- Write every chance you get. Write every day if you can. You should be thinking about writing or actually writing whenever you can.
- Reading is so important. You should read every chance you get as well. Read good writing and read about writing. Balance fiction and non-fiction to help you improve your own writing.
- Use your everyday observations to help you with coming up with surroundings, characters and situations for your stories. You can do this by keeping notebook with you, or if you’re not afraid of being stared at, use your phone and a recording app and pretend your on a call while you make note of what you see.
- Check your writing for repetitive words and phrasing. If you find yourself using the same words repeatedly, refer to a thesaurus (Shift-F7 in Word) but don’t confound your reader with extravagant utterances and locutions that will flummox them. (Fancy, confusing words)
- Invest in a few valuable resources starting with The Chicago Manual of Style and The Elements of Style. Another great resource is On Writing, by Stephen King.
- Know and use your grammar and punctuation rules. Your editor will thank you if your manuscript is as clean as possible when you send it off to him or her. In my first manuscript, I incorrectly placed all of the punctuation in my dialog outside of the quotation marks. That being said, when writing dialog, there are times to break with grammar rules in the voice of your characters. Just make sure it sounds natural and not convoluted.
- Eliminate distractions like TV, social media, etc. If you need the Internet to do research, do it first or do it during a predetermined time. You want to avoid going down a rabbit hole during your research or hours of writing time can easily disappear.
- Read works by highly successful authors in your genre. There are probably valid reasons why they are successful.
- Read the classics. There is a reason that they are classics. I’ve found myself reading Doyle, Dickens and Hemingway this year and it has helped my writing immensely.
- If you are new to writing, join a writers’ group so you can gain constructive feedback from the writing community and enjoy meeting other authors. I highly recommend Scribophile as it is a site that encourages you to give feedback in order to receive it.
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks for sharing this, Chris.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Welcome, Don 😀
LikeLiked by 2 people
Reblogged this on Legends of Windemere.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks for sharing this, Charles.
LikeLike
You’re welcome. Have a fun day.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Very good advice, Don. I must get Stephen King’s book on writing.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks. It’s a great book. You won’t be disappointed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on DSM Publications and commented:
Check out this post from my author site.
LikeLiked by 1 person
All good advice. If you see me on Facebook, or here for that matter, I’ve finished my work for the day.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Very true. If you see me on Facebook, It’s to post a great picture of my daughter or granddaughter or I have a new book 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great list. Adding this post to my weekly link share.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, Staci
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on Anna Dobritt — Author.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks for sharing this, Anna
LikeLike
Reblogged this on When Angels Fly.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks so much for sharing this.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Welcome Don!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you for great advice! Best wishes, Michael
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you
LikeLike
Thanks for the reminders and the referral. The one thing I keep struggling with is finding a good critique group. You know, one that actually offers critiques rather than, “This is great I wouldn’t change a thing”.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Scribophile is a good one. You actually have to suggest edits and changes in order to get others to review your work. It’s truly a quid pro quo site.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, I will give it a try. 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on adaratrosclair.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks for sharing this.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome, Don. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great tips to start off the new year, Don! I’ve got all three of these invaluable reference books handy and couldn’t get by without them. King’s On Writing is not only a wonderful resource for writers, it’s all King between the covers. 🙂 Sharing and wishing you a blessed New Year!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, Bette. Yes, King’s book gives you a glimpse into his journey and his tenacity through rejection and addiction.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Happy Writing, Don! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Don and Bette,
I agree with Bette regarding the usefulness of your advice on writing. Thank you.
Considering the relevance and quality of what you have written here, I have also hyperlinked your current post to my special page on writing, published at https://soundeagle.wordpress.com/writing/
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Don,
Like Bette, I would also like to wish you and your family a wonderful festive season with a special post at https://soundeagle.wordpress.com/2012/12/12/season-greetings-from-soundeagle-merry-christmas-happy-new-year-and-joyful-holiday/
Happy New Year to you!
May you realize all of your visions and achieve whatever goals you have set yourself in 2019!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are very welcome, Don!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Another resource is Elmore Leonard’s ten rules of writing.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I hit reply too soon. Excellent post, Frank
LikeLiked by 2 people
No problem, Jim
LikeLiked by 1 person
Damn.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree. That’s one I’ve heard a lot about, but haven’t read yet.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It is very quick. You can Google it.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Excellent advice. ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, Colleen
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on Loleta Abi.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for sharing this
LikeLike
Pingback: Author Inspiration and This Week’s Writing Links – Staci Troilo
Great insight
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks
LikeLike
Pingback: ✅📝 10 Writing Guidelines to Adopt and 15 Grammar Goofs to Avoid 🧾❎ | SoundEagle 🦅ೋღஜஇ