Category: Writing Tips

The clock has struck 8 o’clock in the PM. You haven’t written all day–certainly intended to, needed to–but you didn’t. But you can’t stay up late, you’re all out of energy. You know whatever you force yourself to write you’ll have to rewrite. Why did you wait so long?

Most of us have all experienced that feeling that ‘now’ just isn’t the time to write something. We argue we don’t have time, we’re too drowsy, we just ate, or we need to wake up more.

Everyone is different, but when I’m making a run at a novel or other daily writing goal, getting it out of the way first thing really opens up the rest of the day. With the writing requirement fulfilled it takes the weight of stress off finding a time to write.

So, pour that hot tea or coffee and knock it out before the rest of your day (and your mind) decide ‘now’ is not the time.

Vermillion is this bright red color that looks like a fresh brick or how we’ve imagined the planet Mars for so long before a rover landed on it.

It’s a very specific red. It feels like it has teeth.

If you told me a character showed up in a shiny red car, my expectation would be a regular sports car–or just a new car. But if you told me he showed up in a shiny vermillion car, now I’m imagining something classic, something expensive, and the person stepping out of it might very well be hazardous to my health.

When reading, we pass over words we’ve seen a lot. They are unconsciously absorbed and exchanged for the next word. Words like ‘the’ ‘a’ ‘is’, they hardly register. And really you want those words to just serve their function, but when it comes to describing a scene or setting a mood, we need words that will trigger a response.

Basic colors like ‘white, brown, black, green, red, gray, blue, yellow, orange, purple’ will hold little sway in invoking the kind of imagery that wakes a reader’s mind and strikes them with that visual that transports them from written word to your scene.

Try using specific shades rather than sticking to the parts of the color wheel we all learned in kindergarten.

Of course, if you overuse those specific colors, they’re likely to lose their impact.

I can’t imagine writing in a coffee shop. But we see that in movies and TV shows all the time. it’s different for different people, but I believe I write best alone.

Purchasing a laptop really helped, although having an office and a desktop where you can close a door is great too. But for me, the laptop allowed me to write away from an internet connection in my car where no one would bother me.

Go somewhere you can tune out your surroundings. Find a time when distractions aren’t likely. Put the smart phone away and any other temptations.

If you make writing time about writing, you’ll be able to write, and the further away you can get from all the things you need to do around the house, the easier it’ll be not to procrastinate.

I’ve heard a lot of metaphors for storytelling, but the one thing we’ve all experienced prior to fiction writing is Essay writing.

Think of your story as an essay. Remember you’ll need details and facts to convince your reader of not just what is unfolding but where and when it unfolds.

If you present a convincing argument, you’ll put your reader exactly where you want them to be.

Remember the best tips for essay writing?

Start with a great hook.

Stay on topic.

Provide examples.

Prove your argument.

When I first sat down in hopes of being a published author, I read the rule to eliminate and avoid all adverbs.

I intensely followed this rule for many years. Beginning in the editing stage of deleting all those ‘-ly’ words to avoiding them completely in the first draft.

(You saw what I did there, right?)

Adverbs are fine.

Like all words, they have a place and a time.

Sometimes a sentence is clear without one. Other times it is clearly needed.

It all comes down to preference. I would still say that it is good advice to use adverbs sparingly. But I believe the key to good writing is creating a good cadence. When a reader reads the sentences, does a particular word reduce the flow (intentionally or not) or maintain it?

That said, it is always good practice to place restrictions on word choice, so that we broaden the kinds of phrases we turn. And it is always good practice to analyze our repetitions.