This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
1. Write what`s in your heart, and on your mind, what you care for and dream about. Those things that make you want to throw plates or bash your head against the desk or run up a mountain, fling your arms wide and sing hallelujah. Don't ever write what you think someone else wants to read – or even worse, wants to publish. It takes courage to write with integrity, but your story is unique and precious, however you choose to express it.
2. Make plenty of time to daydream, to wonder, notice and ponder. It’s a dying art in our world of fast-paced technology, where the internet is carried in our pockets. It makes me want to stamp on my teenagers’ mobile phones when they start swiping at screens in every quiet moment. It can be hard to give yourself permission to just sit and think for a while. But it is a vital part of the process, and there are a lot worse ways to earn a living!
3. Don’t spend time crossing every t to make the manuscript perfect first time. I once spent a whole afternoon trying to choose the right type of biscuit to go in a scene, and then ended up deleting the whole chapter a few days later. Just add in a few XXXs and you can go back and fill them in when you edit.
4. Keep a piece of paper and a pen with you all the time – especially by your bed. There are countless times I have lain awake at night and had the most brilliant ideas for the next part of my book, so amazing I can’t believe I would ever forget them. But, sure enough, when I wake up the next day I can remember having a fantastic idea, but usually have absolutely no recollection of what it was.5. Writers often end up spending a lot of time on their own, and in their own head. Make sure you find the time to keep talking with people – and really listen and get to know them. Not just friends, who might be at a similar stage of life to you. Get to know some people much older than you, or younger. From a different socio-economic class, culture or race. Find out what they love, what gets their back up. Their hopes, and sorrows, the challenges life has thrown at them and how they are overcoming them.
Making Marion by Beth Moran is out now.