One of my goals in this blog is to help others improve their writing. I've decided that the best thing to start with, is to show you the things I wish I knew before I started writing so you can fix your mistakes before it becomes too much of a bad habit to easily break.
1. Never edit while writing your first draft! This is a common mistake that I was guilty of for far too long. If you edit while you write, you can lose your train of thought and the motivation to write. It is the downfall of many young writers. When you're writing your first draft just write! Leave the editing for later.
2. Listen to music while writing. Before you start your book, or after you've written a couple of chapters, create a playlist for your book on your music app or website. This helps a lot! It creates a mood for your story and will get you more motivated and inspired. As long as you use the right type of music. For example, if you are writing a mystery novel, you should play something with suspense, not something joyful. I prefer to listen to instrumentals while I write.
3. There is such a thing as adding too much detail. Readers love to picture things in their heads and imagine their characters. By adding too much detail, they can't do that. You should be using adjectives as a guideline.
4. You can also add too many characters. It is possible to ruin your story by placing additional characters throughout your story. The reason being, is that it can be very confusing to your readers as to who is who, and can be very hard to remember all of them. You can eliminate extra characters by asking yourself these questions: What is this character's purpose in this story? Is it something another character could easily take on without making things complicated? Don't keep somebody in your story which has no purpose or a purpose that can be given to someone else. They need a secure reason for existence.
5. Do not plot out the whole story in advance and don't write without an idea of what you're doing. It is important to get a good balance of both. This was something people have never told me and actually told me to do the opposite. From my experience, you can't plot out the entire story beforehand like everyone says. Why? Well, it becomes extremely boring and you get put into a big writer's block. However, you still can't start writing with no knowledge about your book. So what do you need to do? Do a bit at a time. I start with a summary of the book, my plot twist ideas are written down and I create the important characters. Then I write my first couple chapters, take a break, and write my new characters and some plots, if anything comes to me, and continue writing. The back and forth will help you stay engaged and well-prepared.
6. Create a Pinterest board & book aesthetic. This one is great for when you have no idea where to go next in your story. It gives you ideas as to what is essential in your story and puts you in the mood. It can also inspire a lot of settings that you couldn't figure out. Just save pictures of what you picture your characters or upload an Artbreeder photo, save any events that happened in your book, and even pictures of a hobby your characters like. For instance, if there was a dance, save pictures of a type of dance that you imagined it would look like.
7. Read books that are similar to the book you are writing. This is really if you're fresh out of ideas. It can give you the same vibe you are looking for, and possibly new ideas by taking what they have and changing it to your liking.
Please try these out and experiment with them if you need to. Everyone is different! These are the things I wish I had known before I started writing because it helped me be a better writer, although, it might be different for you. If something doesn't seem to work the same for you, don't give up! Try to change something about it and take more advice from other bloggers or friends.
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