5 Tips for Aspiring Writers
Today I want to talk a little bit about the advice that has helped me improve my craft as a writer over the years. There are few "rules" when it comes to writing, you have probably noticed. One writer might tell you that you must outline extensively, while another might say not to outline at all. This advice is often individual and you must learn when to listen and when to ignore it. Every writer's writing style and process is unique, so you must learn what works for you and what doesn't. That being said, I have found that most of these sentiments are echoed by other authors, and I feel they are incredibly invaluable to almost everybody. They are general and broad enough in scope to be considered universal guidelines, in my opinion. I hope that you find them useful.
1: Don't stop reading.
It's important that you don't stop reading. Don't just read the genre you want to write, read everything, all genres, fiction and nonfiction, good books and bad books, whatever you can get your hands on. The more the better. You will sharpen your understanding of stories and what works / doesn't work in storytelling.
2: Learn Story Structure.
Story Structure is important especially for new writers. As you grow as a writer you will probably move further and further away from established methods of story telling, but knowing them will never not be useful to you and can help when you feel stuck or dont know where to go with your story.
3: Embrace Your Inner Critic
Every writer has an inner critic that tells them their writing is shit. While it isn't good to listen to this all of the time, learning when your self-criticism is valid or not is an incredible tool. You are critical of your writing because you recognize good writing and bad writing, and you want yours to be the good kind. So learn when to listen to your inner critic and when to ignore it.
4: Learn from Masters.
There are countless resources out there from bestselling authors, free and paid, classes, books, articles, and more, that are there for you to take advantage of. Like any field, these people are successful for a reason. Learn from them, take their advice and learn how to combine it with methods that have worked for you, and you'll have a recipe for success.
5: Set consistent habits and goals.
It is often said that good ideas are a dime a dozen. What separates an author from someone with an idea is that they are disciplined enough to sit down and write on a consistent basis to bring those ideas to life. It doesn't matter how good your ideas are if you never write it. This doesn't mean you have to write every day, learn what times you work best and work around those. Only have 3 hours a week to write? Then make sure you're working hard those 3 hours every week, striving towards a weekly word count. It matters less that you hit this goal all the time and more that you try.
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Well, there you have it. My five tips for aspiring writers. I hope you find these useful as you learn and grow as a writer. I'm sure I will post more writing advice here from time to time, maybe at some point I will compile it all into a free online resource or eBook if it becomes too spread out and difficult to keep track of.
Anyway, time to go. There are stories to write.
~Brandon