Handy Writing Tips – Part 2

• Create a space in your home especially for writing. This way you have an oasis and you can also send a message that, when you are in this space, you are writing. Of course, you should also be prepared to write wherever you happen to be.

• Proofread everything at least three times before submitting your work for publication.

• Start a blog. Use it to talk about your own writing process, share your ideas and experiences, or publish your work to a reading audience. Use this valuable community of authors to learn and teach in a cooperative atmosphere.

• Use writing exercises and writing prompts to improve your skills, strengthen your talent, and explore different genres, styles, and techniques.

• Let go of your inner editor. When you sit down to write a draft, refrain from proofreading until that draft is complete.

• Embrace your failures. Allow yourself to write poorly, to write a weak, uninteresting story or a boring, grammatically incorrect poem. You’ll never succeed if you don’t allow yourself a few failures along the way. Also, you don’t have to share what you’ve written until you’re ready.

• Make it your business to understand grammar and language. Do you know a noun from a verb, a predicate from a preposition? Do you understand tense and verb agreement? You should. Know the difference between there, their and they’re.

• You are a writer so own it and say it out loud: “I am a writer.” Whether it’s a hobby or your profession, if you write, then you have the right to this title.

• Keep on writing. You’re ability to finish a piece of writing cannot be taken from you.

• If you forget every other tip, remember the one just before this one.