Saturday, October 16, 2004
WRITER'S TIPS FROM TRULA.ORG....
Always Keep Pen & Paper Handy
This works well for me because I have a bad memory and often will not recall a good story idea or line of poetry or whatever. Even if your memory is excellent it's still a good idea, simply because having it on paper gives you something to start with, an idea of where you want to go even if it's just a line or two you jotted down on a scrap of paper. It's best, however to have a little notepad just for that purpose, something you can keep in a pocket.
Read As Much As You Can & Read Variously
Reading a lot gives you an idea of what you like. You will be most successful as a writer if you write about what you enjoy. Reading various subjects and writers gives you an idea of the infinite types of writing styles out there, which can give you confidence in your own. If the only thing you read is Horror novels and the only Horror writer you've ever read is Stephen King, chances are that you will sound like Stephen King in your initial efforts at writing horror. You don't want to get trapped in mimicry. Develop your own voice.
Write Every Single Day, or Close To It
Writing may be your hobby, it may be how you want to make your living. Either way, it's a craft that needs fine-tuning. Writing something every day, even if it's just a journal entry, keeps your writing "muscles" in shape and helps you to develop your own style. A professional dancer or athlete stretches their muscles on a regular basis. The serious writer needs to do this with their mind.
Take Yourself Seriously
If you are afraid to proclaim yourself a writer, why should anyone else accept you as a writer? If you feel timid about being a writer, why should anyone else take you seriously? Every writer feels that their work could stand improvement, so don't let the lack of perfection hamper you from getting your work out there or at least beginning to create. Be proud of your craft. It is an important skill that you have. Good writing affects the world.
Schedule Your Writing Time
Treat your writing as if it were a paying job that you have to go to. Put it in your Planner, Palm Pilot, whatever, just schedule it and keep to the schedule. If you have to leave your house to make this effective, then do that. Remember a lot of Harry Potter was written in a coffee shop.
Practice & Preparation
Preparation : By -- Ralph Marston
The most reliable way of being in the right place at the right time is to prepare yourself for it. Great opportunities are everywhere, and the people who benefit the most from them are those who are the best prepared. Preparation can be tedious and it's not usually very exciting, yet the results it brings can be tremendously exciting. Being sufficiently prepared will open doors for you that you otherwise would never see.
The time and effort you spend learning, practicing, developing your skills and laying the groundwork for achievement may not pay off immediately. Yet those efforts spent in preparation will indeed pay off, and when they do, they'll pay off in a big way.
Your time is never wasted when you spend it to become better prepared. Athletes win because of practice, and businesses succeed because of the skills their people have developed. Those who achieve do so because they have prepared themselves to achieve. There's no better way to be genuinely confident than to know that you're prepared.
Do your homework, lay the groundwork, build a solid foundation, be prepared, and become truly confident. When you're prepared, great opportunities will virtually jump out at you and the best thing is, you'll be ready for them.
This works well for me because I have a bad memory and often will not recall a good story idea or line of poetry or whatever. Even if your memory is excellent it's still a good idea, simply because having it on paper gives you something to start with, an idea of where you want to go even if it's just a line or two you jotted down on a scrap of paper. It's best, however to have a little notepad just for that purpose, something you can keep in a pocket.
Read As Much As You Can & Read Variously
Reading a lot gives you an idea of what you like. You will be most successful as a writer if you write about what you enjoy. Reading various subjects and writers gives you an idea of the infinite types of writing styles out there, which can give you confidence in your own. If the only thing you read is Horror novels and the only Horror writer you've ever read is Stephen King, chances are that you will sound like Stephen King in your initial efforts at writing horror. You don't want to get trapped in mimicry. Develop your own voice.
Write Every Single Day, or Close To It
Writing may be your hobby, it may be how you want to make your living. Either way, it's a craft that needs fine-tuning. Writing something every day, even if it's just a journal entry, keeps your writing "muscles" in shape and helps you to develop your own style. A professional dancer or athlete stretches their muscles on a regular basis. The serious writer needs to do this with their mind.
Take Yourself Seriously
If you are afraid to proclaim yourself a writer, why should anyone else accept you as a writer? If you feel timid about being a writer, why should anyone else take you seriously? Every writer feels that their work could stand improvement, so don't let the lack of perfection hamper you from getting your work out there or at least beginning to create. Be proud of your craft. It is an important skill that you have. Good writing affects the world.
Schedule Your Writing Time
Treat your writing as if it were a paying job that you have to go to. Put it in your Planner, Palm Pilot, whatever, just schedule it and keep to the schedule. If you have to leave your house to make this effective, then do that. Remember a lot of Harry Potter was written in a coffee shop.
Practice & Preparation
Preparation : By -- Ralph Marston
The most reliable way of being in the right place at the right time is to prepare yourself for it. Great opportunities are everywhere, and the people who benefit the most from them are those who are the best prepared. Preparation can be tedious and it's not usually very exciting, yet the results it brings can be tremendously exciting. Being sufficiently prepared will open doors for you that you otherwise would never see.
The time and effort you spend learning, practicing, developing your skills and laying the groundwork for achievement may not pay off immediately. Yet those efforts spent in preparation will indeed pay off, and when they do, they'll pay off in a big way.
Your time is never wasted when you spend it to become better prepared. Athletes win because of practice, and businesses succeed because of the skills their people have developed. Those who achieve do so because they have prepared themselves to achieve. There's no better way to be genuinely confident than to know that you're prepared.
Do your homework, lay the groundwork, build a solid foundation, be prepared, and become truly confident. When you're prepared, great opportunities will virtually jump out at you and the best thing is, you'll be ready for them.
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