Every writer has a different regimen, different ideas/tips on what a writer should or shouldn't do. Sometimes the experts contradict each other; however, there seem to be two golden rules for writing the first draft:
- When you are writing a piece for the first time, ignore your inner critic.
_____The inner critic is the voice inside of your head that tells you what you can't do or constantly points out what's wrong. It will give you countless excuses for not writing: "You don't have time to write," "no one is going to want to read it," "you don't have enough life experience," etc. One way to fight the inner critic is to not let it's words go unchallenged. You should say, "I do have time to write," "I am the most important audience," "I'm human-that's all the experience I need," etc. The inner critic can help when you start the editing phase of your work, but turn a deaf ear to it for the first draft.
- When you are sitting down to write a story for the first time, forget about the rules of grammar and punctuation -- just write.
_____ Don't stop your creative flow to worry about whether you put a comma in the right place or if your subject and verb agreement is correct. At this point, getting your ideas/story/journal entry whatever out of your head and onto paper (or your laptop, whatever) is more important.
Here are other tips that may be useful:
- Write every day.
_____The rationale behind this tip: your writing will only improve by actually writing, so you should do some each day whether you are working on a project (poem/story/novel/non-fiction) or not. It's like exercising the "creativity muscle" in your brain. Maybe you prefer every other day instead of every day, but you are encouraged to create a habit out of writing. Variations of this tip include a page or word limit. You may mentally decide to write at least 3 typed pages a day, but in actuality you may end up writing two and a half. Instead of getting upset with yourself for not reaching your minimum goal, just change your minimum and keep writing.
- Use a character development sheet to flesh out your characters.
_____Pretend you are writing a story called, "Thorn In My Side." In this story, Malika tries to convince April to break up with Michelle. What is her motive? Why is she using this tactic? How are April and Michelle going to respond to her meddling? Why do they respond that way? A character development sheet is like a fact sheet and questionaire designed to help the writer understand the character. Malika may be a bitch - filling out her development/profile sheet will tell you why she is a bitch.
_____You do not need to include all of the information in the development sheet in your actual story. For example, according to her development sheet, Malika became a bitch because of unresolved issues with her mother. The story you are writing is mainly about the relationship between April and Michelle, so it wouldn't make sense to include whole scenes showing Malika arguing with her mother.
_____Why fill out the sheet if you are not going to use all of the information in the story? It's important that you see your characters as real people with real lives. If you don't, you will not be able to convince the reader to see the characters that way. Here is the character development sheet I created for myself and one another writer uses. Feel free to use one of these or create one of your own.
- Use an outline
_____I know, I know -- You haven't written an outline for anything since you've gotten out of school. Unlike English class, this outline does not have a particular format. It can be anything you want: a check list with main plot points highlighted, scattered ideas connected together like a dot-to-dot puzzle, the old Roman Numeral format learned in school, or any format you event that works well for you. The important thing is that you put the main details of your story down on paper.
_____This can help you in several different ways. Knowing what happens next in the story as you write it will stop you from moving away from the plot. For example, if you know that all of the events in "Thorn In My Side" revolve around April and Michelle, you will be less likely to write a scene where Malika is fighting with her mother.
_____It may also show you if something is missing from the story. For example, your outline might show April wanting to break-up but in the next scene she and Michelle are making plans to have a baby. What's missing? Well, what made April change her mind? Perhaps when you are writing the outline, you don't know exactly what's going to happen to make April want to stay, but you should jot down a note in the outline that says, "Have to find a way for April to discover Malika is lying."
_____An important thing to remember about this outline is that it is NOT set in stone. It's to help you focus, but not to limit your ideas or set up boundaries. For example, when you first got the idea for this story, you thought that April and Michelle discussing a baby would be the perfect way to show how united they are at the end of the story. As you write the story and get a better feel for the characters, you may think that the ending is a little unrealistic. If April's faith in Michelle can be swayed so easily, maybe Michelle wants to hold off thinking about a baby until their relationship is rock solid. You change the last scene to show Michelle holding April but wondering if they will last.
- You can start a story without knowing everything that's going to happen in it.
_____In the imaginary outline created for "Thorn In My Side," it was not clear how April found out Malika was wrong. Start the story without knowing how the situation is going to be resolved. You don't have to wait until the outline is filled in completely. A resolution may come to you as you are writing the story.
- You don't have to write scenes in order.
_____A director does not film movie scenes in the order that we see them on the screen; a writer does not have to write a story in the order that the reader will eventually see it in. In your mind, you are not sure what Malika tells April but you can already imagine April telling Michelle off. Write the argument scene first.
_____Why? If you write the other scenes first, by the time you get to the argument you may have forgotten all of those horrible things April is going to say. On the other hand, you could find yourself rushing through the other scenes, not giving them much time or attention, so you can get to the argument. You come out better by just writing the scene that is the most prominent in your thoughts regardless of it's order in the story.
- Write what you know.
_____This can be a little misleading if taken literally. If you are a fry girl at McDonald's who is going to school at night, the main character in your stories does not have to be working at a fast food restaurant while she gets her degree. Your experience at McDonald's could be molded to fit any character who works for someone else or with the public. Ever have your heart broken or break a heart? Ever been disappointed or overjoyed? Have you ever fallen in love? Any of your emotional experiences can be applied to a character or story.
_____If you do want to write about a person or situation that is out of your range of experience, you have to do some research. That is discussed in the next section.
- Style.
_____It's natural for beginning writers to imitate the style/voice of a writer or book she admires. Copying a style is NOT the same as plagerism or stealing an idea. For example: If your favorite novel is The Old Man And The Sea, you may try to imitate the style by using short, simple sentences throughout your own story. As you continue writing, you will develop your own distinctive voice.
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