Writer's Tips - what's worked for me

Writer’s Tips - Podcast

This week I want to share some of the advice which has helped me develop and grow as an author. I hope you find some of them useful too.

Write

It doesn’t matter what you write, how badly written it is, how much you want to delete or throw it away, writing is the only way to become an author.

Practise makes perfect.

After writing many thousands of words you will find your individual voice and style.

Reading

Read loads and learn from other authors.

Read the genre you want to write in before the planning stage and be aware of the style and feel of this type of story.

Stop reading the genre you are writing in when you first draft.

Read some books with a writer’s awareness – what pulls you from the story, when does the story flow, what annoys you, what evokes emotions, how does the writer include backstory without info dumping, does the dialogue feel real or stilted and why, what is it about the cover, blurb and first few lines that enticed you to buy or read the book?

Read books about the craft of writing but concentrate on what resonates with you. We are all different.

I read loads of different genres but then I write in different genres. Sometimes I am too absorbed in the story to read with a writer’s awareness, which is great as I was worried this way of thinking while reading might stop my enjoyment of reading. It hasn’t.

Habits

Establish a special place to write and make it an exclusive writing only place, so when you sit on that chair your brain clicks into writing mode. It doesn’t need to be a large space or even a room, a chair and table works too. I am lucky enough to have a small writing hut in my garden and it has made a huge difference to my output of words.

Find your time of day or night to write. This may vary for first drafting, re-writing, and editing.

Write a diary or journal so that you do write something every day. How this diary or journal is used will be individual, it could be based on writing ideas, thoughts, daily emotions, or experiences.

I have enjoyed writing a diary and it is fun to look back through at the end of the year. Mine is based on everyday life, feelings and writing.

Experiment

Read about and try different ways of planning and find what suits you best.

No one way is the right way for everyone, whatever the blurb on the book about writing says.

I am a pantser who plans the essence of the story in my head before I begin. I have also tried writing chapter outlines, character arcs etc but really pantsing is best for me. The process of trying different methods has been great and I have learnt much about the craft of storytelling as well as my strengths and weaknesses.

Be Brave

Stephen King writes about taking chances with wacky ideas, mixing situations and personalities which don’t mix. If it doesn’t work, it can be changed.

Write badly. Bad writing can be improved.

Share your writing with other writers and accept their feedback with grace.

Publish that first book and don’t be scared to unpublish it when you learn more about the craft.

Try writing out of your comfort zone – poetry, short story, flash fiction, a different genre – as a writing exercise. This is especially useful when you are feeling stuck or are unmotivated to write.

Write from your heart about things that mean something to you.

Be honest about what you want from your writing.

My first brave act was publishing my first novel and then unpublishing it when I realised I had more to learn about writing. My second was joining a group where we wrote weekly and shared our work with the group. I now write flash fiction and poems as well as my novels, being brave has opened new doors and honed my writing and confidence.

Connect with other writers

Online or physical writing groups are brilliant, but you need to find the one that is right for you.

Social media writing groups are great for sharing ideas and supporting others.

Watch videos, listen to podcasts, read blogs by other authors, there are loads of ideas and tips out there but don’t try to implement them all, pick what suits your style.

Link with other writers at writing conferences, book fairs, and book signing events. This is a little problematic with covid lurking around every corner, but we can hope it becomes easier soon.

I couldn’t find a physical writing group as I live in a region of France not swamped by English writers, so I created a group online, inviting authors who were at the same stage as me, some I had met at a writing conference. We supported each other for a few years but then drifted apart as our writing needs changed. That didn’t matter, I have found other groups since.

Publish

Yep, once you’ve spent hours perfecting your story it deserves to be published. The trouble is there is so much choice.

Think about why you’d want to be traditionally published.

Do you need another job? Is it for the validation? Do you think it will be easier? Is it about money? Are you content with making changes other people want? Are you comfortable with someone else choosing your title and cover design? Can you write to a deadline? Have you a social media presence, a good website, and a marketing plan? Are you happy to wait as finding a literary agent can take a long time and then they need to find a publisher and the publisher will schedule a release date.

Think about why you’d want to be Indie.

Can you afford to pay for editors and cover designers? Do you have the time and patience to learn how to format and self-publish a manuscript? Do you choose printing the books and distributing them yourself, amazon exclusive, or go wide? Can you write with a self-imposed deadline? Are you ready for people to turn away or sneer when you say you are self-published? Do you have a good social media presence, an author website, and money for marketing?

I chose the Indie route because I didn’t want a writing job with deadlines and other people making decisions for me. It took some thinking to accept that I don’t need an agent or publisher to validate my writing, just readers. I don’t have tons of readers but with every new book I publish I gain a few more.

Marketing

If you want to make money, then marketing and writing to market (series or books about writing) will be a high priority.

Find out everything you can about marketing (The Creative Penn on youtube is great for this) but don’t do everything at the same time.

Write a list of marketing strategies withing your budget and time constraints and work your way through.

Try different strategies one at a time and find what suits your budget, time, and personality.

Think about making one of your books perma-free. You need a few books out to do this.

If you do not need another job, then don’t stress too much about marketing. Do what you enjoy, life is too short for chasing money.

I’ve tried various strategies and still change and tweak what I am doing. I made one of my books perma-free in August 2020 and now in Jan 2022 it is being downloaded every day and some people are then buying other books. I have a fb author page, website, freebie give aways, a blog, a podcast and have begun a ‘quick message to writers’ video series on youtube. All things I enjoy doing.

Above all, enjoy your writing and be proud of every achievement.

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