On the very basic level, (and NO, I’m
not a very proficient writer without my editor, but I am getting gooder the more I practice) I would suggest these.
- Write and then re-read what you’ve written while eliminating the word “that” wherever you can find it. Chances are you may not need it anywhere. When you get used to seeing just how much it sneaks in, it’ll annoy the crap out of you.
- In my opinion, too many “I’s” spoil the pot.
- When in doubt, use a comma. It may not be correct, but it’s a step in the right direction.
- How to appropriately use “me” and “I” in questionable situations is rather simple. One does not say “John and me went to the store” because no one ever says “Me went to the store” …. except for maybe Cookie Monster of course. On the other hand it’s also inappropriate to say “The items were delivered to both John and I.” This one is trickier because it doesn’t sound all that clunky, but when we remove John from the equation, as in “The items were delivered to I”, well, you get the picture.
- When I can’t figure what word or words to use, I’ll often write a sample sentence into Google and see what pops up. You’d be amazed how well this works.
- Spelling’s a breeze these days, just say the word into your phone.
- If you’re not writing formally, contractions are smoother and are much more reader friendly.
- It’s actually okay to begin a sentence with the word “and” on rare occasions. This rule surprised me.
- KEEP IT SIMPLE. Too much technical talk and overuse of adjectives and adverbs will drive the reader elsewhere. Some love it, most don’t.
- Re-read your own stuff out loud, not silently. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve doubled up on words, or left them out entirely, and never noticed because my mind automatically eliminates what doesn’t make sense or fills in the blanks to complete the picture.
- In my opinion great stories have remarkable endings. With this in mind, insofar as creative writing goes, come up with your ending FIRST, then write a story that leads to it.
- Good people need a few flaws, bad people need some sympathetic values.
- Shitty writing always leads to good writing, so keep going even if you don’t like it. If A, B, and D read well, but C sucks, it can be corrected easier than you think.
- Remember, horribly written books have become best sellers.
- In the end, write what YOU want to read, not what you think others want to read.
Please don’t take me for even being slightly professional, I suck a LOT; probably a lot in this answer. It doesn’t matter all that much because I also ask for help a lot. If you’re thinking of trying to get published, an editor is an absolute must. Every writer who’s successful uses at least one. When my editor sends my drafts back I usually allow myself to get offended and upset, but guess what? She’s always correct. I will not allow my ego to hold me back from becoming better and better at what I enjoy.
It seem
my biggest weaknesses on the page include way too much passive writing and incorrect use of punctuation. Heck, I just found out that sometimes the punctuation mark falls outside the quotation marks; still haven’t figured that rule out yet.
All this is really grade-school level. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got to get to a basic english or creative writing class here at my local community college or I’m going to regret it.
Good luck!
