Category: Writing

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10 Essential Writing Tips for Aspiring Authors

  1. Start with a Strong Concept: Your book’s concept is its foundation. Spend time brainstorming and refining your idea before diving into writing. A strong concept will guide your story and keep readers engaged.
  2. Develop Compelling Characters: Memorable characters are essential for a successful book. Take the time to flesh out your characters, giving them depth, flaws, and motivations that readers can relate to.
  3. Show, Don’t Tell: Instead of telling readers what’s happening, show it through vivid descriptions, dialogue, and actions. This allows readers to immerse themselves in the story and connect with the characters on a deeper level.
  4. Create Tension and Conflict: Tension and conflict drive the narrative forward and keep readers invested in the story. Whether it’s internal conflicts within characters or external challenges they face, make sure there’s always something at stake.
  5. Edit Ruthlessly: Writing is rewriting. Don’t be afraid to revise and edit your work multiple times to polish it to perfection. Pay attention to grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure, as well as the overall flow and coherence of your narrative.
  6. Read Widely: Reading is one of the best ways to improve your writing skills. Explore a variety of genres and styles to broaden your perspective and learn from other authors’ techniques.
  7. Find Your Voice: Your voice is what makes your writing unique. Experiment with different styles and techniques until you find the voice that best suits your story and resonates with readers.
  8. Stay Organized: Keep track of your ideas, outlines, and research notes to stay organized throughout the writing process. Whether you prefer digital tools or old-fashioned notebooks, find a system that works for you and stick to it.
  9. Seek Feedback: Don’t be afraid to share your work with others and ask for feedback. Join a writing group, workshop your manuscript with beta readers, or hire a professional editor to help you identify areas for improvement.
  10. Persevere: Writing a book is a marathon, not a sprint. There will be times when you feel stuck or discouraged, but don’t give up. Stay committed to your vision and keep pushing forward, knowing that every word you write brings you one step closer to achieving your goal.

Remember, writing is a journey, and each book you write is an opportunity to grow and improve as an author. Keep honing your craft, and don’t forget to enjoy the process along the way. Happy writing!

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GET THE STINGER OUT!

While mowing at my rental property I mowed into a hive that was in the ground hidden by tall grass. I was stung too many times to count. As I began to assess the stings, I noticed some hurt far more than others. Upon closer examination, I saw the ones that were hurting the most were the ones that still had the stinger in my skin. Slowly I began to remove the stingers but when I began to get ill from the stings, I knew that I had to get assistance fast.

After the emergency had passed, I began to learn the lesson from this horrible experience. You will get stung in life, by people, relationships, business deals, your own expectations, and yes…maybe even bees. The main thing to remember is to ALWAYS get the stinger out as soon as possible. Stingers left in will cause infections and extensive-lasting pain. When someone hurts you, get the stinger out immediately! Don’t let their words or actions stay injected into your heart or mind! Removing the stinger does not excuse the person it just means you will heal a little faster and endure less pain.

 

Writers…stingers will hurt your productivity and flavor your writing. Get those stingers out, heal your heart and then write from a position of power and experience.

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The Half-Filled Cup

Pretty sure most of you think I’m going to talk about which perspective you go through life with ½ full or ½ empty, but I’m not!!! So for those who take a moment actually to read this, I hope you make the mistake I did this morning.


I’m a three-cup girl…yep, every morning, it takes three cups to get me going at full speed. This morning I was half done with my first cup, and I mindlessly put it back on the coffee maker, put another k-cup in, and hit the button! Quickly I realized my mistake and grabbed an empty cup to swap with. As I looked at the half-full cup in my hand, I thought this is what life should be like every day….

We should get up and allow our half-filled life to be refilled before it is completely empty. If we did that, we would live the day in the OVERFLOW! Filled with so much energy, inspiration, and ability, nothing that happened to us during the day would be able to empty us because we are over-filled!

Apply that to writing, and you will churn out the books and articles bottled up inside you.

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Just Keep Writing

Just Keep Writing post wmp

This weekend I was mowing the lawn and I kept getting interrupted by neighbors who wanted to chat. Since I am relatively new to the area, I turned off the mower and took a few moments here and there to build ties with several in the neighborhood. Each time a chat ended I went back to mowing. 

I was happily mowing away when the sky began to darken, the wind picked up and thunder could be heard over the mower. Determined, I kept mowing. I just had one section of lawn left when the first few drops fell. I kept mowing and even appreciated the rain that was cooling me off. With just two rows of grass to go the mower ran out of gas. I sprinted to the garage to get the can as the rain was really coming down, but I was going to get that grass cut if it killed me! I filled the mower, but the rain was pounding so bad I could not see…I had to admit defeat as I ran to the garage with the gas can and pulled an old towel over my head to go back and get the mower. 

In a matter of minutes, a flash flood devastated portions of the town I lived in. Including my own basement. As I stood in the garage watching the deluge of water fill the streets overtaking the storm drainage system, I decided to grab my rake and head to the drains and remove the debris to keep the drains flowing as fast as possible. Homes and cars on our street depended on these drains to protect them and the drains were failing. I knew many of the men in the homes would come out in the rain to keep the drains clear, but I was already soaked and felt this was my way of helping the neighbors I had been chatting with a short time ago.

As the streets cleared and the rain slowed, I went inside feeling like I had accomplished something…except for those two rows of grass I still needed to mow. I would knock out those two rows tomorrow if it was dry enough to mow them.

As I pondered the day, I said to myself I wish authors I work with would just keep writing they way I kept mowing today. There will be interruptions or people wanting to chat or need your assistance, but immediately go back to writing. There will be storms in life…just keep writing. There will be times when you have two scenes left in a chapter and you must stop for the day but knock those out tomorrow. Don’t let the little distractions make you take a detour, don’t get irritated or frustrated get determined! Develop a determination to finish your book and don’t let people, storms or life stop you!