writing tips
Most importantly, do not submit a first draft.
You love your book. You have slaved over it in your mind for years, piecing it together. Now it's finally on paper and you love, love, love it. But don't submit it yet. My advice: walk away. Put it someplace safe. Give it to a trusted friend to hide. Put it in your piggy bank, your bank vault, your money sock. Just don't look at it.
After enough time has elapsed, return to your work and go over it at least once more. You'll see so many mistakes you would never have seen a month before. Read through the entire manuscript.
Yes, that may take a while.
Once you've read your manuscript through again, give your manuscript to a trusted associate; in fact, the more trusted associates, the better. After they've returned it to you with encouraging words of love, love, love, and many sleepless nights, only THEN should you submit it for editing.
You love your book. You have slaved over it in your mind for years, piecing it together. Now it's finally on paper and you love, love, love it. But don't submit it yet. My advice: walk away. Put it someplace safe. Give it to a trusted friend to hide. Put it in your piggy bank, your bank vault, your money sock. Just don't look at it.
After enough time has elapsed, return to your work and go over it at least once more. You'll see so many mistakes you would never have seen a month before. Read through the entire manuscript.
Yes, that may take a while.
Once you've read your manuscript through again, give your manuscript to a trusted associate; in fact, the more trusted associates, the better. After they've returned it to you with encouraging words of love, love, love, and many sleepless nights, only THEN should you submit it for editing.
There's something about "something."
In speech, it simply flows. In writing, however, few words are less descriptive. Think about it: 'some thing.' Both parts of the word are vague and reference nothing.
For instance, consider the sentence: "There's something about Mary I can't quite put my finger on." Most people understand what's meant in that sentence (At least, native English speakers understand). But consider the alternative: "Mary was a mystery to me." Mary stops being a vague cloud of uncertainty and becomes a 'mystery,' with all the inherent meaning that a term like 'mystery' holds. The latter is also a good jumping off point for further description. You can then explain why and how Mary was a mystery easier than explaining how there's a 'something' about Mary that is unexplainable.
Consider it a useful exercise to search for 'somethings' in your manuscript and try to reword the phrasing without using it. It's not always possible - sometimes it just works - but in most cases the end result is usually a stronger line.
It’s okay to write in short, uncomplicated sentences.
Be straightforward. Try not to sound academic or flowery. Flow and function are first and foremost. When a piece begins to wind through the fields of daisies, readers can spot that. You don't want to break a reader from their immersion. Write to get your point across, not to impress.
That being said, if it comes out sounding nicely, that's excellent. Otherwise, take the time later to make it sound nice as well.
It’s perfectly fine to repeat oneself in the same paragraph for the sake of clarity. For instance: When a piece sounds academic, typically that means it sounds convoluted and overly complex. In other words: the piece sounds hard to read. It’s okay to refer to the subject again (the piece) instead of writing ‘it’. Both work fine, and repeating the subject again makes for no misunderstanding. Mind you, don’t overdo it.
Give yourself a few days away from your piece and then read over what you have written. Read it over a hundred times if you have to. Be happy with it yourself before you hand it over to someone else. If you can pick up on weak points, so can your readers.
Phrases like There Are to begin a sentence are usually unnecessary and clunky.
For instance:
There are four types of monkey in the Amazon rainforest
versus
Four types of monkeys live in the Amazon rainforest.
The second sentence is far stronger. It is a bolder statement, and has the added bonus of telling the reader what the monkeys are doing while in the Amazon rain forest.
Try to identify your pet phrases and words.
Try to identify if you're using particular words too often. Microsoft Word's search feature has a 'highlight' function which tells you how many instances of a word there are in your piece. If for instance, you have 300 instances of the word 'silently,' or 'quietly,' or 'quickly,' you may have chosen speed over quality while you were writing.
Don't be afraid to use a thesaurus, or even better, figurative language.
In speech, it simply flows. In writing, however, few words are less descriptive. Think about it: 'some thing.' Both parts of the word are vague and reference nothing.
For instance, consider the sentence: "There's something about Mary I can't quite put my finger on." Most people understand what's meant in that sentence (At least, native English speakers understand). But consider the alternative: "Mary was a mystery to me." Mary stops being a vague cloud of uncertainty and becomes a 'mystery,' with all the inherent meaning that a term like 'mystery' holds. The latter is also a good jumping off point for further description. You can then explain why and how Mary was a mystery easier than explaining how there's a 'something' about Mary that is unexplainable.
Consider it a useful exercise to search for 'somethings' in your manuscript and try to reword the phrasing without using it. It's not always possible - sometimes it just works - but in most cases the end result is usually a stronger line.
It’s okay to write in short, uncomplicated sentences.
Be straightforward. Try not to sound academic or flowery. Flow and function are first and foremost. When a piece begins to wind through the fields of daisies, readers can spot that. You don't want to break a reader from their immersion. Write to get your point across, not to impress.
That being said, if it comes out sounding nicely, that's excellent. Otherwise, take the time later to make it sound nice as well.
It’s perfectly fine to repeat oneself in the same paragraph for the sake of clarity. For instance: When a piece sounds academic, typically that means it sounds convoluted and overly complex. In other words: the piece sounds hard to read. It’s okay to refer to the subject again (the piece) instead of writing ‘it’. Both work fine, and repeating the subject again makes for no misunderstanding. Mind you, don’t overdo it.
Give yourself a few days away from your piece and then read over what you have written. Read it over a hundred times if you have to. Be happy with it yourself before you hand it over to someone else. If you can pick up on weak points, so can your readers.
Phrases like There Are to begin a sentence are usually unnecessary and clunky.
For instance:
There are four types of monkey in the Amazon rainforest
versus
Four types of monkeys live in the Amazon rainforest.
The second sentence is far stronger. It is a bolder statement, and has the added bonus of telling the reader what the monkeys are doing while in the Amazon rain forest.
Try to identify your pet phrases and words.
Try to identify if you're using particular words too often. Microsoft Word's search feature has a 'highlight' function which tells you how many instances of a word there are in your piece. If for instance, you have 300 instances of the word 'silently,' or 'quietly,' or 'quickly,' you may have chosen speed over quality while you were writing.
Don't be afraid to use a thesaurus, or even better, figurative language.
