10 Tips for Writing Your Tales

As a writer, my main love is fiction, specifically horror, science fiction and modern fantasy. However, over the years I’ve written a massive amount of literature, starting from God awful crap, all the way though to polished works I am very proud of. Presented below are ten important things I have learnt when writing out fact and fiction, poetry and prose. These tips are mainly geared towards helping you write fiction, but can be applied to almost any bulk writing. Hopefully they will help you write good quality work at a reasonable rate. So, here we go!

1. Read similar works and deconstruct them.
   

   Personally, I hate doing this, but it does help. What you do is figure out what you want to write, then read something that’s already been written in a similar vein. As you do it, you observe the techniques and styles the writer has used to set the atmosphere, mood and pacing of the story. You have to study the piece rather than read it, which in my opinion takes a lot of the joy out of reading. It’s like watching a magic trick to try and figure out how it’s done rather than appreciating the wonder of it. But still, especially if you are an inexperienced writer, you can learn a great deal from doing this.

2. Don’t try to use too many literary techniques.
   

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   Similes, metaphors, oxymoron, antithesis, alliteration, rhyme… there are many, many specific words for certain sentences and structures in the English language. Don’t bother with them, at least for now. People have a tendency to try and use them without thinking why their using them, under the impression that it will make their writing seem more professional. Believe me, your writing will not look professional when your characters are speaking in sonnet form for no real reason. The exception here is if your name is William Shakespeare, then for some reason it makes you a genius. Apparently. Walk before you can run. Concentrate on forming flowing, functional sentences (see what I did there?), and building up a good vocabulary before you experiment with these techniques.

3. If it’s against the rules but it works, do it anyway.
   

   Poetic license isn’t just for poets! If you can find ways and means to achieve what you want, but the rules of grammar and spelling say no (usually with squiggly red or green lines), do it anyway! A one word sentence can create impact, even though it’s technically not allowed. Several short paragraphs (a few sentences each) can either slow down or speed up the pace of a story, despite the fact it looks a little tacky. Just be careful with this, as if you flout all the rules completely, your work is going to look like you vomited alphabet soup on the page and handed it in for submission. Remember, rules have a reason! Think why it is you’re not doing something within the rules, why the rule is there to begin with, and how exactly you are breaking it. Think like that and you should be fine.

4. Forget about your work.
   

   Once you’ve finished writing, save your work, or stick it on the bookshelf (if you’re still that old fashioned), and let it collect dust for a new months. Try to forget you ever wrote it, work on something else. Then when you finally find it again you can proof read it properly. The problem with proof reading is that if you do it too soon, he story is still in your head and your mind will compensate for mistakes subconsciously, in other words you read what you think you wrote, rather than what’s actually on the paper. Another way of getting around this is to give it to someone else to read, but many people may not understand what you where trying to achieve with your work, especially if they are not your target audience. This is very important to produce quality writing as I can guarantee, there will be typos and dodgy structuring in your work that you will miss the first time you proof read.

5. Focus, Atmosphere and Pace.
   

   You need to decide what you’re trying to achieve from your story by looking at the above three. Firstly, decide what the focus of your story is going to be. Is the story going to be primarily character development, or are characters just a tool to tell the story? Is the story even the main point of the piece? Perhaps you are simply trying to provoke a set of emotional responses from your reader- a sort of prose poetry. Define your focus and stick to it. If you do want to change focus, then don’t do it too often or all the effort you’ve put into building up your desired effect will be for naught, and your story will not have much impact.

   Next is atmosphere. This is primarily determined by the genre you are writing in. If you’re writing horror, you want the atmosphere to be dark, scary and make the reader feel “creeped out”. You may even want to add light happy sections in to make the horrific areas seem even more compelling by comparison. If you’re writing a love story you want to consider the elements of love you will explore. Will it be tragic or easy? Serious or comedic? Once you have defined atmosphere you want there are many ways to create it. Choose specific words and sentences. If you want to create a soft, relaxed atmosphere use punctuation that allows the reader to read at their own pace. If you want tension, slow it down or speed it up by not using commas where one may be appropriate. If relaxed, your choice of words should be soft sounding and probably a little longer to keep the reading pace down. In tense situations, use short, sharp harsh words that will keep the reader needing to think fast. Description is another important part of atmosphere, especially if you can relate it to a reader’s own experiences, for example the clichéd description of the character in a cold sweat while under stress.

   Pace is an important part of atmosphere as I have described above. However it is also important to consider the overall pace of your story. If the story moves too slowly, for example you bog it down with over description, many readers may get bored and wonder off. This has happened to me with The Lord of the Rings, and a couple of Stephen King’s Books. Pace should be dictated by target audience and genre. In general, older readers are more likely to enjoy a book that moves slowly, but describes things in exquisite detail, whereas younger readers prefer to keep things moving so they know what happens next. In terms of genre, you should think carefully how it will work for yourself. For example, in a thriller style story, a description of the long slow tedious investigations into a murder may help readers empathize with a detective character who just can’t seem to get anywhere. On the other hand, a fast paced action scene with a victim fleeing the murderer would get readers hearts racing and thrill them in a different way. A mix of the two if done properly could accentuate each other, the chases become so much more intense, and the investigation so much more rewarding when clues are found. Think of your target demographic, and your preferred genre. See what happens.

