Tips for a beginner writer?

[fixated1]

1. Write badly. It's easier to write when you think it's crap then edit it later than it is to wait until you catch lightning in a bottle.

2. Write what you want to, not what you think will be popular.

3. Write often.

And one trick i came up with on my own (I'm sure it's been done and I'm reinventing the wheel) is to consider every sense going down the list when describing something, then picking what will draw readers in.

[empatheticapathy]

Get anything on the page, ANYTHING, even if it sucks. It is way, WAY easier to start with crap and edit up to greatness than it is to get greatness on your first try.

Following from the above: your first draft is not always worth publishing, even in a casual setting. Proofread, edit, proofread, edit. Rewrite something if it sucks, and drop it if you can't rewrite it to not suck.

'Brevity is the soul of wit.' IE: one or two really great paragraphs is way better than 1000 mediocre pages.

One tip to keep things brief: be confident. If you find yourself starting a lot of sentences with 'Well,' or using 'basically' a lot, you can almost certainly drop those words and lose no actual meaning. Your writing shouldn't sound bashful.

Don't get caught up on unimportant details (and by extension: know what is or is not important). Just because your protagonist has a fancy car doesn't mean I need to know exactly how much they paid for it, or what high-paying job they have that let them afford it. Unless your story is about cars, just give me 'they have a nice car' and move on.

You should know where your story is going and why it'll be interesting to read before you start it.

At it's core, writing is a about giving someone information. As many lines as possible should tell the reader something about a character or the setting.

Write what you're passionate about. The difference between an author who really cares and one who's forcing themselves to get through some boring stuff is palpable.

Pop culture references and meme humor almost never age well. The best thing you can do with those is usually nothing at all.

Don't tell the reader how to feel. Present information, and let them sort out their own feelings.

Your story doesn't need to appeal to every reader in every way. Pick one or two things to do well, do them well, and leave it there.

Don't ever forget these questions: Is this the most interesting period of your character's life? If not, why aren't you showing us that?

If you summarize your story, the phrase 'and then' should almost never come up. The plot points of your story should always be connected by 'therefore' (ie: a logical consequence) or 'but' (an obstacle).

And finally, one of the best things about writing is you actually have total creative control over everything with no limits of any kind. You can break a ton of writing rules and still come out with a good story - but breaking those rules needs to be a deliberate choice that you understand thoroughly.

[hexall90]

Yet more great tips. You guys are great! I really appreciate the help.

[Tassie]

Get anything on the page, ANYTHING, even if it sucks. It is way, WAY easier to start with crap and edit up to greatness than it is to get greatness on your first try.

Following from the above: your first draft is not always worth publishing, even in a casual setting. Proofread, edit, proofread, edit. Rewrite something if it sucks, and drop it if you can't rewrite it to not suck.

'Brevity is the soul of wit.' IE: one or two really great paragraphs is way better than 1000 mediocre pages.

One tip to keep things brief: be confident. If you find yourself starting a lot of sentences with 'Well,' or using 'basically' a lot, you can almost certainly drop those words and lose no actual meaning. Your writing shouldn't sound bashful.

Don't get caught up on unimportant details (and by extension: know what is or is not important). Just because your protagonist has a fancy car doesn't mean I need to know exactly how much they paid for it, or what high-paying job they have that let them afford it. Unless your story is about cars, just give me 'they have a nice car' and move on.

You should know where your story is going and why it'll be interesting to read before you start it.

At it's core, writing is a about giving someone information. As many lines as possible should tell the reader something about a character or the setting.

Write what you're passionate about. The difference between an author who really cares and one who's forcing themselves to get through some boring stuff is palpable.

Pop culture references and meme humor almost never age well. The best thing you can do with those is usually nothing at all.

Don't tell the reader how to feel. Present information, and let them sort out their own feelings.

Your story doesn't need to appeal to every reader in every way. Pick one or two things to do well, do them well, and leave it there.

Don't ever forget these questions: Is this the most interesting period of your character's life? If not, why aren't you showing us that?

If you summarize your story, the phrase 'and then' should almost never come up. The plot points of your story should always be connected by 'therefore' (ie: a logical consequence) or 'but' (an obstacle).

And finally, one of the best things about writing is you actually have total creative control over everything with no limits of any kind. You can break a ton of writing rules and still come out with a good story - but breaking those rules needs to be a deliberate choice that you understand thoroughly.

How do I +Like comments here? This is fantastic advice.