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By Nikki Wilson
I woke up this morning and realized that it was my day post! So what to write about? Well I thought about the different writing tips I've read and tried over the years and I thought I would talk about just a few:
1) Attend writer's conferences - I've been to several conferences, some even online and I can tell you that I've come away from each and everyone inspired to write! This is my favorite writing tip because it took me a long time to convince myself to go to one. After all, they cost money and I had to realize that it's ok to spend money on my dream of becoming a published author. I found that writer's conference make the dream seem more than possible, it makes it seem inevitable. Plus I meet all kinds of cool writers like me and awesome editors, agents, and published authors. It's definitely worth going to at least one!
2) Join a writer's group - This has been an invaluable tool for me. Plus it's saved my sanity more than once. (Not that I'm professing to be completely sane or anything like that!) I joined ANWA (American Night Writers Association) about 4 years ago and was amazed to meet so many other LDS women in my area who have the same dream. We meet once a month at someone's house and in the 4 years since I've joined I've only missed 4 meeting. The reason for that is that I get so much inspiration and help from everyone around me. Plus they have become my writing family and I can't go very long without being around them. If you don't have a writer's group near you, start one! Or ANWA has online writer's groups as well!
3) Write at a certain time and place on a regular basis - When I do this, it's amazing how much writing I get done. I have found that the best place for me to write is at the library. I know when I sit down at a table in the library that I need to be studious and get to work on my writing. I also have found success with writing first thing in the morning before I even get out of bed. This is when creative ideas are abundant for me. Whenever I need a new writing idea I go to my morning writing journals.
4) Share your writing - When I wrote my first book I did it within 6 weeks and I credit the speed of this with the fact that my friend and I started writing together. We would meet online and time ourselves and see how much we could write, then we would email each other what we had written. Getting immediate feedback and encouragement really helped me at the beginning phase of my writing career. Even now, I need to share my writing with others to hear good feedback because I'm so critical of my own writing. This is a very important tip. Because we also need people to tell us how to make our stories better. When I come across someone who says they only let one person read their story before they send it to agents, I know that their odds of getting a rejection just went up. (Now it worked for Stephenie Meyer, but she seems to be the exception to every rule! LOL!) Because different readers catch different things and are invaluable to understand what to do to make it better.
I could go on with writer's tips, but I'm late for work! So I'm asking you to finish this list of writing tips in the comments! What are your favorite writing tips? Don't be shy!
I think that the ones you’ve posted are great- and thanks for still MORE motivation to me to go to a writing conference that’s coming up! I’m still hemming and hawing about it, but I know I need to go.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best pieces of advice for any writer is to just WRITE! Keep writing, even if you’ve finished your WIP and are querying agents- even if you’re under contract- just keep writing! The more you write, the better you get!
Good call, Kasey! I love all of your advice, Nikki, and agree that it has to all start with simply writing!
DeleteYes, Kasey! Write, write, write. But I sometimes go in phases with my writing, so I try to make sure than even when I'm not writing, I'm thinking about writing or how to become inspired to write.
DeleteAnd definitely you should go to that writer's conference if you can. Conferences are so much fun, and now I have friends that I only see once a year at my favorite writer's conference (ANWA Writer's Conference). I can't wait to see them all again this year!
I forgot to mention in my post that if you go to the tab above entitled, "Writing Resources" the link will take you to our resource blog that has more writing tips, lists of upcoming conferences, writing groups, and much, much more! Check it out! Gina has been working hard on making it into a great resource page!
ReplyDeleteI'll wholeheartedly second the conference tip too, especially if you are near good conferences (they are not all created equal). I'm also in favor of keeping "writing" and "editing" as separate as possible. I think (especially when you're just starting out) it's more important to actually get all the way through a work than it is to make every chapter perfect.
ReplyDeleteGood reminders!
I'm so on board with the 'write regularly' tip. I have to treat writing like a job - there's a time and a place I go to write. If I can stick to that, I get more done. All good tips, though!
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