Welcome back to #WritingWednesday’s where I give more writing tips and advice both here and in video form on the YouTube channel.
Today lets dive into some honest, (and sometimes harsh) advice for those would be authors out there that are looking to write their first book.
As usual here is the video version for those that enjoy that format:
Lets go, here are my top 10 honest writing tips to get it done.
1. Write what you are passionate about.
- Don’t trend chase. Trends come and go but a good story is forever. Don’t write something only because its popular at the moment.
- Passion will keep you motivated.
I am passionate about medieval fantasy, at least for now. I knew for my first novel at least I wouldn’t care about contemporary romance. Now that I have written The Crimson Gods, romances developed and I enjoyed it. Maybe I can try that in the future.
2. Experiment
- Try different different genres.
- Try different writing techniques, 1st person, 3rd person omniscient POV’s, etc.
- You may think you want to write fantasy, but you may discover you have a knack and really enjoy Sci-Fi or romance.
For me in The Crimson Gods, a scene came to me and a story formed around it. The first scene generated questions, who is this? Why is he here? What does he want to accomplish. What is stopping him? You get the idea. (To be fair, I am a natural pantser)
3. Look into publishing but don’t obsess over it (yet).
- You have to a have a product before you can publish it.
- But looking into your options and picturing it as a “real book” can be a hell of a motivator.
Now that I have some artwork, plans to self publish through a specific provider and started an author website, all of this feels more “real”. And it is, I know I have written and published a book, I just have to cross the finish line.
…picturing it as a “real book” can be a hell of a motivator.
4. Get real feedback!
- Get honest feedback (not just friends and family that will play nice).
- Find a critique partner (or two).
- Speaking of critique partners and beta readers, if you are interested in reading TCG consider joining us over on Patreon! Free books will be had along with other goodies!
5. Start with a smaller project.
- Write something manageable (to get a taste of success)!
- Short stories
- Flash fiction
- Poetry
Hell, some people live off of short stories (another video later on how to query short stories). After writing about 7-8 chapters in TCG, I wrote a 5k word short story. The feeling of writing that last line of the last paragraph was a game changer! It drove me to finish the main story. If nothing else I can say I have written a short story and could try and sell it (I have) or just save it for a prequel anthology. It’s in the same world of Aahsgoth that is featured in TCG.
6. You’re not original – Get over it.
What matters is how you write it, and if it’s character driven and people can really buy into them, the plot will work in some way.
No need to beat yourself up about just trying to be be different. Everything is based of of something else, or pulled from many different sources. This doesn’t mean you cant have original aspects to your story. Maybe you twist some tropes or throw them out. What matters is how you write it, and if it’s character driven and people can really buy into them, the plot will work in some way. Look at it as a good thing, there are a million “unoriginal” books, movies and TV shows that do fine.
TCG is a mashup up of influences from many fantasy books, movies, and predominantly a video game series!
7. No one cares.
- Specifically others wont care about your master piece as much as you.
- Get over it, write anyway.
Over time people will start to care via marketing, etc. I’ve seen this already, people are nice, but its not their baby.
8. Writers block is bullshit.
Sorry, not sorry. Writers block is just an excuse not to write. Writing is hard, so there will be places you get stuck, but you just have to push through it. Write another chapter or scene you’ve been thinking of. Stuck on a name? Use a placeholder and come back to it. Writer’s block is self-doubt, or something you don’t want to write. Perhaps it’s something you think you’re unqualified to write. Imposters syndrome is real, get over it.
9. Brainstorming and over planning isn’t writing.
This is not a knock on all you architects or plotters out there. Yes there are plotters and pantsers (architects and gardeners.) and likely a spectrum of the two, but writing perfect characters profiles, trying to pinpoint every detail of every beat of a story, or every detail of every plot point isn’t the same thing as writing. At some point you just have to write. Most people that start this way, don’t finish a book because they pick a genre and a general story idea, but overthink the details and never actually write. So it ends up on the shelf never to return from the void.
10. You’re not always going to be in the mood or find the all elusive muse.
Yes you can find yourself in “the zone” where words just seem to just pour from your soul, but that’s not often and you have to write anyway. When this happens people will often try to look for motivation or find productivity aids. I’ve seen people spend so much time looking for productivity aids and organization tools, that they could have written 3 novels in that time alone. Just write the damn book. And remember you can only really learn to write a book… by writing a book.
There you go, I hope you guys get something from this. It’s not such a daunting task if you break it down into manageable chunks. Push through, protect your mental health and before you know it, you’ll have a draft warm of of the printer (and no ink).
Whatever you do, keep writing!
~Chris
Enjoy these tips?
