the floodgates to a new piece.
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    • Avoid Cliches

    • There are a ton of cliches, there's no denying that. Heck, there's actually a movie genre now which "pokes fun" at movie cliches a la Scary Movie, Date Movie, Epic Movie. Try and avoid falling into using these cliches unless you can come up with a unique twist for it.
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