6. Write in sections
   

   Before you put pen to paper (or finger to key), decide what it is you will be writing and where you will finish. Get into the mindset to write that style, and once the story no longer requires you to be in the mind set, stop and go do something else. Basically, let’s say you spend half an hour writing an intense, action filled gun fight section which then ends with a cliffhanger, and then move on to a completely different area of the story (you know, to build suspense). Say, the hero’s love interest wondering around oblivious to their partner’s peril. You may well find that that you just can’t present on paper what you have in your head. The reason for this is you’ve got stuck in “high gear”. You’re used to writing in the action style, and it’s hard to get back into a different mind set.

   Another advantage of writing in sections is time management and fatigue. Let’s face it, sometimes writing feels like a chore, but if you stop then you may never get back to the story! Having a clearly defined goal will motivate you to keep going until the end. To put it another way, it’s a lot easier to finish a race when you can see the finishing line. Doing this well ensure you are productive, and remain writing without fatiguing yourself. If you just try to write until you drop, then you will notice a definite decline in the quality of your work as time goes on. Write in sections though, with a break between each one and you can maintain your standard for a lot longer. Just know when to call it a night!

7. Know when something isn’t working.
   

   One of the very first things I wrote was back when I was about 14. I had a great idea for a science fiction novel, a trilogy in fact. To be honest, I doubt I could do it justice now, and back then I certainly couldn’t have. I wrote over 60 sides of A4 in size 10 font before I realized something. It was crap. The concept was awesome, but the sheer scope of the story made it almost impossible for me to do it justice, and with very little writing experience under my belt anyway, the writing itself was crude, amateurish, and generally a pile of manure.

   The moral of the story is, don’t overreach yourself. But more important than that is the ability to tell when something isn’t working. If you just can’t get a comfortable pace on the story, or you can’t generate the atmosphere you want maybe it’s not worth bothering with. Perhaps you’ve bitten off more than you can chew and should try this again when you’ve got more experience under your belt. Or maybe the concept was just flawed no matter how good of an idea it seemed.

   There are few things more disheartening than spending hours and hours on a piece, only to find you have produced the literary equivalent of an Alan Smithy movie. Save yourself the disappointment and the wasted time by always looking at your writing objectively. That’s not an excuse to give up just because it’s hard though!

8. Set realistic goals and scales.
   

   When you start out writing, begin by writing short pieces, describing a scene or an event. No more than about 500-1,000 words. We’ll call these little mini writings bits. Once you can write bits, you’ll realize that writing a story is simply a matter of making lots of these and putting them together in an organized way.

   Next, just take up short stories. Around 3,000 to 4,000 words. Now, the challenge is to write in such a way that each “bit” in such a way that it flows into the next one. Remember tip number 6; write them one at a time. Your aiming to create a sort of liner jigsaw, where each bit builds up to give a little more of the big picture. The last few bits should make the picture clear as day, a sort of summary.

   If you write in this way you will get used to the idea of escalation and also time management. Aim to write a bit a day at first, you won’t overtax yourself, but you’ll still produce a meaningful amount of content, so as to finish your work in a reasonable time.

   As you grow in skill you will be able to write more and more each time without tiring yourself out mentally. Keep track of this and adjust the amount you write each day accordingly. Remember not to push yourself too hard though, or your quality of writing will suffer. But you do need to push your boundaries, or you won’t improve!

9. Write free of distractions.
   

   Turn off the TV, put the cat out, close your browser, turn off your IM software and lock the door. About the only thing you can do at the same time as writing without suffering a quality drop is listening to music- and even then only certain types. Before you start writing clear your head too. Take a lie down, have a glass of water, have a few deep breathes, whatever. When you write you should be focused on writing. If you are not concentrating on just your writing then your speed will slow right down, and what you do write is likely to be of poor quality. So don’t waste your time trying.

10. Stop reading advice and write.
    

    This may sound like a cop out, but I can assure it’s very important. You can read all the advice in the world, take writing lessons and ponder your writing all day- and still write crap. The only way to improve is to write, recognize your mistakes, and fix them. Advice like this can help you identify your weaknesses, but if you don’t keep writing and keep trying, they’re not going to help you at all. Also, remember that the advice given by other authors tends to be what works for them. You may well find something completely different works for you. But you need to experiment to find these things out. So get writing!

Well, that’s ten tips from me. I hope they help you out with your writing. If you found this advice helpful, please click the “I like it” button, or a stumble thumbs up, you know the drill, that way the advice can be accessible to even more people. Also, feel free to leave your own advice in the form of comments, or let me know how these tips have helped you (If they help you).