I was asked to offer five pieces of advice for new or experienced writers which will be published on another blog. When I finished, I thought I might give this advice to my own readers so here we go...
First, you need to want to write... to be dedicated to your writing. Writing is hard work; good writing is almost impossible. It is time consuming and isolating.
Second, you need to learn to write. What does that mean? Join writers group, listen to other writers and learn from them, from their writing and from the constructive criticism of your peers. I joined one early on and learned so much from them all. I will be forever grateful to this group. I also took an encouraging creative writing class. The professor encouraged me to continue my writing because I had, as she called it, a unique voice and writing process.
Third, after I said all that, anyone can write, string words together. You can sit down, write 50K words and feel as though you have a book. Well, you don't, not one that a publisher will touch. When I said above, "good writing is almost impossible", I meant it. Good writing comes after many drafts, much editing and many revisions. This is where your story comes alive... here you polish it by working on words that best tell the story and fit the character, by making dialogue meaningful (this is very important), removing errors and misspellings, and by creating a story that will capture the reader.
Fourth, create interesting, three-dimensional characters. I learned this from a workshop I took given by a writer whose books I loved. No one wants to read a story with ‘flat’ characters. You, as the writer, need to know their backstories, what’s in their ‘bag of rocks’ that they carry with them, what their secrets are… what’s in that box under their bed. You may not put all that information into the manuscript, but you will use it as you write, trust me, and your characters will come alive.
Fifth, do your research! If you are writing a time travel back to the 1800s, know what it was like to live in that time. One of my favorite books, “The Looking Glass Labyrinth”, was a time travel back to 1804. As I wrote, the story evolved into a mystery within a mystery with a beautifully layered romance. I won’t say much more except that I spent hours and hours doing my research on sea captains and their trade routes, on how women were educated and treated culturally, the fashion and family dynamics. The research fascinated me and although I didn’t use it all, I felt I knew my characters well enough to tell this beautiful story. Remember, your readers are smart, and if you make errors in history or anything else, they’ll notice, put the book down and not trust your story telling ever again.
I could go on and on but I was asked for only five points. My advice to all, enjoy the process of creating and writing! I’ve passed my love, my passion for writing, on to two of our little ones, eleven and nine, who wrote every word of their first book, Two Mice and a Train, and I published it. What a huge accomplishment for them! May their imagination fire many more. One of the keys to their writing was that they are both avid readers and LOVE stories.
Therefore, I hope the advice
that I’ve learned along the way helps you to become a better writer.
