Tips and Advice for Writing

So, I'm not arrogant enough to believe that I can give any of you readers a whole host of my own personal tips and advice to writing but I have picked up some fantastic tips from writers associations, websites, books and other writers I have spoken to whilst also moulding my own ways of writing into my work.

I have three of my own tips:

The first real tip I can give is to always believe in what you write. I have often written parts of a story and then said to myself, "What are you doing?!" It's so easy to be critical, but believe me, there are plenty of critics out there ready to pull your work apart without you adding to it.

If the concept and characters are detailed, feel real and have heart, the rest will follow. 

Just remember, some people enjoy BBQ sauce, some don't (I love it). The point I'm making is you can't please everybody and you shouldn't have to. You know what you are good at and you should harness all that good work into your writing.

The second is commitment. You need to commit time to your work. It takes countless hours, days, weeks, months and even years to plot, research, write and edit a book. It takes determination, hardwork and yeah, commitment to write that novel. 

I have given up many days and nights out to input the hours for my work, and I like to believe it is paying off.

Remember, success won't come to you. You have to put the work in before you get the reward (I'm starting to sound like my dad).

My final piece of advice is never give up. No matter how tedious it is to keep getting rejection letters, how depressing it is when it doesn't seem to be going your way and when you feel like you are missing out on everything else for no real reward, you need to remember that you are doing it all because you love to write. It's your passion, and if you give up on your passion, you've lost a piece of yourself.

I hope this has helped you; I'm not very wise but I do say things how I see them. However, just incase you don't want to listen to my advice, I've bulleted below some of the tips and advice I've received over the years I have been writing, which I hope assist you too. 

Enjoy!

Helpful tips from the pros

• Always use the five sense not the two common ones. Readers always expect the sights and sounds but what about the touch, the taste and the smell? It's important to convey the different senses so the reader feels they are there, in the moment, with the characters.
• Always tell the reader what the characters are thinking. You need to take time out during key points to explain how they feel, what they're considering and how the moment is effecting them.
• Yet sometimes you need to build on the story by showing the reader different things! By this, they mean you don't always have to describe how someone is tall by saying they are six foot three. You can elude to it by saying the person had to duck to get through the room. This is a very powerful technique that can give your writing greater dimensions.
• Take your time building characters. Don't just rush in and put them into your story. Think about real people in your life who can inspire a character. Think about their makeup: age, gender, height, build, eye and hair colour, their profession, hobbies etc. All these characteristics need to be considered because they make more believable characters that readers can relate to, and ultimately, characters that the readers is rooting to get the right outcome.
• Preparation is key. You need to plan the storyline of any novel with the basic principle. The story must have a beginning, a middle and an end; the plot must flow and all parts must add up and make sense. The reader wants to feel like the author has covered all angles and has not left them trying to make assumptions because there are loopholes in the story.