This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
1. Read a lot. Reading is how you feed your brain, and I firmly believe that no good writing happens without reading. Read widely, and try imitating what you’ve read – in terms of style, or theme, or structure.
2. Write what scares you. If it’s not scaring you, at least a little, it’s probably not taking enough risks.
3. When writing, try and turn the “editor” side of your brain off. (I have a sign over my desk that says “WORRY ABOUT THAT LATER”.) Then, when the draft is done – even if it’s very rough – you can put your editor hat on and fix all the plot holes and awkward sentences.
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4. Treat writing as fun and as work. You should write things that excite you, and you should generally enjoy it – if you’re not excited about what you’re writing, put that project aside for a while and try another. And come to your desk (or your laptop, or your notebook) regularly, as if it’s a job.
5. Never underestimate the power of cause and effect. You should be able – at least when you’re done – to articulate how each event in the story causes the next. It’s so simple, but it’s one of the most common mistakes I see in stories (including my own): events that have no consequences, and events that happen out of nowhere. Cause and effect! That’s what changes a mere series of events into a story.Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng is out now.