Top Five Writing Tips

This week I’m going to step back from my usual list and write about the best advice I have received during my long journey towards becoming a professional author.

It’s kind of funny. I always hear stories of what people have wanted to do stretching back to their childhood. I’m one of those. I can still remember to this very day back when I was in grade 2. I wanted to write stories. Even all those years ago I loved to read – be it comics or picture books, and of course as I grew older, chapter books.

My very first attempt was essentially a fan-fiction, set in Disney’s Robin Hood. You know the one, with a Fox as Robin, a bear as Little John and so forth. I have no idea whatever happened to that fan-fiction, and in some ways I am glad. I’d hate to see it today.

That might be a little harsh, however, as I was only a child of about 7 at the time. Seems like so long ago!

The tips I am going to share are more than likely the same tips everyone has heard or been given over the years, especially if you, like myself, aspire to become full-time writers. I can say that I am a professional, as my first novel was co-written with Mark Ellis and was the 30^th in the Outlanders series.

I do hope to have more published in the future, the near future. Will I ever become independently wealthy and be able to give up my daytime job? I seriously doubt it. I’m a realist. I dream of that, but I do believe the stats point to less than 1% of those published ever make it to that point.

Hey, who says I won’t be one of those? The only way I can help this dream come true is to follow the advice I am passing on to you, the reader.

1. Read! – I cannot agree more with this statement. I have seen and listened to aspiring authors claim they have no time to read, as life and their own work gets in the way. Bull! Anyone who knows me or has followed my blog for the past 16 months will know I am extremely busy. I work full time; I train Kung Fu three times a week. I play tabletop RPG’s and Video games. I design for tabletop RPG’s as well. Hell, I even have time to watch movies and my favorite TV shows too boot! I STILL manage to find the time to read and voraciously at that. Reading has several powerful advantages. First, it opens you up to the many varying styles out there. Secondly, it helps fuel your imagination. Something you read today might have an influence on your work a decade down the road. It also increases your vocabulary, spelling and grammar. Finally, no matter how good or bad a particular author may be, you can learn from them! Yes, even the bad authors and those who you believe should never have been published. Look at their work, and see where they made mistakes so you can learn from it. That way you can avoid making the same mistakes in your own work. If you aspire to be a writer, you WILL make time to read. If not – then forget it and go back to your day job.
2. Take Notes – Wow I am bad at this. You have no idea just how important it is to take notes as you are writing. It might not seem to be a big deal if you’re working on a simple short story, but when it comes to a full-length novel? It is vital. There are many reasons you will want to take notes. What happens if you happen to leave off working on your novel for some reason, and cannot get back to it for several months? It is very easy to forget sub-plots or even little details. These details could have a huge impact on your novel, even if you were not thinking about that when you wrote the scene! Also, it is important, especially when it comes to your characters. How do they look? What sort of personality do they possess? What kind of items are they carrying with them? Most importantly though, it helps you keep track of where your novel is going! It’s also a great way to gather your thoughts and possible plot-lines and scenes you might wish to write later on in your book. Also, what if you’re not writing a single book, but a trilogy or even a series? These notes will be vital!
3. Write ALL THE TIME! ­– I have heard it said in order to master anything; you must spend upwards of ten-thousand hours working on it. This can be art, your professional trade, martial arts – anything at all. Writing is the same. Do you honestly believe you are naturally that talented you can stop writing and just pick it up at some point in the future? I am sure there are a few people out there who are like that. I am not one of them. I have been writing steadily for over eleven years now. In the past two years I have gone from writing only a few hundred words a day to typically between two and four thousand words in a single day. There have been some days I have written over six thousand words. Your writing does not have to be a story – it can be anything. It can be a blog, it can be notes, whatever. Just never stop writing. You WILL improve the more you write, and you will find as time progresses you will write more each time you sit down than you did even a year ago.
4. Edit – I will be the first to admit I’m lazy. I hate to edit. I much prefer to use my time writing and creating rather than going back to edit what I have already written. This is vital however, and if you have someone who can edit for you all that much better! Everyone can edit their own work. Each chapter of my free online novel ‘Buck Who?’ undergoes two edits before I post it online. Even then I STILL go back and find mistakes I missed and have to fix! And don’t even think of trying to self-publish a book, story, what-have-you without going over your work at least four or five times! The public can be vicious, and if you don’t even attempt a cursory edit, do not be upset when it comes back to bite you. Personally I should give each of my chapters three or more edits, but due to my need to get each one up, the best I can hope for is two edits. I will never do less than that!
5. Take constructive Criticism – It is one thing to have someone read your work and say ‘it sucks’. It is another for someone to say ‘I didn’t like it, but here are the reasons why’. I would much rather have the second, believe me. Why? Someone who doesn’t like your work or what you wrote should have a reason. You will discover there are many people out there with their own personal agendas. They will attack your work without reason. They will do their best to wreck your hopes and dash your dreams. The reasons behind this are many and varied – some are jealous, some don’t want to see others succeed, and let’s face it - some are just assholes or trolls. The best advice I can give you when it comes to these individuals is to IGNORE them! There are going to be people who just don’t like your work for whatever reason, but if they explain why, then listen! Maybe you are not very good when it comes to writing action scenes. Listen to what they say and take it to heart. Maybe your character comes across as too cliché’. Be ready to make changes, especially if numerous people happen to mention the same aspect. You can’t write in the hope everyone is going to love what you write. You could please ten thousand people, and yet another thousand will hate your work for whatever reason.
6. BONUS – Never give up! -  Most of my top five lists are just that, top five. I am breaking away from this to add a simple little word of advice. Never give up. If you are dead serious about becoming a writer, keep at it. You will have times where you think your work sucks. You will have times where you are buried under self-doubt. Sometimes external factors are going to get to you, such as friends and family not bothering to read your work. No matter what happens, just don’t throw in the towel. Too many have, and I’m willing to bet many of those who have given up could have gone to be at least moderately successful. I have undergone many moments of self-doubt over the years. I will continue to have those moments, even after my various books are finally published and I continue my climb to becoming one of the 1%. Chin up, put steel into your spine and keep at it. Oh… and don’t let your ego get in the way either. It’s sort of the opposite of self-doubt. Don’t become an arrogant asshole, and even more importantly, don’t shoot other people down if, like you, they are aspiring to become the next big writer.