This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Janey Fraser’s new book, Happy Families, is published this week, and as part of her blog tour we’re bringing you her Top 5 Writing Tips.
1. Write every day. It’s like reading a book. If you leave a story for a while, it loses its freshness.
2. Write about something you’re passionate about. It will create energy in your writing.
3. Work hard at creating characters who are real. Use magazine pictures to help you imagine what they look like and pin them on a cork board by your desk. Give each one a problem. When they talk to each other, make the dialogue push the plot along and ensure that the characters do something while talking so it doesn’t sound like a script (e.g. run hands through their hair).
4. Make sure something important happens in each chapter and that it ends on a note that makes the reader want to go on.
5. Revise at least three times, looking at plot continuity; characterisation; and all the other things I’ve mentioned. Don’t show it to friends or family. Find an agent through networking at events like the Winchester Writers Conference where you can meet publishers and agents. Also look for first time novelist competitions in magazines like Writing Magazine and Writers’ Forum.
Be sure to check out the next stop on Janey’s blog tour at Mama J Hearts tomorrow.