Writing Tips
I wrote my first novel "The Merdog's Realm" in 2003.
If like me, you want to write your own books, here is some
helpful advice.
Six Major Components of Stories:
1. Plot is the organization of events that will take place in the story.
2. Characters are the people or animals who will be in the story.
3. Setting is the physical time and place in which the story takes place.
3. Dialogue is the spoken words of the characters in the story.
4. Point of view is the relative identification of the narrator with the characters.
5. Theme is the main idea or meaning behind a story.
6. Style is the writer's use of the language.
Other Tips:
Be specific in your writing. The more detail, the more realistic your story will be.
The best fiction can come from the imaginations of writers who are good storytellers.
Becoming a skilled typist (on a word processor) is extremely useful to a writer.
Very few people make a living at writing fiction.
Revision is important. A writer can always do one more revision.
At some point the writer has to stop revising and get the work published.
Show, don't tell.
Avoid starting a story with dialogue.
Don't use clichés.
The more detail in the story, the more interesting the story.
Revise, revise, revise . . .
Avoid author intrusion.
Write what you like to read.
Don't use exclamation points.
Use surprise and irony.
The shorter the story, the more important each word becomes.
Avoid overused words! I've done this!
Every word can be used appropriately somewhere in some story.
Don't tell what happened; recreate what happened.
The beginning of a story must be interesting. Readers can be lost on page one.
Scorning the work of a writer does not make that writer a better writer.
I hope these tips prove useful! Now exercise your creativity and get writing!
~Nicola
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