Writing 101 – Tips and Tricks

Hey guys! 🙂 I’m back to posting after my long absence… Woohoo! So I’m sure you can guess the topic of this post, so I’ll just get right into it! (I’m super excited for this one)

I’ve been writing for a really long time – something not many of you know. I remember being 6 years old and writing and creating my own stories based on my own imagination.

Boy, did it ever take me places I couldn’t have dreamed of then.

Anyways, I’m going to be providing a few tricks of the trade I picked up on my journey here. Note that I am by no means a pro and an simply providing these out of my own discretion and experience. 🙂

Let’s get started?

1. Plots are key.

I know everyone says this. Puh-lease right? It actually kind of gets irritating at times, but I cannot stress the importance of writing out your plot, characters, and development prior to writing the actual story.

I never used to do the plot. I would always let my pencil wander, but almost every time, one of 2 things happened:

1. I got sick of writing, dropped it and came back later to find tha I had completely forgotten my plot, or
2. Dropped the story because I had no idea where I wanted it to go.

I mean if you’re doing a short story, its fine, but when there’s something much longer, we tend to lose interest if we don’t know what direction we’re going in.

2. Start it off right. 

And I don’t mean, “It was a dark and stormy night.”

Instantaneous hooks have always been my favourite. I love it when an author has the finesse to capture me right on the first sentence; I use those in my own writing. 🙂

I may or may not go through some of my favourite hooks and endings in a later post.

3. Get to know your characters.

Since you’re writing about these people, it’s imperative that you know them.

Right down to what they eat for breakfast.

The way I like to do this is to put portions of myself into the characters I write. That’s just one way to make sure the story rings true.

And always make sure there is some degree of vulnerability in them.

They’ve got to make mistakes every now and then, but maybe the mistakes aren’t noticeable – maybe they hide it.

It’s really the little nuances that  make characters relatable and really pop out of the page into reality.

Always remember that nobody, even a character is perfect, so you can’t build them that way.

4. The building of a world.

Remember that even though you may not be creating an entirely different world, you are creating an entirely different version of the world.

The world as the protagonist see it is probably different from how you see it, and hence, how the reader sees it.

So that means that you’ve got to create this realistic world for the reader to truly become engaged.

5. Paint the landscape.

This sort of adds on to the pervious point of world-building. A lot of amateur authors like you and I have the tendency to try and further the plot.

Obviously there’s nothing with that – that’s the entire point really, but I always reccommend taking maybe a paragraph to really paint the surroundings to give a vivid and clear image of the scene in the mind of the reader.

6. Be crystal.

Never ever let the reader assume or guess unless it’s a plot device. If they have to be guessing about what’s happening, clean it up.

In other words, never let a reader be confused. Be crystal clear. Like, even clearer than that.

But on the other hand, don’t make it so obvious that the big reveal loses its lustre. It’s good to keep a balance too. 😉

7. Write it. 

You can incorporate bits and pieces of your every day life into your stories.

See an interesting name somewhere? Come up with a brilliant idea during math class? Chances are you’ll forget by the time you go home and write it down.

Lots of writers carry around a small notebook to jot down interesting phrases, plots, and names that they hear.

It’s an excellent way to keep your ideas in one place. 🙂

8. Revise, revise… Revise again. 

Such an important part of story writing comes from revisions.

Granted, I know for a fact that they’re super annoying, but so important.

Typos and plot line errors are so easy to make, so always make sure you go back and read – out loud is generally best – your work. If you feel satisfied with it, that’s fabulous, but it’s best to pass your story off to someone else just to make sure it’s 100% the way you want it. 😉

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And I’ll end it at that! 🙂

Did you like the tips? Did I miss anything? Want to see more? Leave me a comment – I always love hearing from you. ❤

If you’re new to writing – especially if you’re new to writing – always remember that everyone has a story worth telling.

It doesn’t have to be perfect, it doesn’t have to be the best, it doesn’t even have to border good ; the important part is that you crafted it and it’s yours.

So if you haven’t taken a crack at writing, try it sometime, because it’s actually quite magical.

At least, it is to me.

Minerva