Random Writing Tips vol. 5

81. Easy on the semicolons.

82. The protagonist doesn’t always have to succeed at his/her goal, but they have to genuinely try for the audience to get behind them.

83. Keep your use of the verb "to be" to a minimum.

84. Always pick the most economical/efficient path to telling a story.

85. Write in different mediums. You can learn lots from writing screenplays, short stories, novels, poems, and comic scripts and expand your writer’s toolbox.

86. Cut useless characters or combine them with others. One three dimensional character is worth a thousand flat ones.

87. Avoid beginning and ending sentences with “it”.

88. Find your ending as soon as possible. And write towards the finish line.

89. Don’t be afraid to take risks with your writing. Experiment, experiment, and experiment.

90. Coincidences are only good for getting characters in trouble not out of it.   

91. Try out different voices and writing styles. Keep which fits, throw out the rest.

92. Keep a student’s attitude and outlook. There is always more to learn.

93. Have courage in the face of rejection and focus on improving your craft. Even the most famous and legendary of writers have been rejected at one time or another in their lives.

94. The worst reaction you can get from a reader of your work is no reaction at all.

95. There can be multiple protagonists in a book, but only one main character at any one given moment/scene in the story.

96. Only write in first person if your character’s voice is irresistible and the story would suffer without it.

97. The best main villains are often the anti-thesis of your story’s message and theme, the devil’s advocate to your hero’s ethical/moral compass.

98. When all else fails have the devil walk in through the front door.

99. Nothing happening in the present is ever as exciting as the anticipation of what comes next.

100. Be careful what you wish for. Success can be a double edge sword. Too much success can bring on serious writer’s block and fear of not meeting past achievements. Harper Lee and Margaret Mitchell both struck gold with their debut novels, unfortunately they never wrote another. Money and fame can kill the starving writer’s motivation of putting food on the table. Cheetahs in captivity never run as fast as the wild ones. Why? Because they don’t have to.